Bach by Bike

[dimrub]

For a long time I had a dream of biking in the area where J.S. Bach lived, preferably during a Bach festival, enjoying the landscape, the edifices and the music. Recently I decided to act upon this and started by googling bach+bike to see whether there are any ready to use routes, and lo and behold - I stumbled across a company - called Bach by bike - that puts together organized tours along these very lines! I am not a huge fan of organized tours, I usually see them as a waste of money and an imposition, but this tour is organized not just by fellow bike enthusiasts, but by professional musicians, who can probably tell you a lot of things you wouldn't learn otherwise, get you into venues you would have missed by your own, and also, apparently, organize impromptu musical program with the tourers' participation. Sounds very cool, so I'm signing up. I'm not affiliated with them in any way and in fact kind of shoot myself in the foot by advertising them, given that their groups' sizes are limited, but I can't help but share such a cool adventure. They recently put up their schedule for 2022, and I'm probably going to sign up for the Leipzig festival tour.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

When we look around there is no shortage of themed bike tours.

In fact, I've used itineraries of established companies as a inspiration for some rough planning. Some even put their routes on RWGPS!

My first tour was through a company. I made my own way but they lugged my baggage from hotel to hotel. A fantastic beginner's experience.

With the ongoing Covid situation there are a lot of advantages to using a company, mainly that any complications will be their responsibility.

Years after my first tour the company still emails me. Their most recent catalogue for 2022 includes the ability to cancel "for any reason" and change to later in the year or 2023 which I thought was very flexible.

An advantage of a themed tour like yours is that you'll be touring with like minded people.

Enjoy!

 

[mistyoptic]

Will you be going there and Bach?

 

[dimrub]

Will you be going there and Bach?

Yes, and plan to baroque it all the way.

 

[All uphill]

Make a liszt of everything you see!

 

[dimrub]

Make a liszt of everything you see!

Yep, I do hope to get a Handel of things on this trip.

 

[All uphill]

Check the bell on your bike. This is the country of the ringcycle we are talking about..

Seriously that tour looks fantastic! Ms AU is a keen pianist and we both love cycling and the music of J S B.

 

[Cathryn]

There's a lovely journal on CrazyGuy of a chap who did something similar. Might spark some ideas. I loved reading it, what a brilliant idea.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1mr&doc_id=23770&v=Pz

 

[numbnuts]

Will there be "air on your g string"

 

[The Crofted Crest]

I once cycled to Eisenach, where Joh Seb was born. His alleged birth house* is now a museum. Overlooking Eisenach is Wartburg castle, where Luther translated the bible. The place is well worth visiting. It also has a Bach festival at the end of October. The same trip also took us, purely by chance you understand, to St Thomas' church in Leipzig, where Joh Seb worked and is supposedly buried**.

* There is a story that JS lived in a rather non-descript house a couple of streets away, but the yanks bombed the toccata and fugue out of it in the war and the Bach House was conveniently located to pretend it was his birth place.

** JS was originally buried in another church but the yanks bombed the clavichords out of it in the war. "Bach's" bones were then moved to St Thomas' church where he had worked for many years. There are doubts though about who had previously embodied the bones.

Whatever, enjoy your trip.

 

[The Crofted Crest]

@dimrub, @All uphill, something for you (and All Uphill's wife)?

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2021 (ALL DAY) TO FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2021 (ALL DAY)
WKCR is thrilled to announce this year's Bach Festival, an 8-day long pre-emption where will feature only the music and genius of Johann Sebastian Bach. From Christmas Eve (12/24) through New Year's Eve (12/31), tune in to WKCR-FM NY 89.9 and wkcr.org for 192 hours of Bach as we celebrate another year's end with our annual Bachfest. This year, we celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Bachfest tradition. See our programming schedule below!

 

[dimrub]

Well, it's less than 2 weeks away now. I was thinking of bringing my own bike, but it appears Lufthansa have hiked up their prices, so that rent costs same as bringing my own precious, minus the hassle - so a rented bike it is, and given that they have the luggage transfer service already in place (and paid for), I'll be travelling in style, like we did with the family back when we first tried this as a family pastime. Can't wait to be on the way!

 

[dimrub]

Well, it's done now. I hesitate as to whether to post here a link to my journal of this tour - or to make a separate thread with a reworked version of it. I'll start with former, for ease's sake. So here it is, my 9 days on a bicycle in Thuringia, in the wake of J.S. Bach.

 

[Cathryn]

Loved this!!! Thank you for writing it.

 

[Espresso vecchio]

A great account of a very interesting trip. Thank you