Kitzingen to Ottendorf: A Little Bit of Everything
We had a little bit of everything today, in terms of scenery, weather and bike paths. It was a fantastic day. We started out lingering over breakfast because it was raining. It is not supposed to rain on our bike tours! So we relaxed over our breakfast and coffee, did some route planning, and didn't get going until eleven AM.
Leaving our hotel. The groceries had just arrived and I was trying to help unload them. The first few bags were easy, but then they got so heavy I couldn't lift them. The proprietors are seriously strong. It was a great place to stay. Friendly staff, great dinner, comfortable and immaculately clean room. We really enjoyed it. Kitzingen is a beautiful spot.
The Main Radweg just keeps getting better and better. Within eighteen km. we had been through spectacular scenery and two villages that I rode through with my mouth hanging open because they were just so amazing. We stopped for coffee in the second one, Sommerach. It was stunning. Winery after winery, charming cafes, and a place I want to go back. Even though 18 km was a bit early for a coffee stop, we stopped anyway. While having coffee we met another touring cyclist who was coming the other way and we had a great chat. Poor guy, he had to go back to work, while we have weeks of cycling to look forward to.
It wasn't all grapes of course, although the number of vineyards we saw was amazing. There were plum trees and strudel trees, bridge construction and autobahns. Bike touring allows you to see a country in a very real way, if that makes any sense.
This stuff is interesting too. Here we are going under the autobahn, with one of the barges I like so much going by, and this one was a double barge. Pretty impressive.
We crossed the Main at this point. I was feeling a bit squeezed so was concentrating pretty hard here on not hitting either side with one of my panniers.
We had a great ride today. It even included a short ferry ride across the Main which was really fun. We had to wait for one of those great barges to go by, which meant the ferry made a super lunch spot. In the end, we did get rained on, but only for about a half hour. We were standing under a railway tunnel while the chief navigator did a little navigating (gotta keep that iPhone dry) when I realized the rain had stopped. I blame Keith for the rain anyway, because we had cycled all day without a drop. The rain started about two minutes after he said "Amazing. It hasn't rained on us yet." Honestly, one shouldn't tempt fate like that. At any rate, it wasn't really what we West Coasters call rain. More like a sprinkle.
Keith had found a spot he liked the look of on the Internet for the night. The Hotel-Gasthof Zur Linde. That is what we were looking for under the railway bridge. Things got hilarious after that. Somehow we went a bit too far, and when we turned around, I spotted the sign for the hotel. That is how I earn my nickname, the 'Go This Way'. Keith was a ways ahead of me, and when I called out he didn't want to turn around, but I stood my ground and he finally came back. It was a bit of a stand off, but I won, and we zipped under the railway tracks and up to the hotel with no more drama.
We have had a great dinner which included local beer and local wine. Another super day. We are so lucky.
I am riding down the path here, trying to figure out how Keith disappeared. He was checking out the boats.
