Rounding Up

Sally, Graeme and Des all snappy and happy.

This is what they were shooting.

Don't know how older people cope on cobbles and hillsides. Being a nun might help.

Des celebrating with an ice from Eis Murano, Nierstein.

Graeme decided to celebrate with a beer instead.

And os Heidleberg it was on teh second last riding day before the team rolled into Mannheim.

Maureen shouted Des and Janice a welcome to Nierstein ice-cream. Yummo!

Here we are back in Nierstein at the lovely Villa Spiegelberg after 42 days on the road. Each of us rode for 36 days, the balance spent behind the wheel of the car listening to Emily as she directed us through villages and cities en route to our next overnight stop. Last days of a tour are always sweet, unless of course it is pouring rain, and should be rewarded with appropriate things.

If you look closely, you can see why Des burnt off the peleton in the last few days;
he purchased extra horse power at a flew market.

Fitness improved for all, not surprisingly, after some long days traversing both horizontal and vertical landscapes. Purchases at Decathalon in Mannheim means that we are now all outfitted to continue pedaling to our heart's content. Des is on record saying he is going to ride several times each week on our return to Melbourne. Guess that means I'll go too. Can't be all that bad, can it? Surely those truck drivers and cars have softened in their attitudes to two-wheelers during our time away. That's why we appreciate Germany so much as a riding terrain as vehicle drivers respect bike riders and the respect is reinforced as so many more people ride bikes and I suppose there are some laws about sharing roads as well.

High on a hill was a lovely sheep herd. The question was, however, why the hell were we up there too?

Despite our experience earlier on the trip of getting lost and continuing to climb steep hills on gravel surfaces, we managed to do it again. This time the gravel was less benign and we had to walk downhill as well. Our day turned into quite a long one and we were all keen to reach Neckartzenlingen, only to find a shambolic guest house run by one Ingeborg, that offered few if any comforts, kind of like the town itself. Avoid this place for an overnight stay if you're in the area. Bad Urach is a much prettier place.

Janice enjoying a beer.

Marbach am Neckar was a hoot as we went to a local eatery for dinner and were delighted by our host who plied us with wine, spirituous liquor and even wanted to dance with us. Luckily her husband kicked us out round 10pm otherwise we might still be somewhere on a German Radweg.

All in all this was a very successful bike trip. No injuries; one flat tyre; one broken spoke. Not bad for collectively more than 14,500kms of riding. A lot of laughs, mainly about silly things, which are always the best. And a great insight into Germany - its social climate, its geography and its agriculture. 

We each rode more than 2100 kms, distance really depending on which day was an allocated driving day. Our final stats are:
2 September: Ulm to Neckartzenlingen; 95kms added to by mountainous goat tacks. Our biggest climing day with over 1100 metres
3 September: Neckartzenlingen to Marbach am Neckar; 75 kms of great riding
4 September: Marbach am Neckar to Haßmersheim; 70kms including a wine festival, hills and rain
5 September: Haßmersheim to Mannheim; 98kms with sightseeing in Heidelberg
6 September: Mannheim to Nierstein; 71kms in near perfect riding conditions