The mystery of currywurst is no more. I suffer so you don't have to.

When in Berlin, John and I passed several places proclaiming their currywurst the best. I wish I'd tried theirs, because what I got today wasn't the best of anything. When on a ride, I'll eat almost anything. Kiosks at ferry crossings are risky in any language, but the veg on the menu consisted of frites. Currywurst is a brat with the sauce that you find in baked beans (minus the baked beans) and this mess is sprinkled with curry. I like curry. I like baked beans. I even like bratwurst. This melange didn't work for me.

I made Koblenz today (Rhine marker 592 km) after stopping in Bonn to see an offshoot of my favorite museum, the Deutsches Technical museum in Munich. Quite interesting. All displays related to work done by German Nobel laureates.

The first thing I generally do when hitting a new town is get situated in a hotel or hostel. Unfortunately, the Koblenz hostel was full. So I pulled up to one with b&b in their name. B&b means bed and bike. These places cater to cyclists from out of the area. They wanted 85€ for a double; I was feeling cheap so I moved on. The second place offered me a smoking double for 79€; no way. The third place I tried was a winner. 50€ with breakfast. The size of a shoebox (with the shoes), but with the lights out it gets bigger. The woman who runs the place spoke not one word of English, but I learned that I needed to pull the front door closed and I got the 50 cent tour of the neighborhood. In truth, it could have been more expensive and I'd have paid. There is a bridge over the Mosel  being renovated so the usually accommodating drivers are somewhat less willing to suffer fools and cyclists.

Settled and cleaned I went out to explore. Pictures tomorrow.

By the way. These people still read books. There are nice bookstores all over. Even small towns have more than one. I've been buying maps in stages. I didn't want to carry them and if I got stuck or diverted, I might not need all of them. I need one I can't quite find to get me from Strasbourg to Basil. I have a road map if all else fails and I will be passing through a lot of towns before then, but it begins to look as though I may need it! A bit of a surprise to me.

Note to Linda. Can potato/leak soup be made in the US? And if so, will it kill me? it's wonderful.

Note to Bruce Gordon. The bike is running great. Not a moment of concern. I oil the chain and add air every other day and it's good to go. (Maybe it was too soon to say that?)

I took another ferry today from the east shore to the west just south of Cologne and noticed that the bike club (ADFC) had installed a compressor for riders to be able to check and, if necessary, add air to their tires. Everywhere, there are these little surprises. The one other kind of vending machine you see in front of some bike shops is a coin operated inner tube dispenser. Now how brilliant is that? This place has its issues, not least of which is the baggage of WWII, but they also have pumps on ferry's and inner tube vending machines. You gotta forgive the other stuff.

I need to go find more desert. Writing is thirsty work. Note to  self: .5 liter of beer is too much. This tenderfoot should stick with .3 liter.

Internet access has gotten trickier

I spent last night in Bad Pyrmont. A resort where old Germans apparently go to 'take the waters.' The center of town is very precious. Not my sort of place. I did find a little empty guesthouse in a more blue collar neighborhood and rang the bell. The gentleman who answered could not have been nicer. I think he knew 8 words of English but was so pleasant, it didn't matter one bit. The bike got space in the basement. My plan when I hit these towns is to quickly get settled, clean up, scrounge around for dinner and to see something of the town. Last night I did what I laughingly describe as laundry. I can say no more on the subject except I waited too long.

I passed through the town of Hamlin yesterday but the place was tightly packed with busses, tourists, and guys in tights and pointy hats. The tights are fine, but I draw a thick line at pointy hats. The Weser river passes through town and the path leaves the town alongside it. I'm looking forward to riding along the Rhine. It should be spectacular and navigation more obvious.

Strangely, Hamlin was not my I original destination, but when I was unable to find my way out of Hulsede, rather than spend any more time looking for the path, I just took a road south. This turns out to be an OK technique when all else fails. The path system is generally well marked, but not always. As long as I'm making progress in the general direction, I'm good.

Today, after an amazing ham and egg breakfast, I headed for a well established and well marked trail. Responsibility for navigating is not diminished just because it's well marked. The signs are t always obvious and I've missed a few, sending me in odd directions. I'm getting better at guessing which way I deviate and correct by intersecting further on rather than going back. I did have to go back a couple of miles today. Bad part is there was hill involved.

Just because and for no particular reason, other than it was about 50 miles from where I spent last night, I aimed for and hit the town of Gutersloh where I'll spend the night. This town is the complete opposite of where I was last night. Bertelsmann and several other important companies apparently have headquarters here so the place is all business. No cutsie b&bs or hostels. So I did the next best thing and found the Holiday Inn Express. Funny to think of Holiday Inn Express since I'd always thought of Holiday Inns as being pretty express even before they named it so.

Anyway, a bored but attentive made the sale by telling me her manager liked bicyclists so she proposed 64€. Still more than I've been paying but not totally out of reason. When your tuchus is sore, even 65€ would have been reasonable.

I met a guy today from Poland who works or studies in Cambridge. He was heading to Berlin and then Poland for a visit at home. He remarked that I'd picked a difficult direction since the wind comes from the west. I knew this when planning the trip, but didn't quite count on the strength of it. They are generating a considerable amount of power with this wind. Next time I go east.

I'm finally feeling comfortable on this loaded withbike. The thing is heavy; probably 30# for the bike itself plus another 35 in bags. Compare that to my unloaded 23# carbon bike and you can see that everything on the Bruce Gordon happens in slow motion, except downhills. Hills are interesting. One picks up speed at startling rate. It's much more like a motorcycle when going downhill. In any case, different bikes have different natural frequencies. Until you get used to a new one, you fight it and wobble around a bit. I'm much better now. Not a lot of wobbling.

When I got into the room I realized that my name was now it's Herr no name.

Perhaps this Kodak shop hasn't gotten the word.

Where the trail signage is good, it's really good. The medallions below the directional signs identify the particular circuit which is keyed to maps. Not completely fool proof. I'm this proof.

Warning signs should endeavor to describe what the danger is in a more obvious way. I surmised that it was a killer hill and so it was.

People have sculpture in their yards. This is but one of many.

This shop sells caskets.

My posts may get spotty if Fonic doesn't turn my service back on since I'll need to find hot spots. Hopefully they will do the right thing tomorrow.

News Flash - Is this a good idea?

'Are you really going alone? Is that safe? You'll be all alone in a strange country and won't speak the language. What about the traffic?'

'What about your job? Are you giving it up? Do you care?' Maria Zak July, 2013

My mother has decided this is trip is a bad idea for so many reasons.

Either you get it, or you don't.

Look at the fantastic bike below which Bruce Gordon in Petaluma built for me. How can I fail with equipment like this?

(Good news. I've figured out how to import photos to my Nexus 7 on the road. As long as I can find the occasional hot spot, and the rain doesn't soak the electronics I should be able to publish a few.)

And yeah, I care about having a job when I get back! P