That's a nice site --- I had not seen it. I'll spend some time exploring it this morning --> thanks!

Since Germany is a popular place to cycle, there are a lot of good sites (some German, a number based in England), and guidebooks too. I've got the Esterbauer guidebook for the Bodensee; this one is only available in German, aber dass ist eigentlich kein (oder am mindestens klein :-)) problem fuer mich. For a more general guidebook, a 7" tablet and eBook format works well for me. My wife wants to have the physical Esterbauer books, however.

The ADFC website has quite a bit of stuff. It's kind of weird for us to think of the equivalent of AAA (Automobile association) being all over bike travel, but it's more logical to Europeans.

I lived in Germany for three years lo some decades ago, and enough sticks that I can get by in basic conversation well enough. And we'll spend time with German friends there, always easier with local contacts.

I appreciate the offer of the pannier loan (!); going that light makes no sense for me I'm afraid. Bike plus gear, food, etc will probably see me peddling about 50 pounds (plus my own overweight self) along the trail, but we're keeping the daily mileage low. In fact, I just bought a pair of "tandem" saddlebag type panniers for this trip that are short enough to work well with a folding bike. The saddlebag style will be, I hope, easier to work with as luggage and just transitioning to/from bike to hotel/gasthaus/airbnb/etc.

I'm particularly jazzed about being able to use just any train, not the bike-specific car on a bike-accepted train. Or, for that matter, bus. Buses are nicer in Europe than riding Greyhound here, so I suspect that sometimes Americans don't think to check that option.

Some folks are happy riding their bikes with lots of traffic and trucks wizzing close by to them. I'm definitely not, so I'm thinking/hoping that there might be more European bike travel in my future, certainly to include the Netherlands, but elsewhere too.

I presume you found less in the way of dedicated bike path in the former east? Today the EV routes I think are still being fleshed out as more and better dedicated bike path in eastern Europe. We'll be on the EV6 (Eurovelo 6, ~Donauradweg), but on a future trip we might well follow the Danube farther east.
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Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle