Day 29 - Can we pay now please?

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Today we left Ascaffenburg and the Main River to travel overland to Lohr. We have a number of hills today so we need our climbing legs on, something we haven't used for at least 2 weeks.
There is no warm up, we leave town and head up. It's actually a very consistent grade of about 4 to 5% but it does go on for about 3.5kms. The climb wasn't too bad and it certainly got the legs warmed up and the ride down the other side was certainly fun - but this was just the entree. With only 200m climbed we still had the big climb ahead of us. We are both using Google Maps for navigation today but mine keeps wanting to re-route no matter what I do - driving me crazy!. We decide to stay on the sealed road surface, which is in excellent condition and with little traffic it's by far the best option. The second of the hills has us climbing for about 5kms and by the time we are almost finished we have climbed over 500m for the day before 10:30am. We were climbing surrounded by a lush forest, such a difference from the scenery of the last few weeks. Our morning break was in a clearing by the side of the road where we shared a banana and a coffee that Jeff had stored in his thermos from this morning.
As we left the clearing the weather turned, as expected, and the rain started. We still had a little way to climb and were rewarded with an expansive view of a highland plain, just magic. The descent in the rain wasn't my favourite thing but we took it easy and descended safely back to the Main River below.
We stopped for a hot lunch at Hafenlohr at a cafe that we found open on a Sunday - whew! The servings were generous and we managed to avoid another rain shower while eating. The waitress spoke little English so after we finished eating I decided to use iTranslate on my phone. I used the microphone on my phone and said "Can we pay now please?". The waitress came over and I showed her my phone. Her expression changed and her brow furrowed as she looked at me and then she burst out laughing. Totally confused I looked at the phone and with horror realised that I must not have annunciated clearly because what had been translated to German was "Can we PLAY now please?" So many possibilities here . . . . . .
I paid the bill (no playing) and we rode the last 20kms by the side of the river enjoying the view we have gotten used over the last few weeks.
Our destination today is Bike Lodge Spessart at Lohr. It's a fantastic facility targeted at cyclists riding the rivers. Simply sensational, especially the washing machines and driers we can use.

Distance travelled today: 64kms ( and 760m of climbing)
Distance travelled so far: 1,656kms

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Photos

Bridge into Lohr
There is the equivalent of Oktoberfest in Lohr at the moment - our dinner destination.

Comments

[Rod Moore]

Day 1-29
Mark I’ve just read your whole blog in one session- I’m exhausted reading it so you and Jeff must be well and truly rooted. Great effort and I look forward to further instalments 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️

[Mark63]

Great effort Rod, I'm not sure I could have done that myself. I hope you were sipping a nice red at least while reading.