Cycling UK Forum

What a variety of views on the interest, or otherwise, of the trip and the scenery!!

Whilst I'm prepared to not find wonderful hire bikes, this site suggests a number of types of bike are available:

http://www.radstationkoeln.de/bike-rental-english.html

...there are othes when you Google.

Given how many tour companies are operating in mainland Europe these days, I cannot believe only heavy Dutch type bikes are the only option!

Many thanks for all the helpful responses.

In case it's useful, this is a cycle tour going south towards Metz and Nancy.



http://alpregio.outdooractive.com/ar-mo ... ab=TourTab

I've cycled in and around Luxembourg City before, the cycle paths and planned and signed routes are absolutely excellent. We went north rather than south though.

I'm basically doing a lot of online searching and prepared to be flexible.

The thing about Bike Express and the Bike Bus is that they are so incredibly expensive. Some of us are on budgets!!

Just wondering if I can piggyback onto this discussion. I'm flying to Germany shortly and intending to hire a bike there. I'm expecting to only take hand luggage. Is there likely to be a problem over taking a tool kit in hand luggage?

I can't believe that a helmet would be a problem but if that's the case, would also appreciate a tip off.

Thanks.

Hi,

I'm not new to touring but I'm doing a self constructed, self guided tour with my daughter involving flying to Bonn, hiring bikes (we don't want to take our own because of the hassles of transporting them and we're hoping we can hire halfway decent bikes in Bonn), cycling down the Rhine to Koblenz, then Trier, then to Luxembourg where we expect to take a train back to Bonn to return the bikes. We've allowed 6 days.

Just wondering if anyone has done anything similar; if anyone can recommend good bike hire facilities in Bonn (bikes need to have racks or some light luggage carrying fixtures); we were imagining staying in hostels and if there were any recommendations of those or cheaper hotels/B&Bs on the route that would be great. Anything else that occurs to anyone.

We're going at the end of July.

Many thanks in advance.

I'm really pleased to read your post Pete because I can tell a similar story. Having suffered a nasty chest infection early last year which took several courses of antibiotics to clear, I was told I had asthma. In fact my symptoms seemed to come and go (wheezing, tight chest, reacting to chemical cleaners). I was prescribed Ventolin and then when I saw the asthma nurse, because I talked about getting breathless while hill climbing, she wanted me to go on Symbicort which I wasn't totally happy about given the long list of side effects to steroids and other 'dissatisfied customers'! I did give it a try for a while and then I stopped. I also don't like to take things unless totally necessary (typical cyclist probably!) and I haven't had more than an occasional tight chest since stopping.

The problem is the medics don't like you taking things into your own hands so I haven't been back to the surgery. I think people who die of asthma attacks often have more persistent and serious symptoms. There have been two asthmatics in my family, one of them died during an attack in his 20s, the other had asthma all her life and managed it with symptoms but no serious attacks. So I think I know what an asthmatic looks like and it's not me. However, the range of symptoms now included as asthma seems to have widened somewhat. I wonder if it's a kind of 'catch all'.

I do live somewhere (Thames Valley) where respiratory problems are an almost casually accepted phenomenon and I wonder about cycling and air pollution. I know that when I pick up speed, I tend to mouth breathe which I'm trying to stop and I wonder about the effects of air pollution on our increasingly crowded roads. It would be typical of our society to ignore the effects of too many vehicles pumping out exhaust and instead treat the victim and some are probably more vulnerable than others. Heart and lungs work together and air pollution can affect the heart too, the BHF has plenty to say about that.

So not sure where this takes the subject but it's good to feel not alone!