In the official paper with information from our village government, they had an advertisement, showing off a trailer for a bicycle, which you can pull along on tours. The big advantage: you can just crash at the roadside when you are tired, grab some sleep and coutinue. Not so easy with a tent – that’s forbidden.
So I booked one of those campers, which happens to be made of wood, together with an electric bike. Last week I started.
Now riding with a hanger is weird. Kind of, you hit a pothole, but the hanger hits it a bit later and pulls you back. You need to be a bit careful to keep a very smooth pace, no strong accelerations and no sudden brake usage.
The camper and bike came equipped with matress, a sheet, a few things for having outdoors dinner, so when my train arrived in lovely Bammental, I just had my backpack to throw into the camper and could set off.
I had hoped for the version with solar panels but of course I carried a good power bank so I had enough electrons for my cell phone for navigation.
Sure thing, there are extra brakes, so that on downhills you don’t get pushed and „derailed“ on the bike. These in some situations came in quite handy.
Riding through Neckargemuend, – all this was downhill, so those brakes got used. And they worked.
I had planned for a few kilometers of the Neckarradweg, just along the river and this area is not too hilly, very lush forests around, ans steep sides enclose the valley. For it had already been afternoon when I picked up my bike and trailer, I onlty planned to get to Eberbach.But at 1800, nobody was at the reception anymore and so the camper got used in the roadside version – just put down the feet, climb in. Sleep.
This was a very calm area close to a river lock, so some noise of a few ships. Some more nose from cars on the other bank of the river, but nobody passing me and my enclosure.
This was solid sleping and the next morning I assembled some fresh coffee and continued toward Neckargerach because that was the next bakery on google maps.
Having a heavy trailer on a bike needs some extra skills. I mentioned the brakes, but then also, I had to be careful with gravel. Uphill on gravel meant the rear wheel could spin without traction and thus getting me to stop on that uphill. Starting from there is virtually impossible. Pushing bike plus trailer uphill – same thing. So, better not get stuck that way. This adds a little bit of stress if you ride solo. Of course you could always separate bike and trailer but – who really wants to.
I also missed a parking brake for the trailer. Whenever I wanted to stop for a bit, I had to search even ground.
Another obstacle are poles inmid bike paths, which are there to prevent cars from entering. With the trailer you want to pass slowly, not to scratch the sides of the camper. Well… unless you happen to find a pole on an uphill bike path. So I had to turn around once or twice. One example is the last picture in the previous block. I did have to turn around – I could not push my trailer uphill through the poles even if there’s space, but I did not trust my riding skills enough, not to get new scratches onto the iwoody.
I’m not quite weak, so I am used to be able to transport essentially anything using a bike. So that was a brand new experience.
Arriving in Neckargerach, I got into the bakery, and this non-standard vehicle had people look. So this is a perfect conversation starter. After two coffee or three, I made my way to the next campground, anchored my vehicle and took a nice tour on foot into the Margarethenschlucht.
I definitely needed fresh electrons for the electric bike. So that’s new for me, to care about recharging. But of course – no problem at the Campground. Hey, they even have bike chargers mid town. You put in your cable and battery, lock the door, and explore town. Finally getting infrastructure into this beautiful country
The next day I stayed in Neckargerach, took a nice hike to the Minneburg, and down the Wolfsschlucht. Another extremely steep hike, extraordinary river view, old buildings, lush forest, and footways on google maps, where there are none.
The minneburg is accessible via a very steep hike, a tree lay across, and moss and ferns and beautifully blooming plants all around me. bathing in the forest…
The way went alonog the Wolfsschlucht – but my path only touched the area from atop. I found „my“ Paneuropa bike path again, the more important the more people want to re-install frontiers…
And on Thursday, I had to return my setup. So I took a path up the hills and not along the Neckar. I did not want the incline around Hirschhorn, where some rocks had fallen down onto the bike path.
At the camp ground I had a regular crow picking at some stick, as if there were food items inside… So, saying goodbye to my Neckar-view, the crow, the camp ground crew, went a bit along the Neckar, but then uphill toward Bammental. I parked my vehicle at the store and went out for a run (daily mile) to the Friedensbruecke. Funnily the Friedensbruecke is not the beautiful wooden construction over the creek, but it is the car accessible bridge next to it. Peace by allowing cars through? Only in Germany…
It really was a nice ride, just a few stressful moments when I worried about getting uphill on gravel and the back wheel would spin and stop me. I had a good ice cream in Bammental before getting back to the bike store to return bike and iwoody. I’d have added a few things to the hanger, though, like a parking brake, a way to keep the door open (I left a small piece of rope) a cell phone hold (I left one, too), a few hooks or a small shelf for getting glasses and such out of the way while camping, and a rail to attach a tarp so one can have a little tent-y structure in the front. But it was super fun to ride and I really enjoyed it.