July 23, 2012
Schlüchtern to Karlstadt
More good weather, and our hotel served a fantastic breakfast buffet. We were off to a good start for the last big hill in the Rhön. We started out on a climb that made us thankful for our e-support. Last year we had ridden this road on a Sunday, which meant light traffic and no trucks, and we were coming down, not going up. Now there was a fair amount of traffic including trucks and for a stretch no shoulder, very unpleasant until we could leave the main road in Schlagmühle. Then it was beautiful.
When we got to Sterbfritz, we saw bicycle signs to the Sinn Valley path. This wasn't the route we took last year, but we thought we should try it. That was a mistake. It was scenic enough, but at times we were on rough and slow paths through the woods, anything that would keep us off the roads. On paths like that you have to concentrate so much on loose stones, roots and potholes, that you can hardly pay attention to anything else, like the scenery around you.
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By the time we reached the Sinn Valley it was quite hot, for the first time on our trip. We cycled through the town where we stopped in a downpour last year, all still vivid in our memories.
Finally, we reached the very popular Main Bike Path at Gemünden, a pretty town but crawling with cyclists. At this point we should have recognized that we needed to call ahead and book a room for the night. But we didn't know how far we wanted to go before stopping and decided we'd see when we got there.
The bike path itself wasn't crowded, just the little towns along the way. In Karlstadt we decided to call it a day and since the tourist office was open, we went in for help finding a room. There were hardly any rooms left, we were told, and the remaining rooms were quite expensive. I can reconcile myself with a high price if I'm getting high quality. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here. But we did find a lovely little beer garden for our evening meal, and since we are in wine country, we didn't have beer but wine.
Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 871 km (541 miles)
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