Despite the lack of sleep at least today was finally cool with a few early passing showers dropping the temp to just 23 c!
Today had the feel of a lazy day thanks to the planned 60 km ride with a potential 10 km shortcut that we were almost certain to take !
Our early direction took us towards Feuctwangen or as we called it " Fetch Your Wagon", before moving on towards Schillingsfurst where we did in fact elect to take the 10 km short cut to Rothenburg !
The riding scenery was same / same, open fields, quiet villages, a few small climbs etc although the blustery cross winds made some exposed sections tricky particularly the descents !
We met en route a lovely German couple of tourers riding the length of Germany from the Bodinsee and spent some time together asking each other about our respective homelands with Henley doing his best to "Out Yank" them when it came to comparisons !
Nearly in Rothenburg Kev & I noticed almost simultaneously my errant rear wheel which we both knew meant more broken spokes - sure enough a check revealed 2 more broken to bring my tally to 5 on our European leg in just 2 and 1/2 weeks.
After talking to the mechanic in Rothenburg (having found yet another bike shop) he doesn't believe it to be a lateral stability issue nor the riding conditions which only leaves the spoke quality and the weight on the bike something I will have to try and address overnight - read as putting everything on H's bike !
Anyway we arrived at beautiful Rothenburg (Dinklesbuhl on steroids!) filled not only with tourists from the parked coaches outside the city gates but also with an array of architectural gems.
Our own quaint b&b itself is some 400 years old and likely to cause one or both of us severe concussion during our stay because of the very low door ceiling heights.
With H in charge of ventilation he opened one window to let some air in and nearly toppled our TV on to the floor at least that was manageable unlike the other casualty a window ornament that broke into 599 pieces which H busily trying to glue back while I write i
Showered (bike fixed and H with his TDF fix we set out to explore around this delightful town before finally settling on a German style meal in one of the quieter lane way areas.
This time we really are looking forward to some quality sleep with cooler conditions.
The temperature drop is timely as tomorrow we get back on the 100 km track as we work our way to Wurzburg
G'day Litchy. I just had a look at the map. You should have turned right and gone over to Roth to watch (or compete in?) the Ironman Triathlon there this weekend. Afterwards, you would have been so tired that you would sleep through any night time hot weather. From Rafferty
ReplyDelete