This was a unique day! We departed from Erstein at a little after 8 heading for Maximiliansau by way of Strasbourg. It was a nice start…. we headed out and found the trail to Strasbourg without any problems. 17 Km to the south side of Strasbourg and we were cooking! The straight asphalt course really let us move.
For a long part of the first part of the ride we found ourselves in a beautiful tunnel of trees…. we were actually at or slightly below canal level! It was actually enjoyable!!
But then came Strasbourg…. we made it about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through Strasbourg when it happened. Somehow or someway we apparently missed our turn to stay on the trail. Instead of being on Eurovelo 15 we found ourselves on Route 5! And as we were looking for the right trail, the clock kept ticking and the odometer kept spinning. We must have passed the European Parlament building at least 3-4 times….
Around and around we went…. we chances on a train engineer who was taking a break and asked him for directions…. he gave them to us and we started. But when we hit a construction caused dead end, we asked a nice lady on a bike and she helped us navigate the construction. After we said goodbye, we went the direction she suggested till we hit another snag… we were in a residential area. Luckily there was a man and his wife outside working on their wall so we asked them for help. They did speak some English but the directions he gave us were confusing…. turn right then left, then right then left, then right then left…. and then follow the signs. So we did… until we got waylaid by the countryside. Again, fortune smiled on us with a man there who gave us the next set of instructions…”take this path, follow it till you hit the field with cows in it then turn left. After the cow field, turn right take it under the bridge and look for signs. ”
And, you can’t believe this, we found the right sign!!! That is one thing we learned… you have to be DOUBLY observant to not miss a sign!!
As we rode today, we also saw some very nice scenes….
This church was right along the river… Greek Orthodox we thought….
A nice church in the village of Kilstett…
This huge old log….
Roadside church…
On another canal…
We got hungry and thirsty so we stopped for refreshments twice…. once for just Bier and the second for Bier and Pommes Frites!
They hit the spot!
From here we had about 18 or so miles to go but enroute we finally made it back to the Rhine River!
We followed the trail partly along the Rhine and off in the surrounding fields until we reached Maximiliansau where another nice couple helped us find our hotel!
Tomorrow…. Maximiliansau to Worms