And just like that … there’s grapes again!

With pleasure, we turn our bikes away from Worms, heading generally north as we follow the Rhein’s meanderings, slightly east, slightly west. A river never runs straight – unless perhaps humans have had something to do with it!

In less than 10km we have left industrial and slightly strange Worms behind and we are out in the countryside, in the sunshine, riding on wonderful wide paved paths and the occasional quiet(ish) road. There are many more touring cyclists than on previous days and we stop and have a lovely chat with a German couple who are riding a very short version of EV15.

I feel particularly happy today as I ride alongside a bank that is covered in wildflowers, so happy that I start dawdling and fall well behind Neil. This happens quite a bit, usually when I start daydreaming and not concentrating on what I am supposed to be doing with my bike. Or, indeed, if I am tired – but that’s not the case today 😊

And then … just like that … we are back in wine country. There’s something about wine country versus industrial areas. The villages are just prettier – the houses and streets are better cared for, more civic pride, the odd bright flash of flowers in public spaces. Perhaps the people in industrial areas are too busy working to spend time on house and community?

The route takes us through “typical” German wine villages. Oppenheim is first, and we choose to take the uphill detour to the centre of town. This involves some climbing (of which lately there has not been much) up cobbled streets. Those cobbled streets are pretty and provide atmosphere in the old villages, but they really are a bitch to ride on, and also to walk on at times when wearing cleated bike shoes.

We stop in Oppenheim for the heartiest of hearty lunches (check out the picture, below), before making our way down to river level and on to our next wine villages – Nierstein. From there it is comfortable riding on flat ground amongst grape vines. There are grape vines, either side, as far as we can see. This is Germany’s largest wine district, and we are literally riding in the midst of it! That’s a happy place in itself.

Entry to Mainz is pretty easy, apart from a few twists and turns crossing over railway tracks, and soon we are riding ride alongside the Rhein, riding right into the centre of town.

Neil has twigged today that Frankfurt is not far away – only about 40km – and that Frankfurt’s full name is Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt on the Main (river)), and that maybe Mainz is named after the Main river? Indeed the Main river flows directly into the Rhein at Mainz, And presumably makes the Rhein ever bigger!

Fact check: Mainz is not named after the river at all! Nor is the river named after the town. Mainz is named after Mogon, a Celtic deity of power and youth, and by some linguistic and historical twists and turns has ended up being called Mainz. In the local Rheinhessen dialect, the city is pronounced and written as Meenz or Määnz. The Main river itself has a whole other name etymology.

We ride past a Biergarten which is only minutes away from our hotel, and I decide that would be a great place for a post ride beer. We haven’t managed an end of day beer beside the river this whole trip, even through we’ve been following it for weeks now. It is lovely and peaceful beside the river (except for some of the Biergarten guests), a place one could while away quite a bit of time. There is lots of traffic on the river, with cargo boats and river cruise boats heading in both directions.

Mainz is a nice town. It has a good feeling about it, even on a Monday night, when many places are closed. I can’t put my finger on why some towns feel depressed and some places feel quite the opposite, but it is a real thing. Like every other place it has a massive cathedral which dominates. Of course we are too late to go inside, but the splendour of this enormous building is certainly felt from the outside. It seems that a lot of these massive cathedrals are the result of a “my cathedral is bigger than yours” competition between the wealthy (and probably religious) early founders/inhabitants.

It was so lovely beside the river earlier that we head back to the same place for a post dinner drink, joining the many people who are enjoying this lovely night. And that’s one of the things about European towns with life – people are out and about in the evenings. It isn’t just the tourists with nothing better to do; the locals get out of their apartments and houses, gather, and enjoy these long evenings.

Well may we enjoy these mild evenings. All reports suggest that a heatwave is on its way!

Stats for today:

• Distance: 56.02km
• Climb: 79m
• Average speed: 15.8km/h
• Average temperature: 22C
• Moving time: 3:33:05
• See our ride on Strava

The beer picture

At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken at a Biergarten right on the banks of the Rhein near the centre of Mainz.

Along the way today:

Click on an image to scroll through the gallery at full size.