A late start on a hot day

August 2, 2022

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Every day is hot now. The heat wave has arrived and we think it wise to be back in our room before the thermometer reads above 30C. We had found a nice little bakery, or rather salon de thé, that opens at six and serves tempting croissants, pains au chocolat etc. Our hotel's 16 Euro breakfast didn't seem necessary. We were there a little after seven and were back at the hotel in time to get out while the air was still cool. But that's not the way things went.

Before we left for breakfast I noticed that my power bank wasn't fully charged and thought I probably hadn't plugged it in properly. When we got back from breakfast we saw that nothing was charged! No batteries for the e-bikes, no phones for navigation, and of course we have a few other electronic goodies, too. I finally figured out it was the way the plugs and light switches were wired. Hotels do this - one switch is for the left light next to the bed as well as the overhead light, the other turns the hall light on and off, and so forth. Not wanting the whole room to be lit up when I turned on the bathroom light at night, I found what I thought was the right switch to take care of that. Unfortunately, that was the master switch.

We then spent a couple of hours waiting for our devices to be serviceable again and got off to a very late start, maybe it was eleven, I can't remember but I do know that the ride got very hot. The beginning followed the EuroVelo 5 along the Ruche Canal, it was shady and pleasant and it was the best part of the trip as it headed towards Strasbourg. A few kilometers down the road was the first highlight, the town of Dachstein. It had a nicely restored wash house or lavoir, a town gate and some remains of fortified walls.

This looked like a good start to the day.

Leaving Molsheim along the bike path which passes close to our hotel (not in the picture)

But we didn't want to go to Strasbourg so I had planned a loop back, hoping we would have good roads and scenery on a less traveled route. The roads weren't terribly interesting, there was a lot of commercial development and generally the towns weren't the picturesque villages we had expected. Maybe we are just spoiled.

A timbered house in the process of being built or perhaps restored.

The dense network of bicycle paths in this part of Alsace is exceptionally good. It seems there are signposted paths to every destination, almost all of them perfectly paved. We managed to find the probably only really bad path, lumpy rocks and dried mud with deep tractor ruts. No pictures of that, I was too busy staying upright.

There wasn't much that I felt like taking a picture of on this baking path. Stopped here in the shade for a drink from my water bottle.

I wonder what kind of tree this is with these pods.

On the way home we stopped at a supermarket for breakfast provisions for the next day, instant coffee and tea bags, madeleines, yoghurt, fromage blanc and bananas. Our room has an electric water kettle and a table with room for two. Perfect. Tomorrow we can get an early start for sure.

Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 231 km (143 miles)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesThe usual annoying trick is to have the plug by the bed controlled by the switch at the entrance. That way, with a lamp plugged in by the bed, the visitor is greeted by a lighted lamp when they enter the room and flip the switch. This is common for when rooms also annoyingly have no overhead lighting. Then there is the stunt where nothing in the room works unless you place a key card in a slot by the door. The thinking is that if you leave the room, taking your key card, everything should be off. Such thinkers grew up before everything needed to be charging, whether you were in the room or not.
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2 years ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Steve Miller/GrampiesWe usually try to get two key cards for this very reason.
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2 years ago