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October 20 Friday sunny Bicycle touring Germany In the morning Anke made us coconut tea. Then she escorted us along a bike path to an old rail line. One spot was pretty exciting as Anke sped down hill on her fancy aluminum mountain bike. We followed at break neck speed with our weighty bicycle packs and discovered, somewhat scarily, that it was gravel at the bottom. I steered off the gravel and onto some grass on a bumpy off road detour. Cycling along a river, we looked across at green fields in Austria. Anke rode with us for quite some distance. Eventually, looking at her watch, she decided it was time to turn her bike around and head for home to make lunch for her mother. I wondered what kind of tea she was going to make. Anke pointed us on our way and pedalled off in the opposite direction. In late afternoon, we arrived at Peter and Andrea's country home. I had phoned the day before and warned them that we were on our way. Peter had explained how to find their place. I looked at the instructions I had written before we swooped down a hill into town. Ahem. It turned out that where I stopped to check the directions was precisely where we were supposed to turn. Once again, the beautiful fair Sher was not pleased with my navigation skills. Peter and Andrea lived in the top floor of an old farm house. We stored our bikes along with theirs in the garage. Of course the car had to be parked outside -- just the bikes fit inside. As I headed off to shower, Peter warned that I make certain to keep the curtain inside the tub enclosure or else his downstairs neighbour would get flooded out. "I have a good bike, but a bad flat," Peter quipped. Priorities. Priorities. I guess that's what happens when one spends all his free money on bike toys. Peter plays the harmonica in a blues band. A band stage was set up in their living room complete with a drum set and guitars. I hope the downstairs neighbour likes their music. Peter just completed a spare job for some extra cash. The job? Chopping 400 kilos of rotten cabbage for animal food. He sports a red bumpy rash on his arms from being in the stinky stuff for so long. Peter used to be a photographer but it was too difficult to make money at. His fabulous photos are hung everywhere in the flat. They are amazing. Some great shots of himself cycling in India and Nepal. Sherry helped Peter dice up vegetables to throw in with the rice. I can tell he is a touring cyclist. He made enough rice to feed the entire Red Army. In a few days, Peter and Andrea are planning on leaving for Thailand to go cycling for three months. Peter made triangle bags for their bikes that will make use of the often "wasted" area below the crossbar. They look pretty slick, but one wouldn't be able to put much in them as they would bulge out and one's legs would brush them on each pedal stroke. I wonder what they are planning on storing in them. Pancakes? We discussed possible cycling routes over the pass. Peter marvelled at how lucky we'd been with the weather. It was the warmest autumn they'd had in a decade. We also talked about cycling in Greece, India, and Thailand. It is great to jaw with a cyclist who has actually been there and done some cycle touring. Not like most of the helpful comments we hear from non cyclists. "Watch for cars." Duh. Okay. Thanks. |
