Once upon a time...

...we rode The Fairytale Route, circling the large city of Kassel. Leaving Gottingen we headed to a very different German town, Bad Karlshafen, high in the hills, only found through swathes of forest and villages that can only be located on large-scale maps.

Sally contemplating a hill.

Maggie marvelling at a 25% gradient.

True to its name, there was a modern bathing house on the river, so I took the water cure along wth tens of aged and bronzed Germans, some wearing swimming attire nearly as old as themselves, affording me views of wrinkled nether regions and equally wrinkled attendant bits. (At least they did not have face cloths on their heads, as is the preference of some at the Maribyrnong swimming pool.) But the most striking thing about Bad Karlshafen is its architecture: white squared-off buildings standing along wide streets, and residences constructed from stone the colour of stewed nectarines, giving it the air of a French or perhaps Spanish settlement. The hostel we stayed in was a former sanitarium perched on a hill to take in the views and the air. We BBQed our hearts out.

Graeme keeping the home fires burning.

Imagine listening to tales of Little Red Riding Hood while tucked up in  bed in the attic...

Next town on our list was Zierenberg, further uphill and deeper into the forest. We arrived on a Saturday amidst preparations for a mountain bike race to be held the next morning. Funnily enough, the organizers all could have been organizers of an Australian bike event - lean men with cropped hair, bulging calf muscles and a disdain for riders like us, who, goddamit, even had a duck cable-tied to one of their bikes! The highlights  of the day were two: riding through a former rail tunnel where we met a couple who told us about their rides through the countryside as well as a ride they took from Seville to Madrid; and climbing to the castle where Rapunzel was imprisoned, a little off our route, but worth the climb.

You can see Rapunzel's hair cascading down if you look hard.

The tunnel which we rode through twice.

Hard to find a coffee but eventually we came across a larger town and made good with a supermarket bakery.

You get to meet all sorts along the Radwegs, and these German women were friendly, and like most we speak to, amazed that people from Australia would come to Germany to ride a bike. Germans tend to believe that the best cycling in the world is in Holland. Personally, I cannot agree.

The team in action.

Next morning we stopped off at Wolfhagen and amused ourselves with the story of the wolf and the seven goats, only one of which remained in the town square statue.

The only wolf I have spotted in Germany.

Coffee and cake in the old Watchhouse, watched over by groups of older men enjoying a smorgasbord breakfast.

Des does like a good cream cake.

After the learn pickings at our guesthouse earlier in the day, we were sorely tempted, but refrained. More climbing and more forest, we rode into Fritzlar, where the definite highlight was the last day of a three-day Kaiser festival. Men, women and children dressed in medieval gear prowled the cobbled streets, bands struck up a tune or two, blacksmiths wrought implements from red-hot iron, horse-head minstrels wandered through the crowds who were enjoying en masse lots of beer, baked pork rolls, more beer, and fairy floss for the kids. I resisted the urge to purchase a sword and challenge Maureen to a duel. 

Our next town was Neukirchen, so small that it didn't even appear on the bike signs until we were 10kms distant. A pleasant day's riding through fields and valleys, up hills - again - and down into villages. Our wildlife spotting yielded two white swans protecting two cygnets, lots of herons, the odd stork, many small hawks and endless flocks of sparrows. I looked out for a deer, but the one spotted on day 2 of this route remains the sole entrant. There was never a shortage of apples along the wayside however, so no wonder the wicked stepmother chose one to tempt Snow White.

Apples for Snow White and the horses on a Sunday trot.

We didn't make it to Sleeping Beauty's castle - too high up and an 18km detour. I know, wimps we are.

Our guesthouse, although boasting a pleasant beer garden, did not permit BBQs, so we took ourselves down to the grassy banks beside a small stream and baked and grilled into the evening. And you know the best bit? Pinging red-hot BBQ coals into the water where they banged like a gun, smoked a lot and sailed off downstream. It was especially delicious because we had already been told by some busybody chap that we had to clean up after ourselves, and as we were women, good at both cleaning and breastfeeding, he hoped we did a good job of it. Umm. Not one of our best encounters, perhaps.

Picnic BBQ on the stream.

The ride into Rotenburg an der Fulda goes down as the best 80km ride of the trip. It began with a gentle 15km climb, hardly noticeable, followed by a swooping downhill for the next 6kms. All day we rode along tree-lined paved paths or beside burbling brooks, and later the Fulda River, into a pretty town. Although we climbed more than 500 meters, we all agreed that we didn't feel it as we have felt the other 500+ meter climbs we have done each day on this stage, probably because we weren't on goat tracks, rough gravel, pinging over tree roots, or wallowing along muddy paths. There is a marked difference in surface, sometimes on a minute-by-minute basis on the Radwegs. Not that we mind. Much.

Another goat track masquerading as Radweg 4.

Also, getting out of towns can be challenging indeed, but this time in Bad Hersfeld, we were lucky to come across Hans Otto Kurz, an octogenarian on an electric bike complete with oxygen tank strapped behind, who led us safely and calmly back onto Radweg 1 beside the Fulda. 

Hans' bike.

Maggie and I got talking to Gerhard who hunts wild boar and makes sausages and smoked meats from that animal as well as deer/stags. His dog, Paola, whom he purchased in England is a Parson's terrier and bred for hunting. He presented us with a slab of smoked stag meat - very dark in colour, as well as a sausage he had made. These were left on a table where we were drinking wine, so we never did get to taste them more's the pity.

Wishing Maureen happy birthday, joined by her sister Catherine and friend Claire who came down from Berlin for the occasion, was fun.

Saying goodbye to Maggie was sad as she is such a great riding companion: good-humoured, persistent and patient. We are so glad she re-joined the team, albeit for such a short time.

Our metrics - again!

19 August: Gottingen to Bad Karlshafen; 68kms 

20 August: Bad Karlshafen to Zierenberg; 52kms

21 August: Zierenberg to Fritzlar; 53kms

22 August: Fritzlar to Neukirchen; 66kms

23 August: Neukirchen to Rotenburg an dear Fulda; 78kms 

Total climbing on this stage: 2700 meters