THURSDAY, 17th AUGUST : FRANKFURT to ASCHAFFENBURG

There was a storm last night, thunder, lightning, heavy rain, the works and we were a bit concerned that we might be getting a bit wet today but fortunately, when we left the hotel at 8.30am after an excellent breakfast, what little rain there was, was so fine it was barely visible, but we donned the rain coats just in case and set off for the ride to Aschaffenburg.  First, we had to ride through the morning traffic which is not as difficult as it sounds as there is a very good bike path system in Frankfurt and motorists are courteous to cyclists.  It was an 8.5km ride through suburbs, parklands and industrial areas 

before reaching the car ferry crossing at Rumpenheimer, where for 1.40 euros, the two of us and the two bikes were taken across the Main River to begin the ride along the river path.  Unfortunately, the path was closed for repair work so we had to detour through the town until we'd gone past the closed section.  Back to the river, we enjoyed the ride, stopping every now and then for the obligatory photos,

and ducking into a couple of villages in search of an open cafe but had no luck so resigned ourselves to going coffee free until reaching the town of Steinheim, where a couple of hundred metres off the cycle path was an open Ferdinand's Bakery Cafe!  

We swooped in, ordered coffee and because today was our gorgeous granddaughter's 18th birthday, forced ourselves to have a slice of cake each in her honour!  

Happily, we were able to ring her while at the cafe and after a chat and a good rest, we continued on, stopping for more photos along the way,

                                                                          a church,

another church

a lock

a memorial but no plaque  

 

                                                              a gaggle of geese

On reaching pretty, historic Seligenstadt, we parked the bikes and went for a wander through the town, along with many others, it was a popular place with plenty of eating and drinking places from which to choose.  

As we had coffee and cake not long beforehand, we weren't ready to choose any of them and even declined an ice cream!  

Further along we crossed over the river via St Killian's Bridge 

St Killian's Church

and for a while our river view was obscured by corn fields.  About 7kms before reaching Aschaffenburg, we stopped at Biergarten Marienhof 

f0r a rest and refreshing cold drinks 

Schloss Johannisburg, a grand 17th century Renaissance palace which houses a large and impressive painting collection, which we visited on a previous trip.

There were many people riding along the river path today, all of them passed us at great speeds and quickly disappeared into the distance but did we care?  Not a jot!  We're in no hurry and are happy plodding along at our own pace which enables us to admire the surrounding scenery and stop often, which is why we came.  We left Frankfurt at 8.30am and arrived in Aschaffenburg at 4.00pm having ridden 52.87kms in a total time of 4.03 hours, averaging a leisurely 13kms an hour.  The only downside is the sore backsides, which need resting regularly but we shall overcome that problem somehow!