April 17, 2022
Day 5: Markranstadt to Muldenstein
The Wheels Start Turning!
We woke up well before we had to, because of start of trip jitters for today being the day when the wheels would actually start turning. Fortunately Birgit and Jurgen also were up, and they put together yet another wonderful German breakfast. As is customary, we pilfered enough of this for lunch, but there was no danger of being nailed by the management! In fact, management helped carry the bikes and stuff to the road, and with Anja, gave us a lovely send off.
Thanks for the following shots of us, Jurgen!
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It was a nice feeling heading out on Leipziger Strasse on our own, while we had been back and forth on this main street in Markranstadt many times with Jurgen in the car. Much as we love being taken care of, it's only an adventure if you have to struggle and find your own way.
Of course, the nanny-like GPS took over and easily guided us to the Leipzig railway station, which our route passes on its way to Bad Duben. I had seen this portrayed so many times on my computer screen at home, it was hard to believe we were actually doing it live and in person. We did struggle after that, wending our way through the streets of town, but we expect that.
Leipzig has a quite recognizable architectural style, with most buildings being about four or five stories high, with windows typically having lintels and "eyebrows".
It didn't really take long to pass through Leipzig. What followed was reslly a pleasant surprise. We found ourselves passing through farm fields, with tiny towns spaced 2 km apart. The roads from town to town were that type where you might believe you were on a fairly wide bike path, but the passage of an occasional car verifies that it's actually a road. All around were the signs of Spring, with Easter flowers in the towns, it was really pleasant.
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We had been loosely following the Leipzig to Berlin cycle path, but our route switched to the Mulde path, which of course follows the river Mulde. I would venture to say that every river in Germany has a bike path path that follows it and bears its name! In this case we had received the Bikeline Mulde book as a gift, and before that we had never even heard of a river by that name.
The regional bicycle direction signs have a styled castle logo, and I guess I can see why. While not as stunning as the castle region along the Rhine, there did seem to be a fair number of Schloss's and castles along our way.
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The Pension am Steinberg was the first place we found on route after Bad Duben, where there were apparently no vacancies this Easter Sunday. This stretched our day to 73 km, which was more than I would have liked for a first time out. Dodie just kept on truckin', but by 60 km every patch of grass began to look like a great place for a nap to me! Some might scoff at this pitiful display, particularly since we are riding e-bikes. But you know, the bikes are darn heavy, and with the minimal assist that we use on them, the e-bike effect is really very limited. Right now I feel like I have pedaled a fairly heavy bike a fairly long distance.
For 50 euros, Pension am Steinberg was a great choice. It has a large bright room, coffee maker and toaster, and secure bike storage. It's just what we need to recover from our first day of cycling fun.
I think the nesting swan was my favourite part. So Julie Andrews would need "swans a nesting" or something, to add to the song.
Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 73 km (45 miles)
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Keep safe
Tricia
2 years ago
All sorts of wonderful things on your first day.
2 years ago
1 year ago
1 year ago