April 11, 2015
To Kirchheim: another short day - the other half of our restday
The potato chips and beer worked! This morning the tent was dry for the first time and the wind was in our favor!
The ride started with the continued climb out of the valley to the bike path. We are at a high point and an intersection with two bike path routes and signs in the direction of the villages. The sky is clear.
We cycle along on designated bike paths that also seem to be roads for the farmers. Sometimes cycling through woods there are signs indicating private property, there is a sense of a national cooperation of creating a system for bikes.
The decision whether to continue on the bike route or follow the road is constant because sometimes the bike routes cannot be trusted to be going in the direction you are wanting to go and not adding too many additional kilometers.
Overall though, it's nice not to also deal with traffic.
We climb for awhile, descend into a village and climb out of the village. One stretch today was a glorious downhill along with a tailwind! We are about to turn off to the road that will take us to the campground when a local stops and talks with Patrick. Patrick can speak/understand enough German that has made the travel so far so much easier. As we enter countries where neither of us understand the language, we have learned pantomime goes along way. We will learn hello, goodbye, thank you, please in the local language to help navigate each new country. We are slowly being absorbed back into what being on the road entails. Our reality is changing.
For now though, we trust the local (because he is also a cyclist) that the road we planned had a 16% grade and we are better off continuing onto a bike path. We meander on trying to find the campground. Surprise, the campground is 4.5 kilometers climbing and a headwind...but we make it early afternoon, clean up, pitch the tent and go to the bar/restaurant to enjoy a beer.
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Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 700 km (435 miles)
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