Last full day of cycling, and the feelings are definitely mixed. Riding Big Red has been a dream but she is wearing me out otherwise. I’m ready to go home but I’m in the touring groove. I had a good sleep, a great breakfast, and the weather was lovely. The ride was flat and well signed. I met some interesting people, enjoyed the lanes through the countryside, got to Strasbourg safely. So let’s just say it was another great day on a bike.
There was a young couple that was riding out of Obernai at about the same time as me, and we played leapfrog for a while. Finally I pulled up alongside them and asked, in my execrable French, if either of them spoke English or German. They didn’t understand me at first, but after trying French and German we got to English. We pulled over to the side of the road so we could chat. Thus I met Christina and Manuel.
What caught my eye, of course, was Christina’s motorized trike. Paisan! I was at pains to explain that I don’t always ride weird upright bikes. We had a long discussion about trikes and motors and touring and adaptive equipment. She and I agreed it’s nice that a trike can help deal with many physical issues but most of all we love riding them because they are fun.
They live in Germany outside Strasbourg and were on a three-day tour from home. They were just delightful to talk to. Spending that time with them made my whole day.
I played leapfrog with this couple, Christina and Manuel, a time or two. I finally decided to stop and talk to them. We had a lot to say about trikes and motors.
The route through the rest of the agricultural land outside Strasbourg was lovely to ride. Wide open vistas, cropland, quiet lanes with no car traffic, blue sky and fluffy clouds.
Way back when, Suzanne tipped me to making a lunch sandwich from breakfast offerings. Every breakfast in these parts had a surfeit of cheeses, meats and baguettes. Wrap in a napkin and off you go. I still had the wonderfully sturdy paper napkin from the breakfasts at the chateau. It even made it all the way back home, cushioning my emergency apple in my carry-on.
Lunch break in the fields at a conveniently located bench. Outer napkin did lunch duty since the chateau.
The Ill River, third crossing. First and second crossings were close together earlyish on my second day, in Illzach near Mulhouse. Didn’t realize the Ill was that long.
Like with every other accommodation I had, it took me a while to figure out how everything worked in the hotel and in the room. Such as, the lights and outlets won’t work unless you put your keycard in the slot by the door. The thermostat may or may not give your air conditioning. Oh goody, the windows open. And whack! Forgot about that dormer. Third time in a garret room and third time I whacked my head, only this time at full speed. I lay down on the bed and thought, what the actual [heck]. What a way to punctuate a tour.
