A view of Cochem from the Mosel River
Jan and I recently came back from a very successful trip to the Mosel Valley in Western Germany, accompanied by 9 other GoldWings of 2 and 3 wheel persuasion.
The tour was very ably led by Stuart Ormorod, and the group consisted of both experienced and novice European tourers. This alone made the whole experience a pleasure both during the day when visiting the sights and doing the rides, and socially at night chatting in the hotel over a few drinks.
We met up in three group on the way as we converged from various directions. The first meeting point was at Squires Cafe in Yorkshire, where Jan and and and Nigel and Joanna
The social side of a group event
waited for Stuart, Bill Squires and Steve and Rose (from Cumbria), and Neil and Debbie. We then travelled across to Hull as a group, where on arrival on the Ferry we met up with John and Maureen who has loaded up before us.
A very pleasant (and flat, luckily for me!) crossing followed with a great evening meal. I have to admit the bed in the cabin was not rated too highly on my list of good places to bunk down with a rather firm mattress and a pillow that worked part time as a kerb-stone. Luckily this was followed by a fantastic buffet breakfast which went some way to offset the poor nights’ sleep.
A quick look outside at the dock gave a bit of a dismal view ofd the weather with umbrallas being in abundance. So when
A little bit of rain at Klotten
we got to the trike wet weather gear was put on by all, in preparation for a damp journey to get to Germany.
The rain was very heavy and it made the journey on the motorways very intensive indeed. I did not enjoy the journey through Holland at all due to the weather and before long most of the party discovered that their waterproofs weren’t!
There were, of course, some smug buggers who kept up the quick fire comments as they had spend a fortune on the best of kit which managed to prevent a major incursion of damp into the inner clothing, but for the rest of us the first part of Holland was a damp squib.
The train station was just a might handy.
We arrived at Helmond in torrential rain at 11.30 am on a Sunday morning, our intended coffee stop and loo break, only to find that the place doesn’t open until 12 midday. Luckily for us, due to an early in the day cycle race passing through, one of the cafes around the canal area, had decided to stay open and 12 sodden riders and passengers squelched their way in and proceeded to order hot drinks and hot food, and make puddles across the inside of the premises to the loos. 2 smug buggers followed us in.
Eventually, knowing we had a long way to go we all donned our soaking clothes, (except for certain smug buggers who still kept up the comments), and carried on towards our destination.
The rain eased off eventually and we were able to make Monchau for our lunch stop proper where wet kit were strung over bushes to dry in the very pleasant sunshine. A time to glance around , showed 2 other British GoldWings, a solo and a trike. Lo and behold, it was two more of our party that we were due to meet up with at the Hotel, Maurice and Julie, and Rob and Coleen. That left only one more bike to meet up with at Klotten, our destination.
A gaggle of Wings parked up while we rubber-necked.
Following lunch we proceeded in a larger group across the countryside to Klotten. This part of the journey gave a indication of the excellent roads that we were hoping to ride over the next few days, providing the weather allowed us to ride.
We arrived at the Hotel Zur Post, Bahnhofstrasse, Klotten to be met by Klaus and Bettina Berens, and a glass of bubbly. The hotel and food – well, what can I say? – I’m booking again!
A few minutes later the last bike of the party arrived from the alternative cross channel route.
The first full day in Klotten was a wash-out – literally!. It rained all day, and with the exception of a certain smug rider in uber-expensive waterproofs, we stayed off the bikes and used the train which happened to be somewhat convenient to the hotel, like directly across the road.
Bikes parked up outside Benno's Bike Cafe
The next day proved to be far more ridable and we did a tour across the country to the Rhine then up to the point where the Rhine and the Mosel join and back to the hotel. This was a good ride to show the nature of the roads and the country.
Wednesday was a ride to Bernkastell as a smaller group and we were able to take in some sightseeing and a cruise up the Mosel on one of the riverboats.
Thursday saw a small group of riders using the local roads and view points, following a walk around Cochem, the local town. The ride around afterwards took us to Valwigeberg, a small village on top of the plateau overlooking the Mosel. It really did overlook the Mosel with a wooden platform extending out to give a bird’s eye view of the river-valley below. It was worth the trip up to find it.
Watching the action at the 'Ring'.
Friday saw us heading back to the Ferry terminal at Rotterdam and after a very long but pleasant ride (except for Holland which is flat and boring), we arrived in time to load up the machines and to sit and enjoy a great evening meal before another goddam awful night trying to sleep on the plank P&O call a bed.
Again the superb breakfast made some inroads into repairing the damage caused by the plank, and I was able to see myself and Jan riding home after calling at a couple of stops on the way home.
Would we do it again? - We both agree that we would. We would like to visit again with friends as it makes the difference socially that you have someone else to speak to over dinner, and to exchange stories from the day.
Looking down on the Mosel
Would we go to tha same area again? Yes – 5 days is not enough to tour the area – the roads are worth a revisit and the towns are worth a much better look around.
Would I use the same hotel again? Yes – the location is great, the food is great, the host and hostess were very helpful and the bikes and trikes were kept securely inside.
Would I recommend this type of trip again? Yes – providing you go with soemeone who knows the area, group riding, route planning, and is prepared to organise a trip.
Dave T