Rhine-on-Skates 2010 - 28th August

"Don't forget the great opportunity to skate on quality German roads in 2010 - the 135km round trip riverside jaunt that is the Rhine-on-Skates! Rhine -on-Skates is an organised skate tour conducted at a steady pace with regular food and water stops from Rudesheim am Rhein to Koblenz and back (i.e. 68km there, 68km back). The route is along the banks of the river Rhine which means it's flat - there's only one real hill during the entire 135km - and the area is UNESCO world heritage listed and packed full of picturesque castles, forests, river views, etc. Hundreds of people take part each year and if you comfortably complete the LFNS or LondonSkate on a regular basis then the Rhine-on-Skates should be within your ability. For full details see the Rhine-on-Skates English home page at: http://www.rhine-on-skates.de/english.html "

(Text taken from the newsletter of www.lfns.co.uk, with minor modifications)

Registration

• English version of our registration form
• Register by July 19th and save money!
• Do you live outside the Euro zone, and your bank charges you high fees for money transfers? Contact us: anmeldung [at] rhine - on - skates [dot] de, and we'll find a solution.

What is Rhine-on-Skates?

Rhine-on-Skates is a guided inline skating tour on smooth German roads along the river Rhine in the UNESCO world heritage site Upper Middle Rhine valley (Rhine Gorge), passing vineyards, castles and the famous rock of the Loreley - an experience of unique scenery!

Date:

• 2010, 28th August (Saturday)
• Start probably around 9:00 a.m..

Route:

The following details are not yet confirmed but very likely. Please check this page again later for updates ...

• Start and Finish: Rüdesheim am Rhein (... and in the evening: party!)
• Breaks:
  • St. Goar (30 minutes)
  • Koblenz (> 1 hour, pasta!)
  • St. Goarshausen (30 minutes)
• Total length: 135 km (84 miles)
• It is possible to skate only parts of the route e.g. between the break sites; each section will be approx. 30 - 35 km.
  • e.g. skate from Rüdesheim to St. Goar, leave the convoy there, have a long lunch break, cross the river by ferry, finally join again and skate with the convoy to Rüdesheim,
  • or skate "as long as goes well" (e.g. starting in Koblenz) and travel either back or further by train (there is a station every few kilometers),
  • or, or, or.... For better planning, further information will be provided later (at least, in German language).

Some facts:

• We will be skating as a convoy, escorted by police in front and behind, accompanied by ambulances and busses for stragglers. Breaks will be in St. Goar, Koblenz (long lunch break) and St. Goarshausen. In addition, there will be short gathering stops in between. At the breaks in St. Goar and St. Goarshausen there will be drinks and bananas available.
• Everyone who can skate and brake safely and is sufficently fit (speed will be 20 km/h for longer passages) is welcome to join.
• Registration has started (registration form), costs 30 Euro for early registrants (until June 15th) and includes catering in the breaks.
• Please wear full protection gear - a helmet is obligatory!
• Promoters, organisers and helpers see Impressum/Kontakt [german].

How to get there, where to stay, ...

Important: The following information is for 2009 - please check later for updated 2010 information!

We start at 9:00 CEST (7:00 UTC / GMT), in D-65385 Rüdesheim am Rhein, "Auf der Lach" (for GPS fans: 49.97855 N, 7.93080 E)

How to get there

Rüdesheim am Rhein is on the right side of the Rhine river. You can get there by train from Wiesbaden, Koblenz, Frankfurt, ...

• Take care: There are other places called Rüdesheim - our Rüdesheim ist the one with the post code 65385 (Rüdesheim (Rhein) or Rüdesheim am Rhein).
• Maps:
  • Maps on our German language page
  • Interactive Google map
• Timetables for public transport in Germany at deutschebahn.com
• Airports: Frankfurt Airport (IATA code: FRA) and Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (IATA code: HHN) are the closest airports. FRA is closer to Rüdesheim than HHN and has by far better train/bus connections to/from Rüdesheim.
• Check this Discussion about Rhine-on-Skates 2010 at serpentioneroad.com (skating forum of londonskaters.com) or the Facebook group Rhine on Skates - The British are coming! for travel plans from Britain!

Where to stay

We recommend staying in Rüdesheim am Rhein. Alternatives are the neighbouring towns. Bingen am Rhein is connected by ferries (until midnight!), Assmannshausen, Geisenheim, Eltville, ..., Wiesbaden by bus or train.

• Tourist Centre Rüdesheim, Phone: +49 (0)6722 90615-0
• Accommodation in Rüdesheim (ruedesheim.de), hrs.de
• Camping site Rüdesheim (about 1 km from start/party location, does not accept reservation, however has enough space for us.)

Further information in English ...

• Further information in english language will hopefully be available later on.
• Until then:
  • Try reading our German pages.
    • Dictionary: Use this excellent german-english online dictionary to translate single words: dict.leo.org
  • translate.google.com or babelfish.altavista.com provides a rough translation:
    • translate.google.com-version of rhine-on-skates.de
    • Babelfish-version of rhine-on-skates.de
    Note: The automatic translation is not really perfect, but better than nothing; e.g., Bingen (name of a city) is being "translated" into being gene ...
• Discussion about Rhine-on-Skates 2010 at serpentineroad.com (skating forum of londonskaters.com)

Contact

• anmeldung [at] rhine - on - skates [dot] de
• +49 6131 6968707 (evening and weekend only)

Francais

• un forum franco-belge sur Rhine-on-Skates
• rhine-on-skates.de en francais ("traduit" avec babelfish.altavista.com)
• rhine-on-skates.de en francais ("traduit" avec translate.google.com)