Biking from Spain to Germany

Five More Days

I was sure that I had finally cleared the Pyrennes and the Alps, so I turned to the east after Bourges. I had lots of cool weather for the entire time. It actually got cold many mornings. This is rather unusual weather for this region at this time of the year, eh? It is good for biking though. I made some good time over the next few days. I thought that some bike problem had returned, but it seemed better after some oil and whatnot. Passed through some really beautiful little towns as I rode further and further each day. Always a good bread shop and a campground for US$5 or so. Smooth sailing.

Vittel

I hit a really beautiful stretch of road on Sunday last. A road that wasn't even on my map. Not much traffic, a weekend. Just rolling hills alternating through forests, villages, and fields of hay and cows. I rode 155km into Vittel that night. Yes, the home of mineral water. Went out for some pasta at a nice little restaurant named after its Petit Chef. A couple of the Croatian soccer players were in for dinner. It seems that they practice there between games. I think the local crowd in Vittel didn't know whether to route for their "hometown" team of Croatia or their national team in the final four game tonight. Anyway, France won it and will move to the final against Brazil. that is the big news here tonight.

235km Day

I have a long story to tell about the day that I road on and on. Met two American guys who let me draft for a bit. We split up at the border because they had German money, and I still had to use up my French francs and telephone card. I road east along the border in search of a campground. Of course, on my 200km+ day, I would have trouble finding a place. I though I could stay at Camp de Bitche, but it turned out to be a military base. "Danger: Shooting" written in three languages. Eventually I found a forest without shooting. A long day.

Landau, Germany

This is where I decided to call it quits. I rolled into this quaint little town looking for a map. I still wasn't sure whether I wanted to go to Hamburg, Hannover, or Frankfurt. It turns out I sold my bike to the owner of the magazine shop that I wondered into. Ferdi speaks great English and just happened to be in need of a good bike. He also set me up with a free room for a couple days and promised to write an article in the paper about my wacky trip from Valencia to Landau. I have taken a liking to this place. Today I bought two new pairs of Birkenstocks, and a one-way bus ticket to Rome. I will meet Josh on Sunday.

Conclusion of Biking

I wish I had had more time to enjoy the biking. I only had one day here in Germany and it seems that Germany is the place to ride. Lots of bike trails and special maps. I have picked up some great info for my next trip. I am thinking of making it a point to travel round the world by bike. In stages. I am already making plans to come back to Germany in a couple years. Great bread here. Nice people. Anyway, I learned a lot this time. About 2250km in seventeen days. Saw lots of land and lots of people. Now it is on to Rome.

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