What a great day!! We had a later start planned today due to 8 am breakfast (vs 7). But by the time we got downstairs, the breakfast room was open and busy! So we quickly loaded our bags in the van, got the bikes out and had breakfast!!

After a nice meal, we started out for Erstein, 60 miles away. But first, a picture….

And off we went!!! Did I say it was a great day? It was a great day!!!

As you can see from this picture, this ride is somewhat reminiscent of a Northern RAGBRAI Route. But I think there are bigger hills in North Iowa!! The route we took was predominantly on asphalt trails through fields, old railroad right-of-way and along a tow path on the Canal du Rhône au Rhin.

This was a picture perfect day for riding…cool, broken clouds, no wind, asphalt, long unbroken stretches of trail winding through fields…..

In the distance, you can see sheep in this field. They were our only company on the trail till about 10 am.

About 30 miles in, we went to visit the Memorial Maginot Line Museum in Marckolsheim. A couple of us had visited last year during our scouting trip for this ride and it was so interesting we had to go back. Monsieur and Madam Morel couldn’t be more perfect hosts! They even brought us water, knowing we would be close to empty by that time!!

If you don’t know about the Maginot Line, here is a link that will give you some background. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maginot_Line

After the visit, we were back on our bikes and riding to our end town of Erstein. We passed some gorgeous scenery mainly along the tow path.

And along our path, we saw some memorials to WWII…. usually co located with a Church. Very touching to see.

At Erstein, we checked into the hotel and adjourned to the patio for libations and a debriefing of the day’s activity. The Sag team went to Colmar and found it to be an enchanting place to visit. Maybe next year….

Here is a picture of the area from my hotel room….

And from the Patio….

It was a great day in Erstein….. this day will be a very pleasant memory for us all!!