Day 45: Thursday, 23 June 1983

Start: Campground, Hatzenport, Germany

End: Campground, Liblar, Germany

Chilly and damp last night. Fog in the valley this morning. On the road by 9:00 or 9:30 and it's not clearing much. 

I've decided there's no way I can stick to my plan of riding up to Denmark and then Sweden and Norway. I'll run out of time and energy and miss too many other places. So I turn off Moselweinstrasse and start climbing steeply out of the Mosel valley. This will take me toward the Netherlands and ensure I miss the urban congestion around the Ruhr.

Although the valley remains foggy, I climb onto a plateau and into bright sunshine. Rolling fields, low ridges, small villages, farmhouses and barns, groves. Very nice. Getting warm. More climbs and descents. I rest briefly on a convenient bench beside the road. Off in the far distance and way back down on flat ground I see the autobahn and what must be an air force base with helicopters and warplanes.

Lunch along the road with canned herring in tomato sauce, cheese, bread, beer, strawberry tart. After lunch I'm out of the hills and into flat terrain. I think this is part of the north German plain. Not sure. Running north parallel to the Rhine but away from cities. Past Bonn. Good riding with light tailwind. Sunny and warmer. Knee not bothering me any more.

I pushed north to Liblar and found a campground. The German rider must have been right. This is the third crummy Deutsch camp in a row. Dirty and crowded and noisy. Cold shower. I picked up food for dinner (and tomorrow's breakfast) at the same time I grabbed stuff for today's lunch. I hide out in the June Bug and eat pasta and meatballs from a can (yes, cold, but really good), a jar of applesauce, bread, chocolate pudding, and beer. Ah, nutrition.

Conditions 

Distance: 100 km  

Weather: Cool and foggy, then warmer and warmer 

Road: Good 

Traffic: Light 

Terrain: Climbing up, then hills, then flat 

Mechanical: All is well 

Physical: Strong