 Cobbles on the Rhine Veloroute |
A nice bit of "pavé" as the French would call it. Straight out of Paris-Roubaix. I always opt for the "channel" at the edge. |  R6 / Rhine VR |
Note how the official cycleway follows a gravel track although there is a perfectly good paved surface that follows the same route but behind the crown of the dike. |
 Jossgrund |
A lovely bit of asphalt - what more could you ask for? |  Ederseeradweg |
Wet cobbles - lurvly. Not. This little ford was at the bottom of a hill in the woods. I did not throw caution to the winds, but, as advised by a warning sign, dismounted before crossing. |
 Ederradweg |
The photo does not unfortunately give an adequate impression of the steep drop into the lake on the left of the cycleway or just how narrow and slippery the surface is. |  Ederradweg |
Forest tracks - generally very ridable and always pleasantly shady in summer. Caution is required after autumn rain however! |
 Westerwald |
Sometimes you just have to cycle over grass to reach your goal. As I did here to get to the "Fuchskaute" and a borderstone between 3 states. |  R9 |
Gravel. Looks nasty, but is actually very ridable stuff and generally a "fast" surface. Deep gravel is a different matter, however. You tend to sink in and start slipping and sliding. But anything is better than crushed rock! |
 Werraradweg |
Asphalt. I've got to hand it to the Germans: They know what they're doing with asphalt. This is a particularly delicious bit of cyclepath. They should invite French roadbuilders over to study in Germany! |  R8 / Sackpfeife |
Trail in the woods right after some rain. The yellow film on the puddles is from all the pollen in the air "washed out" by the rain and is very greasy. Which is why roads can be treacherous after such rain - and especially the white (painted) lines. |
 R4 - Odenwald |
Near the Wartturm at Schaafheim. Nasty cobbles on a slope - I always ride across the grass here! |  Werraradweg |
Incredibly narrow track: Beware of oncoming traffic! |
 Werraradweg |
I love this section of the Werra cycleway - in 2011 it was a bit ramshackle and wobbly after the winter floods. |  France |
Cows on the old railway line now asphalted to become the excellent "Piste cyclable Roger Lapebie". Circumnavigation is the recommended procedure with cows. |
 France |
A very sandy track in the Medoc. The track is actually a fine strip of concrete - not visible here due to all the sand. |  France |
On the (official!) Lot Cycle Trail. The gate to the right is padlocked. Laden bike is too heavy to lift over and it won't go through the swing gate with luggage. Remove luggage and lift it over the gate, pull bike into a vertical position and wheel it through before affixing luggage again. And same procedure again 2 km down the track! |