Day 23: Reicholzheim to Oberreichenbach, Germany

August 13, 2015

We reached a bit of a new low in terms of personal space preservation last night, There was a tree stump not four feet from our tent, with a bit of a flat board on top of it. So four guys bought beers at the beer garden and decided it would be pleasant to drink these, smoke, and talk around the tree stump. To be fair, it was not very late, but we were trying a new strategy of extra early to bed and extra early to wake, to beat the heat. Needless to say, Dodie sent them packing at high speed.

The "table" by our tent that looked like an ideal drinking, smoking, talkinig spot to some

The need to beat the heat was brought home to us as we learned that our friend Trisha Graham had landed in the hospital these last days, a bit beyond Fulda - at the beginning of the Graham's latest trip. Heat exhaustion and dehydration was the basic diagnosis.

So, smoking talkers or not, we set our alarm for 4:00 a.m. and by 5:30 were on the road. At this time, at this season, it is not quite light, so we did start out with headlights on. Starting a half hour later would have made more sense. On the other hand, the temperature started out at 17, really nice for cycling. Dodie was going slow, even by her standards, the result of a buildup of exhaustion. Even so, by 9:00 a.m. (or before) we were quite down the road, in Tauber Bishopsheim.

Although there are one or two 10-15 percent slopes on the Tauber route, it is not all that hilly

Typical appearance of the Tauber Radweg in the lower part of the river

The "dangerous curve" was actually fairly normal

The Romantische Strasse route joins the Tauber part way - at Werbach. We will follow it until we switch over to the Via Claudia Augusta, on our continuing trek to Italy

This is where we stopped at a bakery, and ordered breakfast. They had three versions - the Lyon (french) that had basically nothing, the Milan - with rolls, coffee, cheese, and or salami, and the New York - that had scrambled egg with bacon bits. We got two Milans, hoping that in Italy it would be as good. We got six buns total, and enough stuff to pilfer our own breakfast and make sandwiches for lunch. It felt rather good to be a legal pilferer!

From our table, we phoned Franz. Franz is a very good friend of Michel, our very good friend in Nantes. Both Franz and Michel are members of a twinning organization between their respective towns (more accurate details on that later) and they have cycled together several times. Franz's town is a couple of hours from here by car, and he agreed to come and meet us, or actually, to scoop us up and take us to his place.

We said we would like to cycle on for a bit, and so the meeting place was set as Bad Mergentheim, in total about 40 km from where we started. Franz could make it there by 3, which gave us tons of time to reach the rendez-vous.

The lower Tauber, where we started out, runs in a quite narrow valley and is itself quite narrow. The path is wooded, and tends to rise and fall a bit (or a lot). However, up the river a bit the valley broadens and the path flattens, Overall, the cycling is easy. That is, without the sun. The temperature that started so nicely in the vicinity of 20 quickly jumped to the vicinity of 40. So once again, with our landspeed slowed right down, it became a race between the temperature screen on my computer and the distance screen. For 99 percent of the journey, one would do better to take the temperature screen. Only at the very end were we able to pull ahead, finishing at 47 km while temperature maxed out at a mere 42.

Tauber bischofsheim, where we actually bought fruhstuck rather than having it included at a guesthouse.

Aha, it looks like our thesis about problems in China could be correct. When we get time (hah) we will want to read the current world news in English.

Once we had arranged to meet Franz on a timeframe that gave us some hours to spare, we were free to visit any the many churches in the valley. Since this is a catholic area, there is lots of gold and carving to look at.

Really elaborate organ in a small church.

Some churches are well aware of all the bicycle traffic

After Werbach, the valley opens up and the path becomes flatter. In fact, the river here is wandering somewhere over to the left and can not be seen.

Dodie mails post cards to the grandkids, more or less in the middle of nowhere

We rolled into the main square at Bad Mergentheim about an hour and a half before Franz was expected. We searched out the deepest outdoors shade, which happened to be owned by a pizza restaurant. Fortunately they also offered eis, though in limited selection. I went for the banana split, or here: "bananen schplit" and we chilled out. Actually Dodie reported that even if we had not planned to stop here and meet up with Franz, this would have been the end of the line for us today. She seemed to illustrate this by collapsing on a bench, affording me a slightly competitive photo to the recent one of Trish collapsed by the roadside. Of course, I sure do not want to compete with the one of Trish at the hospital!

After the hour and a half in the shade, Dodie was much recovered. This was good, because there was lots of fun in store, as Franz appeared, exactly at the appointed minute.

We made it to Bad Mergentheim, with the temperature well over 40. It has been a basically easy day and a very early end, but Dodie especially was finished.

This is the most "competitive" shot I have for the frightening ones from Tricia. After a while, Dodie revived enough to be fed iced coffee.

We felt an immediate affinity with Franz, who in turn already knew quite a bit about us, from Michel. It's not just that, of course, it's the cycling fraternity. Franz understood exactly what we were doing, and could anticipate everything we might need, or want to do.

The first thing was fitting our bikes and gear into a VW Touran - a classic cyclist activity. The little bikes got swallowed up quite handily, though admittedly it took one person on each end to move them about effectively in the back.

Franz now set about returning us to his little village, about 100 km distant. Though to be sure there are big roads in Germany that whisk you quickly all over the place, the needed route for this involved many turns on many little roads. Franz had told us that we could stop at a Beer Garden along the way, but we took a pass, since we don't drink beer. However when we got to the town with the Beer Garden, Franz turned in. I think a beer was going to really hit the spot for him, with the temp still above 35! The Beer Garden turned out to be a wonderful spot that had started as a small guesthouse but now expanded into a place with several food sections, including one offering steak, salad, kebap, schnitzel, etc.,one with pizza, one with eis, and one with local farm cheese and sausage, all in addition to beer and a variety of other beverages. The spot had really a lot of seating, all of it shaded, and the food was excellent, plentiful, and cheap.

We really had a good time at our benches, just talking, but also with spirits buoyed in the way they are when you have shade and food that is excellent, plentiful, and cheap!

Franz was shocked that we do not drink beer, which is something from which he takes great pleasure, and which almost more than in the rest of Germany is a staple of Franconia (where we are).. He snuck off and came back with a radler (part beer part lemonade). So I tried it. Then (similar to having a dog under the table) I got Dodie to drink the rest. I think actually she quite liked it.

Reluctantly we left the beer garden and continued to weave our way among the small towns. Franz explained that dairy farming was a staple here, and that the average number of cows per farm was 30. This number would produce just a bare living. Naturally children are eager to move to better opportunities in the larger towns, and farmers that stay in the countryside may have trouble finding wives. Certainly the country girls, who know what the life of a farm wife is like, are not keen to sign on. However, it may be possible to snare a city girl, who still thinks farming is romantic.

This information was brought home as Franz brought us around to his milk supplier, Gerhard, who runs an organic farm with, yes, 30 cows. I was peppering Gerhard with questions about his operation, which has a number of relatively rare Tries Dorfer cows. In the end Dodie poked me in the ribs and told me to shut up. However she then disappeared with Gerhard to see his horses. Hmmph.

It was great to drink some of the fresh milk right at the farm, just as it is great to have all the other small scale top quality products we have been enjoying in Europe. It set us and Franz off ranting about the joys of good food and local production.

Franz has planned for us to join in to his bicycle club ride, which will end at, he promises, an even greater beer garden. Dodie was concerned about going on a club ride, since she is lately unable even to keep up with herself (or cooler, past self). Franz had this covered however, as he has a stable of three e-bikes. This too held some concern, since Dodie had shied away in the first 15 seconds when got her to try the e-bike of our friend Erika in Victoria.

So I let Franz give the demonstration, hoping he would have more success. And so he did. He and Dodie seemed to disappear at high speed, and they returned with Dodie proclaiming that the bike was great. Meanwhile, I tried one of the others. All models here are "pedelec" which means that if you don't pedal, it doesn't go. But there are variants. The bike I tried has a torque sensor. That means the thing multiplies the effort that you are putting in. If you want it to try harder, you must try harder. The model Dodie tried will supply power at a level you dial in, if and when you pedal. But the bike does not care how hard you pedal, just so long as you pedal.

Set on the minimum, or "eco" setting and tried on a moderate hill, my bike just mostly leveled the hill. The meaning of this, I think, is that if I would have one, a hilly route would turn into a river route. This does not seem much different from what we do right now, which is as far as possible to choose river routes in the first place.

I did get off the ebike and back on my Friday and tackled the same hill. The Friday went up it quite nicely as well. But then, it had been completely unloaded. So another way to say it is that the ebike took the load of the panniers off. That does not seem to me any more evil than riding a 20 lb unloaded carbon bike, or having a sag wagon drag your stuff to the next motel.

We met Franz's wife, Eva, at home and found that both are not only lovely people, but share the same excelelnt English ability. So we are totally at home here, and so grateful for finding these new friends, with whom we seem to have so much in common. Slowly we are accumulating friends like these in the corners of Europe. Could be great for places to one day stash our hypothetical e-bikes!

Franz arrived jsut as promised, and he and Dodie traipsed off to find the car.

At the beer garden an apple tree had been preserved and grew through a hole in the roof. Amazingly, and apple rolled down the truck and hit Dodie on the head.

Franz and Dodie recreate the way she discovered gravity

A part of the beer garden. It was really more like a food fair, and had the lowest prices and best quality we have found so far.

Franz's town of Oberreichenbach is in the upper right of this maze of small roads. Bad Mergentheim is somewhere off screen to the middle left. Mostly Franz knew the way, but his car GPS came in handy as well.

Highly yummy fresh milk. The cows eat a corn based silage which Franz says produces a less agreeable milk than clover and grass. Still, the organic production methods, freshness, and non-pasteurization are appreciated

Look Ken, is this Deutz of any interest?

Gerhard and his young and friendly dog. Gerhard runs th efarm on his own. His wife is a small animal vet.

Franz and Eva are a bit of farmers too, with a small flock of interesting breeds of chickens. This one has blue feet!

Expert consultatnts help Dodie try out an e-bike

Despite her expression, Dodie overall was impressed.

Steve tries local beer (?) Probably to the chagrin of Franz and Eva, having done his social duty, he refused to sample any further beers.

Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 1,170 km (727 miles)

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