Plan B

Some backing up and explaining needs to be completed to get this blog back on track.

The terrain became much easier on leaving Saarbrucken with the route mostly along the riverbank.  Easy cycling on bitumen or concrete.  I knew I was going uphill by the locks on the river.

About 50km into the ride I reach an old concrete bunker with a French flag outside.  Obviously I had reached the border

It was at the 70km point where I experienced the root cause of my current problem.  A pedestrian bridge over the canal.  Steps with a thin gutter on the right side to push a bike.  The bike was too heavy for me to push and I had to unload it taking three trips to get everything to the opposite bank.  This is where I believe I damaged the internally geared rear wheel hub.  

Initially I only had Gear 8 of 11.  After two hours I managed to recover Gear 1.  With only two gears I limped on to my planned destination for the evening only to find it permanently closed.  Bugger!  Another 23km later (getting late) I reached the Incline Plane camping ground where I spent the night

After a shower I used the Jetfoil containing a small quantity of water to re heated a tin of stew for dinner before having an interesting discussion with an elderly German couple (OK they were my age) who were also on a cycling holiday.  He was both a vegetarian and pacifist.  They had lived in various countries as part of a program funded by the German government to support and assist countries that had been adversely affected by Nazi actions during WW2.   An interesting couple!

In the morning I had another attempt at improving the situation with the gears on the bike managing to recover a 3rd gear.  Cycling on I reached Saverne where I found a bike shop with a mechanic who knew enough to check the Shimano Alfine hub.  His advice was the labour cost it wasn't worth pulling apart and finding replacement parts would be very difficult.

I decided to cycle on to Strasbourg with my limited gears knowing it was flat terrain.  Upon reaching Strasbourg I went to the Shimano Service Centre where to my surprise they informed me not only did they not have a hub but if they ordered one it would likely arrive in early September.  By then I would have to be back in Australia!

Looking for PLAN B I sat down and started searching for a hub somewhere in Germany.  There was a large bike shop in Bonn, some 350km north and I decided it might be possible to take the bike there on the train and have the hub replaced before continuing my trip.  However there was a language barrier which provided difficult.  I then contacted an old army colleague who lives in Germany and was approximately 100km north.  He has a lovely German wife who could hopefully assist with the language issue.

Rather than just assist with the communications issue Ray drove down to Strasbourg and collected both me and the bike.  Meanwhile Anna, his wife, started phoning the local bike shops.  By the time we had returned to their home PLAN B had evolved.  The local bike shop had suggested it would be easier to source a hub in an existing wheel than find just the hub.  The shop had found one and was waiting on a answer to order it.

I immediately consented and the order was placed.

Meanwhile Ray & Anna very kindly offered me the use of their holiday apartment adjacent to their main home whilst waiting for the wheel to be delivered and the bike repaired.

So here I am in the lovely little town of Annweiler.

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The last two photos were provided by Anna

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