To Bürgstadt

September 3, 2021

We had a restless night last night, kept awake off and on for hours by two drunks having a smoke and a very long, very loud chat sitting on a bench in the square almost directly below our window.

Breakfast is fine but a bit stilted as we continue our awkward interactions with our Russian host. Fueled by the language barrier we’ve had some embarrassing exchanges with her that we’d rather not talk about but are sure that we’ll remember and come to laugh about in time. We make it worse when as we leave the room Rachael closes the door behind me and then too late asks if I have the key. Nope, and we didn’t bring a phone with us so we don’t have Google Translate at hand to remind me of the German word for key (oh, that’s right - Schlüssel) so I have to pantomime the situation to our host until she finally gets it and leads me back up the stairs to let us in. Stupid Americans! It reminds us of how privileged we are to speak what’s close to be coming the universal language in so much of the tourism world.

When we return to our room after breakfast I’m startled to see a workman standing outside our second floor window. So that’s what all the noise this morning is! There’s a work crew outside erecting scaffolding against the front of the hotel.

So as much as I like Mosbach itself, we’re fine with moving on this morning.

Leaving Mosbach and the Schwanen Hotel. They’re spoiling the great view from our room, so it’s time to move on.

We have brilliant weather again today, the third day in a row. The ride begins with about a three mile gradual climb up the ridge north of town, on a shoulderless but thankfully fairly quiet road. There’s an unpaved route that roughly parallels it but we axed it from the route last night when we fine-toothed it together trying to cut the unpaved extent from the eight miles it started with. We did well to get it down to three miles, but it comes with the cost of a bit of traffic this morning.

Eventually though we turn off onto the narrow farm lanes that will accompany us much of the rest of the way to Bürgstadt and experience a wonderful ride. Still climbing, but it’s the same beautiful country we were hiking in yesterday.

We’ll keep gradually climbing for another ten miles as we cross the divide between the Neckar and the Main. We top out about fifteen hundred feet above the town and then begin a long, gradual descent to the Main. A beautiful ride.

The German equivalent of cowboy boots capping the fence posts.

We came to a junction and this path through the sunflowers beckoned our way but Rocky thought we should stay with the pavement awhile longer. And so we did.

Finally over the top, we begin the long descent to the Main.

This photo doesn’t really show it well, but we’re high up the side wall of a canyon here as we follow the Mud downstream.

A beautiful ride, gradually descending through this narrow valley. There’s a road below, but so far down that the sound of its small bit of traffic is negligible.

At one point as we descend through a particularly scenic stretch Rachael stops to share the excellent idea that we have lunch up here instead of snacking when we arrive at the hotel. I agree, so we start watching for a trailside bench. We find one almost immediately and squat down to quickly snack before moving on. We’re in just a bit of a hurry because there’s a short hike in Bürgstadt that Rachael is keen to take and we want to arrive with enough time for it before our six o’clock dinner reservation.

In a hurry or not, we are held up when representatives of not one but two animal kingdoms hop by. When folks come calling you have to make the time.

A lunch buddy hops aboard to see what I’m having, gives me the eye, and then hops on.

Another little hopper, barely the size of a quarter.

These two aren’t much into hopping though. The barbed wire restraint seems excessive. They aren’t going anywhere.

We finally move on, and soon come to a beautiful but slightly eerie patch, a few miles of swiftly dropping through the woods on a sinuous, narrow path that’s dark and shady enough that you don’t want to take it too fast and outrace your vision of what might be waiting on the path to waylay you. “No broken hips!” is our caution to each other lately when we come to a rough patch in the road, because we have a good friend who is slowly recovering from one.

A nice descent, but one we take our time for.

Image not found :( — A fine old structure on the way. There’s a heritage plaque beside it - an old mill, I think.

Finally we leave the woods, bottom out, and reach the Main. For the next few miles we follow the river before finally coming to our hotel a bit before two.

An odd way for Miltenberg to greet its visitors. Seems unwelcoming.

Video sound track: Body and Soul, by Keith Jarrett

We arrive at the Adler Hotel before two and check in. Bikes go in the shed, a small room equipped with about a dozen EV charging ports. We’re the only bikes now but when I check in after dinner there are another ten inside.

With still plenty of time in the afternoon we set off on our short hike. It’s less than five miles round trip, climbing up into the woods east of town to view an incomplete chapel and some other landmark at the summit of the small hill and hopefully get some decent views. It’s an out and back, so at the first significant distraction Rachael walks on ahead.

It’s a hot afternoon and I’m in no hurry. I make it up to the chapel and have a good look and am just deciding whether to keep climbing or turn back to the room when Rachael calls. Don’t bother, she advises. The second attraction isn’t particularly interesting, and there are no views - it’s just buried in the trees. I’m easily convinced and head back down to the hotel.

Back at the room and hosed down, we claim our outdoor table at the hotel’s fine restaurant and enjoy our char and lamb shank. It’s a good thing we had booked the table because the place is packed and the hotel’s small staff is in constant motion.

We’re hiking up there somewhere, in those woods above the vineyards.

A view through the vineyards toward town. The opposite ridge is on the far side of the Main.

Tucked away in an oak forest, the Centgrafrenkapelle suddenly comes into view.

If you look closely enough you can see the date, 1630, on the arch above the doorway.

It gets its name because it was built under the direction of the Centgrav of Bürgstadt. What’s a centgrav, you ask? So do I.

A nice view down on Bürgstadt and the Main Valley.

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Ride stats today: 34 miles, 1,700’; for the tour: 757 miles, 19,700’

Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 755 miles (1,215 km)

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