The first morning after 3 rest days wasn´t the easiest - I knew I was paying for the later nights and drinking more than the 'one or two' I had planned in Berlin (I had a great time staying with my cousin Carolyn and seeing Berlin). By the afternoon I was feeling better and enjoying it again.
The next morning I felt great and the cold weather and rain didn´t dampen my spirits. After the rain stopped the wind picked up and was one of the hardest headwinds have cycled into - through flat open fields without much to see except wind farms. Next I encountered some nasty cobbles and some muddy tracks (which my bike isn´t ideal for). Just when I felt like the day had thrown everything possible at me I saw a hill in front of me and realised I had to go up it and still had 30kms to go. Finally, the hotel seemed to have lost my reseration (and I didn´t have mobile internet) so I finished the day cycling around town looking for a hotel at 7:30, in the rain.
Exhausted, I called in sick the next day. I remembered it was 4 years to the day that I had got sick and spent 7 days stuck in a very small town in Germany.
The next day was my birthday and I felt better. In the afternoon the bike route I had been following suddenly turned into a steep mountain bike trail so I had to find a detour - which was about a 300m climb. It was hard work but satisfying and the descent was a thrill. Randomly that day I had a Magnum icecream and it had the word ´birthday´ (in English) written on the stick.
That night I stayed with a local family (Jana & Stefan) I had been lucky to meet the previous week. It was great to not be on my own for my birthday and to have a civilized dinner with them and their friends. They showed me around the town (and of course I got lot more out of it than looking around on my own) then took me to a famous french fries stand (I didn´t know where was such a thing) and for a drink. The next morning, Jana got up at 6 and made gluten-free muffins for me which was a nice birthday treat.
Day 4 was also very challenging with more hills and some poor trails. Over the days I had progressively become used to the poor trails and found myself cycling on some steep gravel trails that 2 weeks ago I would have thought were not possible without a mountain bike. There was one stretch in particular that was too steep to ride sitting down but standing up I would lose traction for part of each peddle stroke - I just made it to the top. A number of times during the day I almost lost control but somehow always managed to stay upright.
By mid-afternoon I realised I needed to be quick to get to the hotel by dark. I was on schedule with only an hour (mostly downhill) to go when I came to a ´no bicycles´sign on my intended route. I backtracked to 2 hotels I had seen but they were both full, then looked at the map for a detour which involved a couple more climbs. Digging deep and running on adrenaline I made it right on dusk.
Day 5 was an easy day - just 70kms on nicer trails. Stefan had told me that once I left former East Germany the trails would improve and he was right. That night I was hosted by some uni students from warmshowers.com - my first time using this site and a great experience. They showed me around Bamberg and by luck I was there during the town´s annual beer festival (similar to Octoberfest but less touristy) which was also a great experience. I tried some very nice beers.
I mentioned I hadn´t been on an autobahn so they took me on one - my first time in a car at over 160kms/hr. Max´s part time job was to rellocate rental cars (which in Germany means driving Audis and BMW on the autobahn) so I felt in safe hands. He had seen a coworker crash at over 200kms/hr so was careful going above 160.
Day 6 was another recovery day (80kms) through nice scenery followed by a sightseeing afternoon in Nuremberg.
Day 7 was 115kms but mostly on good surfaces so was easier than some of the previous days. There was about 1000m of ascending through rolling hills which was good practice for the alps and after the recovery days my legs coped pretty well.
By Day 8 I was looking forward to a couple of days rest in Ulm. It was along the Danube so a nice flat day through more nice scenery to finish.
Stage 2 by the numbers:
Days cycled: 8 (plus 1 sick day)
Distance cycled: 830kms
Slugs´ lives that were tragically and violently cut short: 5
Slugs who survived harrowing near-death experiences and were left to wonder why the wheel of fate that cruelly took their brothers left them behind (approx): 100
Cumulative stats:
Days cycled: 13
Distance cycled: 1,290kms
Ferry crossings: 2
Punctures: 0
