Germany 2010
Just a few things to note before you start reading:
1. German keyboards are not like Canadian ones!
2. I have no idea how to use spellcheck on their computers.
3. I don´t claim to have Natalie´s writing finesse.
4. I have included our daily mileage when riding.
5. Enjoy!
Here are some updates from our adventure on two wheels so far….
We arrived in Germany May 20th and made our way to our pre-booked hotel for a well deserved sleep. Unfortunately due to jet lag there was little sleep and lots of questions - 2am - Papa how come I am not tired yet it’s the middle of the night? 3am - Papa is it time for lunch? 4am - Papa how come you’re getting grumpy? 5am - Papa when are we going to have breakfast? 6am - zzzzzzzzzzz
May 21 - We spent the entire day on the train and after 4 extremely quick and clumsy transfers and about 6 hours we arrived in Basel to a warm French\German welcome from our friend Philippe’s parents. We shared some drinks and laughs and then headed for another heavily desired rest.
Distance - 5.6 km
Average Speed - 8.5 km/hr
Max Speed - 21km/hr
May 22 - This was our first real riding day, and it was a real pleasure to get on the bike. We cycled from our friends Eliane and Hartmut’s in Basel to Hans’ family in Ober Eichsel. Again we were greeted with beer and warm smiles for our efforts. Both were certainly hard earned after the 30km ride including one hill that took us about 30 minutes to push the bikes up! Sienna is having a great time, falling in to her old traveling habits of going with the flow and loving everyone she meets - especially the ones with chocolate!
Distance - 30.2 km
Average Speed - 14.1 km/hr
Max Speed - 48.9km/hr
May 23 - No bike riding today other than some airplane baggage induced maintenance and test rides. Edletraud and her husband Reiner took us on a wild car ride through the Black Forest to a ski hill called Belchen. The gondola ride up was fun and just as we waved goodbye to our gondola Natalie made a mad dash back to it to retrieve our camera that was en route for a second trip down and up the lift! After the camera stopped horsing around we went for a short 1/2 hour hike to the top (1363 m). Back at the bottom we all had our first piece of Black Forest cake with a little shot of courage poured over top.
May 24 - Today we left Dave´s family to head back to Basel for a couple of days. Hans´ uncle Reiner lead us the shorter way back which also cut through some amazing forests. Unlike the way to the village this was mostly down hill and left us all feeling like we could have used a bit more riding time. After dusting off Hans´ small wound from our first (and last) accident of the trip we made our way back to Hartmut and Eliane´s to enjoy a beautiful day relaxing in the sun drinking their home made grape juice.
Distance - 19.2 km
Average Speed - 20.1 km/hr
Max Speed - 46.2km/hr
