Bavaria 2023 D3

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Bavaria D3
The Turkish Cesme restaurant last night was very good. The festival all over town is an event put on by local Protestant churches every two years, with around 100,000 people attending from all over the country. The logo they have, Jetz ist die Zeis means ’The time is now’ with music and singing everywhere.
Big shock overnight, I awoke at 4am realising that I had not packed my cycling shoes. A big bag emptying session followed with searches for bike shops on my phone. A Trek shop nearby said it opened at 8am so an early breakfast and off I went only for it to not open at all due to Corous Christie holiday. A Decathlon shop 4 miles away said 9am, so off I sped only to be sat there like a rat in a cage outside for 2 hrs, again a no show so off I went nearing lunch time.
What a morning, even the breakfast was an hour late. I thought the Germans had a reputation for straight talking, punctuality and thoroughness. I was deceived and I now hope that during this tour my opinion changes for the better. My day did not improve much as I got lost on several occasions due to too much clutter on my Garmin map. Eventually I changed to a spare Garmin Explore which is a better screen and then made better progress. The route stands to be improved since we ended up on too many gravel tracks and even a soil track. It is just as well that the ground was dry, although I thought at one time that my wheels were going to disappear down a crack in the scorched earth. The towns an villages are truly wonderful with their colours and traditional timber and brick structures. There is very little livestock to see but much arable land. Barley, wheat and oats, I think. At one point I went wrong and rather than go back I lifted my bike over the railway tracks and down a little track in a field to bring me back to the road. The pleasures of wild cycle touring. I was caught in a few thunderstorms this afternoon and reluctantly had to don waterproofs for a while. The night’s stay was at the Sonne Hotel in Ebermannstadt which is good and served a great evening meal. Our waitress was very good and spoke good English and even understood my northern accent. There is a bike shop close by so I will continue the search for some cycling shoes tomorrow, if they can be bothered to open.

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Photos

Snake bite puncture
After hitting a drainage ramp. As I went past an unknown rider was in the road with an ambulance in a attendance at exactly the same spot.

Ebermannstadt
View from my window.