Gundelfingen to Blindheim: Sick and more bike trouble

September 14, 2012

Spent quite a long time after breakfast talking with the owner of the gasthaus about Angus cattle . He was excited to hear that we were from Canada as he had traveled to Canada for an international conference of Angus breeders. He had spent time driving from Regina to Calgary visiting cattle ranches. His passion for Angus cattle was infectious and interesting. He told us that the wind storm that had decimated so much of the forest lasted only ten minutes and cut a swath of destruction for 20 km. He also shared a story of a local young man who was killed when a tree crushed his car. After having ridden through this area, we were able to appreciate the tragic scope of the storm. We are grateful that we hadn’t passed through here earlier as the crews have been cleaning up the mess for the past few months. They are just finishing now.

We stopped in the local bike shop in Gundelfingen - what a great store with helpful staff and a surprise as it is not mentionned on the bike map. After the previous day of flat tires, we wanted to be sure that all was ok and to pick up an additional spare tube.
The mechanic did not like the look of the rear tire and we decided to get it replaced. Murphy’s Law dictates that if we have a problem, it will be on the trail away from a shop - we’re much happier being proactive rather than reactive. As well, Barry has been unhappy with the quality of the tires on the trailer so we upgraded those to Schwalbe as well.
In replacing the rear tire, the mechanic noticed that there was a significant problem with one of the brake pads - it was deeply etched and had become bent on one corner. We are relieved to find the source of the problem as we have been asking other mechanics about our brakes along the way but with no success. Guess we do need to take a bike mechanics course when we get home.
Life France, shops in small towns in Germany close for lunch for a few hours. They couldn’t finish the job in time before the lunch break, so we amused ourselves by finding the local bakery to have some lunch and were able to leave Gundelfingen about 2:30. We weren’t frustrated by the delay as they had resolved some major issues that would have become bigger problems down the road.
At this point, I was wishing that we had stayed at the Gasthaus another night as I was feeling quite unwell.
We did a short ride to Blindheim and found a place to stay - need some rest.

The owner of the guesthouse in Gundelfingen was passionate about Angus cattle

Abu and Carina working on our bike at the bikeshop in Gundelfingen

Carina and Abu were wonderful. Thanks for all of your help!

We met this couple at our hotel in Ulm. A few days later we met them again on the route . They are from Calgary, Alberta

Today's ride: 31 km (19 miles)
Total: 2,293 km (1,424 miles)

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