Day 37, 3 7 2014, Miltenberg to Frankfurt
We got going on a beautiful morning, having more or less decided that we would ride through to Frankfurt, that is, it would be a normal day of riding, leaving only a short commute to the airport on Friday.
We were riding along when I realised that we had got into our super fit rhythm. We were riding at 25Kph with little effort, and could sustain this for as long as we liked. The speed does not sound high, but bear in mind that we are riding mountain bikes with all-purpose tyres and luggage. This wonderful feeling of fitness is one of the things I love about these trips. There is no way I can sustain it at home, as I do not have 7 spare hours a day to go riding.
We rode out of the narrow gorge into flatter country. The path continued to be of very high quality, as we passed through orchard and farming country.
The entry into the large city of Frankfurt was typically easy and pleasant as the photo shows.
The towns along the Main River divide into two quite distinct types. Those that were destroyed by bombing, and those that were not. The destroyed cities such as Dresden, Bayreuth, Wurzburg, Aschaffenburg and Frankfurt all look like perfectly normal cities, except that the old centres have been partially or completely destroyed. Major old buildings in these cities have been restored, and some of the old city plan maintained, but with newer buildings. This sort of cultural loss is a tragedy, but an inevitable outcome of war.
We went to the Tourist Info centre in Frankfurt, where we were told that the town was full, but they managed to find us a room. There have been a couple of hotels on this trip that did not supply free WiFi, and this is one. In this day and age it is not good enough.
We do not believe for one moment that the city is full. We have heard this repeatedly over the years from tourist info people, and what they actually mean is that there is an event on town, and pressure on the hotels with which they have contact.
Ideally, we would source a hotel over the internet ourselves, and not bother with the Tourist Info people, but the cost of data access is so high that it is prohibitive. We were looking for a café with free WiFi, but found the Tourist Info people first. The systems and gear we have refined over the years worked perfectly on this trip, and I think this is the only hole.
This is the last day for this trip.
I will put up a conclusion in a few days, when it is likely to make more sense.
105Km for the day.
Roz says: The wonderful weather made all the difference this year. We saw more people carrying dogs in their bike trailers meant for babies!! Says something about the average age of the bikers, out with their furry grandchildren . BUT with the heat, cobbles and gravel I think it is marginally better that there is not a baby in the back.
Big mistake, if we had booked a return flight one day later we could have competed in the Frankfurt Iron Man Race before coming home!!
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