There are two of us women planning a bicycle tour, using our own bikes, on the Mosel and Rhine rivers. We plan on flying into Frankfurt but we need to have our bicycles assembled when we arrive. Is there any bicycle shop near the airport where we could take out bikes to have them assembled? We plan on continuing our bicycle tour and end up in Berlin. We would need to have our bicycles boxed for our return trip home to the USA. Any suggestions of where we could find a convenient bicycle shop to have this done?
We are also in the planning stages of selecting stops, we could take, after leaving the Mosel river on our way to Berlin. Any suggestions of scenic towns or bicycle paths anyone would recommend.
Thanks for any help you can give us.
Angie
Posted by
Green Bay
20072 posts
Here is a link to the Eifel-Mosel-Hunsrueck hi-res bike path map.
http://www.regioradler.de/downloads/Raderlebniskarte_Eifel-Mosel-Hunsrueck_2014.pdf
The path along the Mosel is in an old railroad bed. The line had a German nickname which I forget, but the English translation would be "The Little Boozer's Line". Free wine tastings at all the stops by local growers had something to do it with earning that moniker. They aren't free anymore, but it is beautiful country.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I can't help you on a bicycle shop, but here's some resources for cyclining routes throughout Germany. The entire country is criss-crossed by countless hiking and cycling trails. Cycling trails are usually indicated by white signs with green writing. Each federal state maintains its own network, so here's some websites for the states through which you may find yourself riding:
One request- please write a trip report on this website when you get back!
Posted by
104 posts
As a courtesy I have attached some links below for biking in Germany and Europe in General. Included is the contact info for the German Cycling Federation. You could contact them to see if they have recommendations for bike shops/bike shipping companies. One warning about shipping bikes or checking them on the plane. Check your bike carefully for any frame damage as soon as you pick it up. If you leave the airport or shipping company then notice damage they can deny responsibility. If you have connecting flights... I have heard horror stories of airlines blaming each other and refusing to pay for damage to an expensive street bike because it was unknown which airport baggage crew damaged it. Ask the German Cycle Fed. who they would use to ship bikes and about insuring your bike for the journey. Make sure to take U locks (heavy, but more secure), cable locks can be cut easily. Exchange extra keys (I mark one key/ulock with nail polish to tell apart) with your travel buddy so you always have a way to unlock your bike, should you lose your key. Then when you are locking your bikes make sure to lock the frame and back tire. Only lock the front wheel if you and your companion can use your locks in conjunction together to lock both bikes to each other, all wheels and the bike rack. I hope this helps!
http://www.germany.travel/en/germany/about-us/partners/associations/allgemeiner-deutscher-fahrrad-club-ev.html
http://bicyclegermany.com/links.html
http://www.adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist/online-features/tour-it-yourself-cycling-in-europe/