ASCHAFFENBURG to TRECHTINGSHAUSEN : 15kms + Train

Wednesday, 23rd May, 2018.

We were spoilt for choices at breakfast this morning with an amazing array of food on offer and there was absolutely no way we could do it justice!

Our journey today was mostly by train, decided on before we left home and cutting off more than 100kms of riding through mostly busy, built up industrial areas, and took a little under two and a half hours as opposed to 2 or 3 days of riding.

It was easy boarding the train at Aschaffenburg and the 8 minute changeover at Wiesbaden was a breeze.  We arrived at Rudesheim just after midday, where the platform was quite a bit lower than the train exit but we managed to get the bikes off without too much trouble, and rode off to have a look around the town.  We'd been through a couple of times but had not stopped there before and were pleasantly surprised.  Although touristy,

 it is a charming town and when we discovered the cable car,

we immediately bought tickets and rode to the top of the hill, marvelling at the stunning view below.

Back down in the town again, we wandered around a little more then rode to the nearby ferry port

for the ferry ride across the Rhine River to Bingen, where the Rhine section of our ride began.  It was a lovely, easy, short ride and before we knew it we had reached our destination, having ridden a mere 15kms in total.

After rinsing out a few clothes, we were surprised to discover that it was raining, as apart from a little drizzle when we first arrived in Rudesheim, we'd had sunshine and blue sky since.

Our proposed walk around the town was postponed until the evening, when the rain had stopped and we'd had a light meal and a chat with a Dutch couple, on a stopover on their way to Switzerland to see their grandchildren.  We found it interesting that they travel 400kms through two or three countries (depending on the route they take) to visit their family and we travel over 4000kms in the one country to visit ours!

WORTH am MAIN to ASCHAFFENBURG : 28kms

Tuesday, 22nd May, 2018.

Another glorious day today, a short ride on good paths with only a couple of very gentle inclines which were not too taxing.

On seeing a sign for a kiosk by a lake near Niedernberg, we had to investigate and discovered a resort where for a mere €20 per person, we could spend a day by the beach.

  We chose not to do that, instead taking a few photos

including one of an Australian flag,

keeping company with half a dozen others.

In Niedernberg itself we had a little
 rest by the river and by midday we had completed the day's ride.

Before crossing the Main River into Aschaffenburg, we passed by the motorhome camping place where we stayed in 2013 and after checking into our accommodation, we wandered up into the town,

visited the railway station and bought tickets for tomorrow's train journey, then sauntered around for a couple of hours, during which a busking pianist (something we don't see very often) impressed us greatly with his playing talent.

We completed the day by stopping at a pub for a light meal washed down with cold beer.

WERTHEIM am MAIN to WORTH am MAIN : 52kms

Monday, 21st May, 2018.

Three cruise boats were moored in Wertheim early this morning and from overhearing a tour guide, I learned that Wertheim has a population of 22,000 but there are only 1,000 living in the old town, where we stayed last night.  There was no more to be learnt from him as his group moved on and so I remain ignorant.

It was a glorious day, blue sky and sunshine with not a hint of inclement weather and so we set off, intending to ride only a little over 30kms to Miltenberg.

Germany, or at least this part of it, is on a two week holiday break so there are cyclists galore on the cycle paths.  This is not a problem as most are courteous and we had a great day, stopping along the way for the obligatory photos, crossing the Main River by ferry,

stopping for ice creams and occasional rests for sore rear ends and when we reached Freudenberg, Mike was extremely happy as until then, he hadn't been able to remember our stay there 5 years ago but it all came back to him.

About 9kms on we arrived in lovely Miltenberg

where there were so many people about that we decided to keep going until we found accommodation close to the river.

So here we are in Worth am Main.  We've had an excellent pub meal followed by a walk around the town, sat on a bench by the river for a very pleasant half an hour or so watching activities on and off the water and it's just about time for bed.

LAUDA KONIGSHOFEN to WERTHEIM am MAIN : 46kms

Sunday, 20th May, 2018.

Dieter and his wife (son and daughter-in-law of Helga and Karl) and their daughter Silvia and her daughter Antonia, all called in this morning to say goodbye before we left in overcast and cool weather.

In just a few minutes we were on the cycle path, refreshed after the day off though still with an aching muscle or two after Friday's long ride.

At a beer garden in Hochausen  we shared a plate of bratwurst and chips and had a large cup of hot coffee each,

then were back on the bikes, riding through gorgeous villages and scenic countryside on an excellent cycle path, though the few hills we encountered in the last 10 or so kms didn't thrill us at all.

We made a brief stop at the cloister in Bronnbach

though the arrival of a tour coach just as we arrived discouraged us from lingering too long but we wandered through the lovely gardens for half an hour, then completed the ride into Wertheim, situated on the confluence of the Tauber and Main Rivers.

A visit to the Tourist Information office resulted in us securing a room for tonight in a hotel in the centre of town, so once we'd settled in, we strolled around a bit being tourists, had drinks at a cafe in the square,

 then had a meal in an Asian restaurant.  Another satisfactory day!

LAUDA KONIGSHOFEN : 0kms

Saturday, 19th May, 2018.

Today was another bike free day and one of doing very little.

Karl & Mike went for a walk in the morning, I threw some washing into the washing machine and chatted with Helga, we watched some of the Prince Harry & Meghan wedding on TV before Karl drove us to nearby Distelhausen where we had lunch at the brewery,

after which we visited and ambled around the lovely town of Tauberbischofsheim,

and later we all watched the Bundasleague Cup final soccer match between Munich and Frankfurt on TV.  All in all a very enjoyable, relaxing day.

STEINACH to LAUDA KONIGSHOFEN : 73kms

Friday, 18th May, 2018.

Another overcast morning, though with little threat of rain.  We wore the rain coats anyhow to begin with, purely to stop the wind from going right through us.

After initially taking a wrong turn, we found the cycle path and followed it for a time, then realised it was taking us further than we needed to go, so decided to go across country, thereby cutting off several kilometres of what was already going to be a long ride.

This meant riding on the roads but being in the country,  they were very quiet with little traffic and took us through three or four lovely old villages before arriving in the pretty town of Bettwar,

where we also reached the Tauber River.

We stopped at the first picnic spot we came to and had our 'second breakfast', doughnuts and fruit juice left over from this morning's breakfast at the hotel.

From then on we followed the very good path up and down little hills, across the river numerous times,

 through gorgeous farming country and lovely villages

The Tauber River

                                                                       Bad Mergentheim

                                                              An "Umbrella" Tree

until we reached Lauda Konigshofen where we received a warm welcome from Karl & Helga, friends of friends.  Karl had made a delicious chicken curry for dinner which we washed down with a beer or two, then spent a couple of hours or so catching up before falling into bed exhausted after the long ride.

EICHSTATT to TREUCHTLINGEN : 53kms - ThenTrain to STEINACH

Thursday, 17th May, 2018.

Grey sky greeted us this morning but we ignored it, donned the wet weather gear and set off for the ride to Treuchtlingen.

 The wind was cold on our faces but otherwise we stayed warm and dry.
When we reached the lovely little town of Dollnstein, we stopped at a bakery/cafe for coffee and a pastry each, and bought a couple of pretzels for later on.

It seems that in the last few days, every time we have had a coffee break during the ride, we've attracted the rain and today was no exception.  On leaving the cafe we realised it was raining so quickly went back inside to wait until it stopped before continuing on.

A 'natural' church

We crossed the Altmuhl River a number of times,

the cycle path was at times sealed, sometimes no, there were several hills but nothing major and the rain stayed away, allowing us to stay dry.

On arriving in Treuchtlingen we easily found the railway station, bought tickets for us and for the bikes and boarded the train for the 1 hour 10 minute journey to Steinach, a very pleasant trip through the countryside on a lovely, quiet train.

It was a bit of a rigmarole getting the bikes off the platform at Steinach station.....there is no lift so we had to take the bags off the bikes, send them down a luggage conveyor belt and Mike walked each bike down the 23 steps.  Then there was a walk under another two platforms to reach the exit and the whole procedure had to be executed in reverse only Mike carried the bikes up the steps.....even without bags, they are heavy bikes so it was not an easy feat.

Our accommodation is conveniently situated opposite the station so we didn't have far to go, there is an Italian restaurant downstairs, the Pizzeria Bell Italia,  where we've just had a lovely meal, followed by a herb liqueur which Francesco the restaurant owner presented for us to try and when Mike said he enjoyed it but preferred limoncello, a bottle of that liqueur promptly appeared from his fridge and he joined us for a night cap and a pleasant conversation.