WHY DO WE RIDE??That’s a great question…..why DO we ride? Well, I can tell you why I ride…. I ride because of BEAUTIFUL DAYS just like today! Today was a 66 mile ride from Karlstadt to Miltenberg, both are smaller towns on the Main River, often frequented by the River Cruises (Viking and all the others). And both have very historic old towns that are enjoyed by the passengers. But what they see and what we see are totally different views!This was the view out the Hotel window when I woke up.

Now, back to the WHY I RIDE……I don’t particularly like to challenge my body. I’ve always heard, and tend to believe, that “one has a finite number of heartbeats” so why try to use them up faster? Today’s ride was simply fantastic. Blue skies, fluffy white clouds, cool temperatures, and a generally downhill ride….. all of those make for a great ride. And an average of 11-12 mph makes for a great workout while not killing yourself. Yes, I know, 11 mph doesn’t sound like much but when you roll through the small towns over cobblestones or find yourself making a 90° turn followed in 50 meters by another 90° turn, repeated every 1000 meters or so, you soon understand why you don’t get great speeds. Oh, there are some great sections where you can open it up a little….. we had a great section today where we were up to close to 18 mph.  Poppy field….

It’s really not about going fast…. it’s really all about the sights, sounds and smells. Let me share some pictures and give you a little description of them. You decide what you think about them……Looking across the Main River on the River Ferry

A view down river….

A view up river…

Beautiful field…..

We crossed the 50th Parallel today. 

Church in Marktheidenfeld

Rothenfels – said to be the smallest town in Bavaria 

pretty little monument from 1717.

A nice little Campingplatz…..

 where we stopped for lunch…. the Campingpark Wertheim-Bettingen

Bratwurst and Pommes Frites for lunch….

Rouladen and Klöse!  Simply LECKER!!

A reminder for Gretchen…. the Franconian Red Wine tour….

It was simply a beautiful day!!!!  And a day filled with the joy of exploration, of sights and sounds, of wonderful smells.  I know you would enjoy it as much as I do!!

And as we unwind from today, we enjoyed a glass of Currant Likör made by Hermann Korn!  Hermann wanted us to have some at the end of each day…… we are Hermann!!  Es schmeckt SEHR SCHÖN!!