Mirrors on the bedroom ceiling
Mirrors on the ceiling in the hallwayDay 15 - Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - Schwetzingen to Rastatt - Trip 106.3 kms Time 7:02:51
Had a pretty good nights sleep. Some cramps in my legs but nothing to serious. Got up at 7:00 and went up to dining room for b'fast. Had a big bowl of granola cereal with fruit cocktail and a strawberry yogurt and an apple and a packaged pastry to go.
I asked about a laudromat but none to be found. As a matter of fact I've been looking for one since I left Brussels. I guess the Germans are all very well off and can all afford washing/drying machines so no need for landromats. Had there been a laudromat I would have stayed on another night to give my butt and my legs a rest.
It was overcast while I loaded my panniers on my bike so I decided to put my rain gear on and cover my panniers also.
I set off for Rheinsheim (my GPS couldn't find Phillippsburg). It started drizzling. Good thing I had put on my rain covers before setting off. I had decided to stick with GPS navigation and roads. No cycle paths today. The roads were good and smooth, not to busy, so I was able to make pretty good time. I stopped for lunch at a Gastate and ordered some goulash with bread and tea with lemon for 5.20 E. The waitress was reluctant to let me set off again in the rain. She suggested I should take the bus!!! I convinced her it would be OK since I had already cycled all the way from Amsterdam.
I arrived in Karlsruhe at 2:00 PM but decided to push on to Forcheim as hotels in K would be quite expensive? At 3 PM I started looking for a place to spend the night. I tried every hotel/pension between Forchheim and Rastatt before I was finally able to get a room (smoking) at 5:30 PM at a Best Western @ 92 E/night with b'fast. I said I didn't want b'fast so ended up paying 82.50 E with Wi-Fi which turned out to be pretty flaky. I had to go down to the reception to ask for help with getting on the Internet. I seemed to be getting a much stronger signal at the reception and was able to establish a connection.
Earlier in the week I had gotten stung on my right breast while riding along the Rhine just before arriving in Koblenz. It left a large red splotch on my chest. Today, after checking into my room and taking off my arm warmers, I noticed I had a rash on the inside of both arms at the the elbow joint. I also had a rash on my knees. It was very itchy!!! I put on some "Calmoseptine" ointment that was given to me by Christina on my Quebec trip last summer. It seemed to help relieve the itching a bit. I also took two Paracetemol tablets. They helped a bit too.
I washed a couple of outfits before going out to a Burger King just across the street for some good Ol Merican food. The BK was attached to a gas station which also had a convenience store so I was able to get a Dominikaner Pils for .99 E for .5 L to go plus .25 E deposit.
Once I got back to my room I settled in for the evening and was hoping to get caught up on my blog but had trouble getting on the "Free Wi-Fi" which kept crapping out. I started typing Day 13 and about 3/4 of the way through got cut off. I thought I had lost everything but luckily because of "autosave" I was able to recuperate most of what I had typed. I kept getting knocked off the Internet so eventually gave up and went to bed at 10:30.
Cheers, Roly
Had a pretty good nights sleep. Some cramps in my legs but nothing to serious. Got up at 7:00 and went up to dining room for b'fast. Had a big bowl of granola cereal with fruit cocktail and a strawberry yogurt and an apple and a packaged pastry to go.
I asked about a laudromat but none to be found. As a matter of fact I've been looking for one since I left Brussels. I guess the Germans are all very well off and can all afford washing/drying machines so no need for landromats. Had there been a laudromat I would have stayed on another night to give my butt and my legs a rest.
It was overcast while I loaded my panniers on my bike so I decided to put my rain gear on and cover my panniers also.
I set off for Rheinsheim (my GPS couldn't find Phillippsburg). It started drizzling. Good thing I had put on my rain covers before setting off. I had decided to stick with GPS navigation and roads. No cycle paths today. The roads were good and smooth, not to busy, so I was able to make pretty good time. I stopped for lunch at a Gastate and ordered some goulash with bread and tea with lemon for 5.20 E. The waitress was reluctant to let me set off again in the rain. She suggested I should take the bus!!! I convinced her it would be OK since I had already cycled all the way from Amsterdam.
I arrived in Karlsruhe at 2:00 PM but decided to push on to Forcheim as hotels in K would be quite expensive? At 3 PM I started looking for a place to spend the night. I tried every hotel/pension between Forchheim and Rastatt before I was finally able to get a room (smoking) at 5:30 PM at a Best Western @ 92 E/night with b'fast. I said I didn't want b'fast so ended up paying 82.50 E with Wi-Fi which turned out to be pretty flaky. I had to go down to the reception to ask for help with getting on the Internet. I seemed to be getting a much stronger signal at the reception and was able to establish a connection.
Earlier in the week I had gotten stung on my right breast while riding along the Rhine just before arriving in Koblenz. It left a large red splotch on my chest. Today, after checking into my room and taking off my arm warmers, I noticed I had a rash on the inside of both arms at the the elbow joint. I also had a rash on my knees. It was very itchy!!! I put on some "Calmoseptine" ointment that was given to me by Christina on my Quebec trip last summer. It seemed to help relieve the itching a bit. I also took two Paracetemol tablets. They helped a bit too.
I washed a couple of outfits before going out to a Burger King just across the street for some good Ol Merican food. The BK was attached to a gas station which also had a convenience store so I was able to get a Dominikaner Pils for .99 E for .5 L to go plus .25 E deposit.
Once I got back to my room I settled in for the evening and was hoping to get caught up on my blog but had trouble getting on the "Free Wi-Fi" which kept crapping out. I started typing Day 13 and about 3/4 of the way through got cut off. I thought I had lost everything but luckily because of "autosave" I was able to recuperate most of what I had typed. I kept getting knocked off the Internet so eventually gave up and went to bed at 10:30.
Cheers, Roly
Just read the last few days, Roly. I'll pass on tales of your epic journey to the gang tomorrow. We had the golf tournament on Monday the weather was hot and we didn't score well but had a good time.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Tony
Thought you'd get a kick out of this:
ReplyDeletehttp://ca.jalopnik.com/5810436/watch-biker-prove-futility-of-nyc-bike-laws-by-crashing-over+and+over-again