152. Europe Bicycle Trip--Only Halfway, Another Flat Tire and 102 km.

After my tour of the centrum of Strasbourg, my intention was to head back over the Rhine to the German side and pick up the bicycle trail there.  I crossed an expanse of water and thought that I was on the other side of the river but I could not find any signs for the bicycle path.

That is when Roger came by and asked if he could help. I explained my plan to him and he informed me that I was only HALFWAY over the river. I had a garden and another bridge that I still had to do.

The garden is called the Jardin des  Deux Rives (The Garden of Two Rivers)

This bridge would take me over the Rhine to Kehl, Germany

In Kehl, I said goodbye to Roger and a big thank you for his help. I told him he was another angel sent to me by God to help me out.

This is the good kind of sign that I like to see.

I passed by this group of runners that were participating in a long run. It was very, very hot by now and they gave me some water.

I passed by the 300 mile marker of the Rhine.

The path here was dirt and in the open sun however it was better than the path below the dike because I could see the water and boats and swans.

After passing Auenheim, the path went inland and I spent a long, hot hour bicycling in a circle because I missed one sign. I was wishing that the GPS had a map for me to use here but alas, it got erased by mistake back in the Netherlands.

This was my second time past this little castle. I decided to foll yellow roads for a while and went through Leutesheim, Diersheim, Freistett, Hugelsheim . In Iffezheim, I got a flat on my rear tire. I was at about 90 km, and very tired and hot but no angels appeared to help me. It was Pinkster Day holiday and no one was around.so I unloaded everything and turned Silver upside down and proceeded myself. It was another spoke flat and when I repaired it, I stuck a piece of paper in to hold the rim tape in place. I told myself that tomorrow, I would find a bicycle store to fix the rim tape problem.

I was back at the Rhine for a while and then turned toward Ottersdorf, near Rastatt to find a campground that was marked on my route book.

After 102.16 km and 6 and a half hours of riding , I arrived at a very over crowded caravan campground called Rastatter Freizeitparadies and was given a little spot in the open sun.

My spot --at least I have a bench

My set up

There was a small lake here and all the people from the town and also the campground were swimming. I put on my bathing suit and cooled off in the water before having my shower.

I enjoyed a nice cold pop and wrote in my journal before going to bed. It had been a long day.