Learning to fly

What is it with church bells? I get the ringing on Sundays – calling the few people who still go to church. At the service we went to last night the pastor had to wait for the bells to finish before starting. But is it really necessary to have them going (presumably) all night? I certainly hear them at 5am, 5:15, 5:30, 5:45 …

And here’s a question. Europe is on 24 hour time format. Why is it then that a 3pm, the bells ring three times and not fifteen? There is always something to ponder.

Our ride today is dead easy. I think the easiest day of the whole trip. Our bikes, after a half-arsed wash and a much more thorough chain clean and oil, purr along like e-bikes. My legs are strong. There are (effectively) no hills.

We burst out of Ulm, stopping only to wonder at the size of the pies in a bakery and to laugh at the sign on a pub. There’s definitely no RSA in this country, judging by the pub sign!

On the way out of Ulm we pick up a chatty Czech cyclist who’s riding solo but obviously looking for company. He’s riding as far as Bratislava, camping, but only under the stars without a tent. I actually like the comfort of a room and a shower at the end of the day.

We part company with the guy when EV6 takes what seems to be a meaningly inland detour; he chooses to keep following the river. The best thing about the detour is riding along a perfect paved cycleway with the wind in our backs. We make great speed until hitting a 7-8km stretch of very loosely gravelled road which slows us down a lot. Our bike tyres are not optimal for this type of service. Nonetheless the forest we are riding through is pretty, so the message is slow down, take your time and enjoy the way. A good philosophy for life maybe?

There is another longish stretch along the river bank which is lovely, with lots of wildflowers on each side.

We stop for lunch at Gundelfingen an der Donau, because why wouldn’t you? Our mistake was jumping into the first bakery we found, still scarred by our lunch experiences in France. There was only really cake on offer. So it’s cake for lunch. Of course, just around the corner is a proper little village, cobblestones and cafes and all. Next time won’t be so quick to stop – though my cake was great!

It’s just an easy cruise home now to Höchstädt an der Donau where we are booked into a Gasthaus. Where it is “rest day” and the beer garden and restaurant are closed. I suppose we are lucky to be able to get a room on rest day, though if you can’t rest on rest day, what is the world coming to?

It’s only a small town and the “lots of places” that are open (according to the owner) become one huge Greek restaurant and the accompanying ice cream shop. These occupy prime position in town. Hmmmm. Perhaps the owner is a person of power in town.

We plan to only stop by for a beer and then take a look around town, but they drop out ouzo (gratis) and menus before we even order a drink. Their ploy works. We eat Greek food.

Our evening’s entertainment is a stork nest, perched high up on a nearby roof. There’s at least one baby in the nest; I suspect there’s another one. The storks are huge! The baby is huge. Somebody has put a huge metal ring up there for the storks to nest in, presumably to keep them off the chimney.

Stats for today:

• Distance: 62.84km
• Climb: 90m
• Average speed: 16.6km/h
• Average temperature: 23C
• Moving time: 3:47:16
• See our ride on Strava

The beer picture

At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken on the terrace at the Greek restaurant in Höchstädt that dominates the centre of town. It was preceded by an ouzo, gratis.

Along the way today: