Frankfurt to Mainz - 30 miles

Today is somewhat surreal.... Last night, on the Eve of the 70th anniversary of  

D-Day, German TV had "Saving Private Ryan" dubbed in German.   And today, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, the local paper had this picture and saying on the front page.....

Der längste Tag (The Longest Day)

Meaning no disrespect to those great heroes of Normandy, today was "Der letzte Tag" for me.   It was a simple and easy stretch out ride..... Just 30 miles to Mainz, where the Main joins the Rhine. 

I decided to not push it too much and leave after getting a good nights sleep.   Hilary and I went to eat at about 8 and, after a leisurely breakfast, I left about 9 or so.  

Leaving Frankfurt was hectic.... Still lots of people leaving for work on the bike trails.   Plus there were plenty of fitness riders too.   But while Frankfurt is a nice city....

It was nice to see it in my rear view mirror. 

The ride today was very peaceful, 

nothing too surprising

Just a nice ride......

Until I realized there were bikers, runners/walkers AND Horses on the trail.  

And until I rounded the bend a short way up the road and saw.....

 

Yes.... Tepees!   I had to laugh!  They even had a "Boot Hill" and a trading post there.   The sign says "Interest Group For American and Native American Culture".   Yup.... Surprised to see this!

The ride continued..... Nice and flat and I was able to push the speed a bit.   But the problem was that at least every kilometer, the road turned 90 degrees or we hit a short patch of sand or cobblestone or something that caused me to slow down.  And that happened the whole week.   But no complaints.... It was a gorgeous week!!

I rolled past the confluence of the Main and Rhine (or in German "zusammenfluss" or "River coming together") without any fanfare.   A nice quiet point for lunches, of which there were people there doing just that. 

As I rolled into Mainz, I was able to take a couple of pictures.  Nice town and very picturesque.  

Hilary met me at the end in the town just outside of Mainz.   We correctly figured that in Mainz might be too confusing.   So we met at Kostheim at the Gasthaus Zum Engel..... The end of the road for me. 

I packed things up getting ready for Hilary to show up and get me.   So when she arrived, we broke the bike down and got it in the van and headed out to return the bike to the shop in Frankfurt.   The only problem was that I forgot my GoreTex jacket that I had hung from the fence.    So we reversed our egress and went back to the Gasthaus.   Hilary was very reassuring but I was sure it would be gone since there had been a ton of bike traffic today.  

Well, I was wrong again!!!

We ended the day by going to a great Biergarten in Okriftel... Restaurant Zum Goldenen Anker.   Great place!!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!   Trip Advisor will get a very good recommendation on that place!!

It had an indoor location but also in the park across the street. 

Well, now it's the end of a full day.   We spent the end with me writing and Hilary knitting while watching Germany defeat Albania in a rout.  Tomorrow will be our last here and we'll go sightseeing and shopping for a few things.   

Tomorrow, I'll work on an After Action Report.... What worked well, what didn't, what to change, what was missing.   

But to close for today, for an old guy with broken down knees (see picture above), this was a great trip to train for RAGBRAI, to see some parts of Germany I've 

 never seen before, to reconnect with some family and spend time with my little girl!

More tomorrow!!