Day 01

My trip started in Offenburg, Germany, after visiting a couple of friends the day before and then calmly preparing my bike and my equipment with everything I need to keep from getting cold.

I left Offenburg at around 11:15 in the morning with minus 4 degrees and a very thick fog that a few miles out of the city was fading away as I entered the valley of the Rhine, enjoying both the sun and the cold and its silence, omnipresent in each kilometer that was leaving behind.

Crossing the bridge over the Rhine and at the same time the border between Germany and France, my route took me to Eschau where I continued on a long cycle path at the side of a canal (canal du Rôhne au Rhin), constantly passing by dikes, avenues of solitary trees and parked boats fully equipped like houses, reminding me a little of Holland and the relationship that the inhabitants have with their rivers and canals.

The condition of the cycle path is optimal for training for example triathlon, as the path is simply straight without major interruptions, ideal for breaking some speed record.

Sometimes the road is interrupted by warforces and bunkers as a reminder of an extremely violent and savage time, as it was the Second World War.

Many cyclists did not cross my way to Basel (10 at the most?), probably all hiding from the cold.

At the height of Artzenheim the long cycle path ends, unless one wants to follow the canal with a cyclocross due to the the uneven road, which was not my case, turning to Baltzenheim and Kunheim, where I was extremely attracted by the amazing technique how the peasants store their wheat in great walls made of the same wheat.

It was getting dark at about 16:30 and I took the opportunity to take a little break in the small town of Neuf-Brisach in order to drink something hot and recover some energy. Due to the invasive darkness I did not propose myself to get to know this city, although it seemed to be very touristic.

Already at night and with the first 142 kilometers done, I arrived at Basel (Switzerland), right on the border with France, at about 21:20, doing the check-in at the hotel just in time and finally having a very good rest.