Mission Rhine
This story was written on 1 Sept 2023. Thank you Matthieu for inspiring me to write about my travels.
Germany is not far from Zurich.
That was one of my key observations when I was thinking about my imminent move to Zurich, back in 2022. Having never been abroad, I found it cool that I could cycle to a different country in an hour or two.
Well, the moment was finally here. I’d been in Zurich for almost a year. Luckily, I had still not been to Germany, so I could scale my country count up by a factor of 1.33 without spending a dime. My second semester’s session exams got over on 29 Aug, and it wasn’t raining on the 30th. Amazing, letsgoo.
My longest trip so far had been 28 km. This one was gonna be around 50 km (challenging!) even if I just crossed the Rhine and came back. So that’s what I decided to do. The plan: cycle from Zurich Affoltern to Kaiserstuhl (Swiss border town) via Dielsdorf and then cross into Hohentengen am Hochrhein (German border town). I pretty much followed the SchweizMobil cycling route #32. Google Maps predicted 1h15m one-way, but I didn’t know the way and I’m not used to long-distance cycling, so let’s say under two hours.
I left home around 8:40 am. It was cloudy and misty, 11°C. I was wearing a hat, a helmet, a muffler, a jacket, and gloves. Cycling with layers is not very comfortable, but the breeze was chilly, so I had no choice. I had cycled to Regensberg Castle back in April, so the first half of the route was familiar to me. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had some memory of some roads in Regensdorf and Dielsdorf.
Around 9 am I noticed my cycle wasn’t cruising like usual. I thought it was because I hadn’t eaten much in the morning. But then it dawned on me that my sloppy self forgot to check the tires before leaving. Indeed, both my tires needed air. Zurich has public bike pumps in the city, but this was not Zurich. I stopped at a roadside car wash place where the kind carwasher (?) had a pump, but it wouldn’t work for my tube. He tried redirecting me but he was speaking in German so I felt a bit helpless — all I heard was blah blah velomechanik. But I knew velo means cycle so it was a good tip. While trying to fill air at the car wash, we actually ended up emptying the rear tire. So if this velomechanic place didn’t work out, I was kind of stranded. Forget the Rhine, I couldn’t even cycle back home. It would be a crushing defeat ─ I’d have to buy two tickets and carry myself and my bike back home by bus. I tried not to think about that as I rode downhill to the cycle shop. It was closed. Amazing. But there was a cycle pump attached to the shop! Okay, moment of truth. It worked! I was beside myself with joy and gratitude. I thanked the cycle gods and the Swiss cycling network as I resumed my journey with renewed spirits.
It was 9:30 am. The sun started to shine a bit brighter and all the cycling was warming me up. So in the span of 10 mins, even though it was still 13°C, I incrementally discarded all my layers, including the helmet. It was liberating and I felt great. The section after Dielsdorf was uphill and there were low-hanging clouds nestling the hills around me. It was misty, it was beautiful.
Soon the uphill ordeal ended and I was greeted by a long (8km!) gentle slope down all the way to Kaiserstuhl. This part of the journey was my favorite. The road was a valley line, i.e. it was surrounded by hills sloping up on both sides. These hills were speckled with trees that grew vertically (naturally) ─ so they were at an acute angle with the sloping ground. I found that funny.
Along the way, somewhere in Bachs, I came across an orchard. Rows and rows of apple trees with huge juicy-looking apples. I wanted to try one but they were behind a fence and I didn’t want to cross that line. However, there was a pear tree at the corner of the orchard whose branches drooped out. I took this as a sign of approval from the giving tree and grabbed a pear. I also saw a few sunflower fields on my way. Most of them weren’t in bloom, or maybe they weren’t impressed by the sun that day. But they themselves were still impressive.
Soon enough I was at Kaiserstuhl. The Rhine was mere minutes away, but I got distracted by a bücher box (public bookcase!) at Kaiserstuhl’s train station. I had heard of them but had never seen one before. I spent a good 10 mins checking it out. Most of the books were German but there were a few English ones too. I borrowed a book and I’ll go back someday to donate one. The train station also had an EV charging station. Pretty cool, EVs ftw!
Good pit stop, but it was time to go. I descended down the steep road to the Rhine. As it came into sight, my first thought was that the river was green, not blue. I felt let down. It wasn’t very wide either. I guess it makes sense to build a bridge where it’s narrow. I crossed the border on my bike and no one cared. I giggled to myself. It’s crazy how relaxed these Schengen borders can be. I was welcomed by Germany’s tricolor and a signpost that read “Bundesrepublik Deutschland” (Federal Republic of Germany). Achievement unlocked!
Now what? I could see an ALDI (supermarket) on the map, it was a few km east on the German side. Good, I was hungry. I could grab something and also ride through some Deutschland. I proceeded to cycle to the ALDI. The area that I saw was very similar to Switzerland. But the buildings seemed bigger, as if they had a lot more space in the country. It reminded me a bit of Gurgaon. Oh, and strasse became straße. The German ALDI wasn’t noticeably cheaper than the Swiss ones. I bought some chocolate bars, a pizza snack, a vanillestange, and some coffee. I didn’t have euros, but they accepted CHF (only bills, no coins). I gave them a 10 CHF note and they gave me some EUR coins back. I don’t know why I expected them to have CHF coins. Anyway, euros would come in handy at some point.
After my little German shopping trip, I rode back into Schweiz. There were some chairs beside the Rhine where I sat and enjoyed a peaceful lunch. It was 12 noon when I decided to leave. My phone’s battery was at 19% even though I started at 80%. That was stressful because I needed Maps to get me home. But the route had long straightforward sections and the occasional signposts pointing to Zurich. It was gonna be okay.
I bid farewell to the cute little town of Kaiserstuhl. I’d prepared for the cold but not for the sun, which was now out in full glory. Rookie mistake. I’ll carry sunscreen and a cap with me next time. Luckily, I had sunglasses so I donned them. They really helped. The return journey was relatively uneventful. I didn’t stop much and I didn’t lose my way much. I grabbed two more pears from the giving tree. En route I saw more cyclists (pro cyclists ─ they were wearing tights and their backs were parallel to the ground). Some of them waved/nodded to me and I felt acknowledged as a fellow cyclist. Felt really nice. When I was in Dielsdorf I waved to the car wash shop and the cycle mechanic shop. Signposts told me that Zurich was getting closer, which was relieving because I was pretty exhausted by this point. I reached home at 1:40 pm, much to my pleasure.
All in all, the trip was a resounding success. The highlights for me were the picturesque views between Dielsdorf and Kaiserstuhl. I got lucky with the weather, it was neither too cold nor too hot. The Rhine itself was underwhelming, but I’ve seen its might at Rheinfalls (at Schaffhausen), so I let it pass. I managed to get a sneak peak of Germany and I’m excited to visit it properly soon. Maybe I’ll cycle to Liechtenstein someday. If I can earn some money this year, I’ll save to buy a touring bike next spring. It should be worth it. Till then, I look forward to more cycling before the winter kicks in.
Miscellaneous pictures
