Thursday, September 10

From	To	Distance (km)	Average Speed (km/hr)	Max Speed (km/hr)	Odometer (km)	Riding Time (hr:min:sec)	Push-Ups
Frankenbach, Germany	Esslingen, Germany	114.32	14.9	38.5	301	7:38:24	228

(393 words)

Riding in the Rain

Today's ride was quite rainy in the afternoon and evening. By the time we arrived at another relatives' house in Esslingen, we were completely drenched.

We had a bit of difficulty making our way today, which amused our hosts in Esslingen. We managed to turn an approximately 65 km trip into one of 114 km. We started out with a simple enough plan -- to follow a bike path along the Neckar from Frankenbach to Esslingen. At one point, however, we got turned around and were actually riding the wrong way along the Neckar. At another point, we heeded some bad advice. Someone sitting at a red light in a van saw us looking at a map and volunteered some advice. This fellow sent us on a long, unecessary detour away from the Neckar through Waiblingen. This detour slowed us down in two ways, it added more distance and involved some significant uphill climbing.

We learned we should give more credence to advice given by someone sitting on top of a bicycle than someone sitting in a van. That fellow's advice was probably fine for someone driving a car, but not so appropriate for wet bicyclists.

We also learned today that we aren't quite ready for a warm rain. We both brought waterproof jacket, long pants, and booties that fit over the shoes. Unfortunately, these were a bit hot for today's ride. So we just wore the rain jacket and let our lower half and feet get wet. This worked fine until the last hour or two, when I started feeling cold. By then we were so completely drenched we figured it wouldn't help to put on the pants and booties. We decided we needed waterproof overshorts and booties that aren't made with the assumption that you'll be wearing long pants.

Although riding a bike all day in the rain might not seem like much of a vacation to some, for a couple hours in the afternoon it was quite nice. We rode through some beautiful countryside, and I felt rather meditative along the way. At the end of the day, we had a warm shower and traditional German evening meal of cold cuts and bread awaiting us. All the physical work of riding over hills and through valleys in a cold driving rain made arriving at our destination all the more satisfying.