Now there are some (me) that say rather unkindly that H would get lost going from his bedroom to his kitchen if he didn't have a map but today he had the chance to prove the doubters and me wrong !
Our exit from Rothenburg was well timed to miss the rain as by the time we'd breakfasted, fitted my bike with my new panniers so I could ditch the old ones & save weight and hidden the b&b's smashed ornament (see yesterday) the drizzle had in fact stopped !
We were feeling like a million dollars (or a "quadzillion" Greek Drachmas) finally having had a good nights sleep as we sat back on our bikes taking in the magical scenery of the Tauber Valley and its beautiful medieval style villages as we cycled towards Creglingen.
Despite the scenery you kinda knew H was feeling the early leadership pressure as he'd begun to grumble earlier than normal about the few pinches we'd climbed saying we (read he) would be buggered by days end if this kept up !
H after leading out well flew through an intersection in Cregligen the wrong way, no big deal unlike his 2nd mistake shortly after that saw him exiting our trail on to the wrong side of the road oblivious to the car now coming at him head on !
Luckily the car driver seemed more bemused than upset and allowed H to quickly correct. Even H didn't seem too worried when I spoke to him about it saying "well he had a steering wheel didn't he"!
Back on track we left the Tauber river after being prewarned by our German touring friends and climbed up over a valley on a route that was go to save some 20+kms !
Our climb in fact took us through the German village of " Struth" aptly named as the climb was pretty damned steep compared to flat riding we'd experienced so far in Germany
From Struth it was Km after Km of wheat fields as our trail zig and zagged across the countryside somehow always ending up going straight into a headwind with barely a tree to be seen anywhere!
H got one back for the team with a great pick up when what resembled a tennis umpires chair blocked our route sign !
H was quick to pick up the change in direction as well as make what I thought was an educated comment " no wonder they are so good at tennis as they even play out in the middle of nowhere"!
A missed path sign on the outskirts off Wurzburg put us right in the middle of heavy traffic for a short period before we fumbled our way down on to the Main river (pronounced Mein).
Over the bridge and with our bearings reset we found our Pension b&b some 3kms out from the old town. After H had his "TDF" fix and watched Tony Martins crash about 15 times we walked into the main town area to the historic old bridge which amazingly also serves as a wine bar where people are allowed to purchase wine and sit back and enjoy the fabulous views.
Amazingly we bumped into our German touring friends Johannes and Elke once again and with their journey finally separating from ours as they head towards the top of Germany we decided to join them for a wine.
The meeting was also fortuitous as Elke a Nurse, was able to confirm to Henley's relief that his spreading bruise did not mean that any limbs would need to be amputated as i had incorrectly told him !
With both of us a bit "peckish" we settled for a nearby pasta meal before a quick look around the old town badly destroyed by a WW2 bomber raid in March 1935 that specifically targeted the flammability of its buildings - war can certainly be brutal !
With our day done we walked back to our b&b along tge river front martvellinbg at the magic hillside views in the late setting sun - another days cycling, well done H !
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