On the road again. Or… on the PanEuropean Bike Trail again.
A lot of this is not roads – this time I had pathways with gravel or even grass. prep for the Czech part, I guess…
Right now – I took a train to Heilbronn. This is pretty much where I ended the second leg. I had ridden from Kronau to Mosbach and from Mosbach to Heilbronn. Staying overnight in Heilbronn, the city with the Bundesgartenschau 2019 and the still largest HCL6 homogenuous field.
Very Swabian. And a good place to run in circles. Ingress taught me decent nav skills. Yet, I rode around Heilbronn about 8km before I found the right exit from the city. This had a few different reasons – for one – I had uploaded the wrong gpx file. But in cities I never rely on those – these usually only give a general direction. The other reason: Bundesgartenschau. The main gardening exhibition of the year 2019 in Germany.
Third…A very Swabian city. Saving money on the topic of putting up decent signage. *this attitude might also show at the railway station where they charge one Euro for a visit to the restroom)
So all three factors cost me an hour before my real start.
So my route took me through Heilbronn hills which are hillier than Kraichgau hills. Steeper. more, longer inclines. but who cares – I am here to cycle. to train.
Of course also to eat. When I eventually saw a bakery – I had been hoping for an ice cream parlor – but when I saw that place, I went in, got some cake and the German variety of iced coffee (coffee, vanilla icecream, cream) And mercilessly deleted it.
This day kind of was tough. I had been cycling but maybe the weather, maybe being a bit tired (even after decent sleep) I did not feel really fit. On the other hand – most of these things happen in the mind. And I re-activated the „every hill a victory“ mantra.
And I got rewarded by super beautiful sights along my route.
Well, I knew the hills were just about to really start and the road took me up to Waldenburg.
That climb was really nasty. Up to about 13%, and a lot of traffic. I took a small break and almost did not find a place to remount my bike. As steep as it was getting on was tough anyways, and I usually swerve a bit in the beginning.
And this hill dragged … on and on… but eventually there was a reward for the labor.
A glorious view. I had the whole world on my feet – or so it looked like. Beautiful flowers all over the village.
Old castle remnants.
Even a portal.
So I took a break deleting more of the liquids I had brought along. Eating some dried fruit.
Looking forward to the descent.
And my, was I glad I had my brakes fixed after the tour to Paris.
I followed the signs to Schwaebisch Hall – that was the place I had looked up for staying overnight.
Out in the coutryside signage was sufficient.
The same old oval with the European stars.
In the town I found a hotel, a space for my bke, some food (met a friend there, having dinner, chatting a bit, getting some coffee)
This was a very very exhausting day.
I only had planned two days – after a good night’s sleep I got ready for the second.
