Rhine cycle route - a flat ride home

[quixoticgeek]

Having abandoned the TCR further east than I expected to, I'm not having the fun and games of trying to get home. I'm gonna slowly follow my original route from Belgrade up towards Austria. Then train through the Alps, find the Rhine, and follow it home. Because Komoot decided to roll out a new version of the app just days before the race. I have no means to plan routes in my phone (ride with gps app doesn't support it, Strava planner doesn't work on mobile browsers...) So I'm kinda having to wing it, once I get off my planned routes i have saved and in the wahoo.

So, that in mind. Does anyone have any suggestions for nice flat routes along the Rhine from approximately Karlsruhe to the Dutch border?

Thanks

J

[zigzag]

my way of navigation on the go is:

create a route on google maps website (i.e. not the app)
copy the link into mapstogpx.com
save the gpx file on the phone
open it with garmin connect (i assume you can open gpx files with wahoo app?)
send the course to the gps unit via bluetooth

would this work with wahoo?

[quixoticgeek]

my way of navigation on the go is:

create a route on google maps website (i.e. not the app)
copy the link into mapstogpx.com
save the gpx file on the phone
open it with garmin connect (i assume you can open gpx files with wahoo app?)
send the course to the gps unit via bluetooth

would this work with wahoo?

It would work, it would just be sub optimal. My trust of Google maps cycling directions for anything more than say the train station to a hotel in the same city is minimal. I've been almost shot, after following Google cycle directions before, so tend not to trust it.

I could use the wahoo apps routing feature, but it doesn't provide flexibility beyond a to b, tho it uses either the Komoot or ride with gps engine for picking the route.

In theory I could follow Eurovelo 15, which shy be sign posted, but if it's anything like when I followed ev6, both the route, and the signage was a bit like sustrans. The longest route between 2 points, and half the signs were missing...

J

[Phil W]

How about cycle.travel from which you'd be able to download a GPX track and can include multiple intermediate waypoints?

[jiberjaber]

Don't you get Komoot as a part of TCR? Would that not help?

[Karla]

I'm confused, are you saying that the new Komoot app doesn't allow you to plan routes or that it doesn't sync with the Wahoo app?

The Rhine bike path is indeed pretty Sustrans-ish for the stretch you're looking at.

[quixoticgeek]

Don't you get Komoot as a part of TCR? Would that not help?

I had paid for Komoot a while back. Unfortunately, 2 days before the TCR, Komoot pushed out a new app update, that has rendered the app totally unusable. I've been in touch with their support with them trying to debug whats going on. But it basically crashes when ever you do anything. You'd think they would have had a freeze on pushing new updates for a week before, until the end of an event they are supporting...

I'm confused, are you saying that the new Komoot app doesn't allow you to plan routes or that it doesn't sync with the Wahoo app?

It crashes when ever i try to do anything.

The Rhine bike path is indeed pretty Sustrans-ish for the stretch your looking at.

I've found a gpx for ev15, so I have it as an option. I can always try and find something more direct if it starts to drive me insane...

J

[jiberjaber]

Don't you get Komoot as a part of TCR? Would that not help?

I had paid for Komoot a while back. Unfortunately, 2 days before the TCR, Komoot pushed out a new app update, that has rendered the app totally unusable. I've been in touch with their support with them trying to debug whats going on. But it basically crashes when ever you do anything. You'd think they would have had a freeze on pushing new updates for a week before, until the end of an event they are supporting...

I'm confused, are you saying that the new Komoot app doesn't allow you to plan routes or that it doesn't sync with the Wahoo app?

It crashes when ever i try to do anything.

The Rhine bike path is indeed pretty Sustrans-ish for the stretch your looking at.

I've found a gpx for ev15, so I have it as an option. I can always try and find something more direct if it starts to drive me insane...

J

Do you have RWGPS? You can get a 1 month sub if needed?  Perhaps we could crowd source a route for you on this thread?

[quixoticgeek]

Do you have RWGPS? You can get a 1 month sub if needed?  Perhaps we could crowd source a route for you on this thread?

Yep, have the paid for version too. But unless I am being utterly mad, I can't find any way to plan a route from within the ridewithgps android app.

I have paid subscriptions for Strava, ridewithgps, and Komoot, and each one has its own failing. I'm still in awe at Komoot and their bad timing. The word Verschlimmbessern comes to mind...

J

[bludger]

You may as well use Eurovelo 15, which follows the Rhine pretty much exactly.

http://en.eurovelo.com/ev15

Frustratingly they don't publish an 'official' GPX for EV 15 but this one from RidewithGPS looks pretty much exact. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28091541

Hard to get lost on it anyway. Join at Karlsruhe and you're off to the races.

It is pancake flat. And if you get really fucked off with it you can always jump on a ferry ride.

Have a nice ride home QG, stop for all the pastries.

[Rod Marton]

North of Karlruhe the Rhine valley is wide and opens out to a plain around Speyer. It isn't necessary to follow the river exactly around here to have a flat ride. In particular it is possible to cut off the Mainz corner by going through Alzey and to Bingen via the Nahe valley.

Between Bingen and (say) Bonn you should follow the Rhine as closely as possible - there are significant hills to either side and the Rhine bank is the only flat route through. It doesn't matter which side, and whilst there are no bridges until Koblenz there are quite a few ferries across. Unsurprisingly, Eurovelo 15 follows this route.

After Bonn you will be clear of all the major hills. I'm not sure which bit of the Dutch border you are heading for, but it will be quite possible to cut westwards from here on.

[bludger]

Can certainly attest to that. Once you're past Bonn (which is where I rode to) it will be ez pz. It was frustrating that EV 15 wasn't signposted, though, so sometimes I ended up on the wrong bits of path.

[quixoticgeek]

I've downloaded the EV15 gpx from ridewithgps. It looks like ev15 was designed by sustrans... A friend in .NL has offered to see if he can optimise it a bit.

A days rest on the train has helped a lot. Am feeling almost Human.

J

[pdm]

We rode EV15 from Mainz to Koeln a couple of years ago. It is a bit sustransy but quite rideable and not too bad to follow; easier if you have a track in your GPS. Flat. Nice views. Definitely not as quick as open road, though. Can be very hot in the baking summer sun in places where the breeze does not reach (as it was when we were there...)