Erbermannstadt to Neustadt an der Aisch

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We were later down to breakfast than the others, but as we were not settling off until Richard had tried the bike shop for shoes at 9.00. we were ready to set off with the others. Breakfast was typically German with ham and cheese and no cereal.

Richard couldn't get any shoes at the bike shop in town but swapped pedals with Lyta who had flat pedals that would be easier with his shoes.

We were all off soon after nine. There were a few short sharp hills within the first few miles to get over into the next valley. After that it was relatively flat. We were heading south west all day.

We had a cafe stop, late morning, for coffee with a few of the group. We then said we were going to a bakery we had seen to buy lunch and they decided to do the same rather than use a cafe. There were no sandwiches but there were some pizza breads so we bought them.

Soon after that we saw nine storks in a field. The farmer was cutting the grass and the storks were raking through the cut grass for food. A little later we saw two swans with their cygnets. Lovely.

There was only one gravel path through a forest, of about two miles, today, so that was good. In general the cycle paths are in much better condition than our roads.

As with yesterday it was trying to rain for the last couple of miles but fortunately it didn't get on with it. Even though it was only half past two we could book into the hotel. After showers we walked into the town centre for an ice cream. It is a very pretty little town and we could see they were preparing for some event.

The hotel is very nice but unfortunately we couldn't eat their this evening as they had a wedding on. We struggled to find some where that could fit so many in but Oscar found an Italian that could. The town centre was very busy. We found out it was the start of a four day religious festival.

When we walked into town for food we watched for a while as they slowly hoisted up a very tall thin tree which only had branches and pines at the top . There was an intricate way of doing this using poles and rope. This was in the centre of the town square. People were sat all around eating and drinking. There was an Oompah band playing. The band members were all dressed in lederhosen and drinking huge tankards of beer. Many of those watching were also wearing lederhosen.

There were four stokes stood on the roof tops, two of them on nests. Dave had taken a picture of some near this morning's hotel where you could clearly see the mother and baby chick together.

39 miles.

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