Jim

Jim
Let the Adventure Begin

About Me

Las Vegas, NV, United States
This is my 2008 grand adventure...riding a bicycle with 35 international bikers across Europe, following the Danube River along the Orent Express route through eleven countries. The ride is 4000km over 50 days of which 39 are ride days with camping and 11 are rest days in hotels. Our tour group, TourdAfrique, provides a tour leader that provides directions and transposts our luggage, a mechanic, and a chef who promises gourmet local cuisines. We start out in Paris on June 1 and travel through France to Germany, where we pick up the Danube river. We then follow the Danube through Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Then we ride cross country through Romania, Bulgaria, and finally Turkey, where we finish in Istanbul on July 20.

Jun 16, 2008

Day 13, June 13, Ulm to Eggelstetten, 105 km





We woke up to a cold morning after a heavy rain had fallen. I had to get out my cold weather riding gear and bundled up, with morning temps around 48 deg. It turned out to be a good riding day that was dry with overcast skies. We saw lots more medieval towns with castles and onion domed churches. I must be becoming more native because I am taking fewer pictures of the old buildings, even though they are still amazing.

Today we did a lot of cruising on gravel roads along Danube levies and through dark wooded forest…all a far cry from riding in the western US. We even rode through a heard of sheep.

At camp Al talked me into throwing the Frisbee…his primary college pass time. I thought I had a good backhand, but he wound up teaching he how to get more spin with an overhand throw. He is in a different league. I’ll have I have a lot to work on to keep up with this new Harvard grad.

By the way, the European soccer championship is in full swing and Germans have their flags flying on their cars and out windows. Last night the Germans lost to Croatia. The whole town erupted when Germany scored, but they lost and the restaurants and bars cleared out. A number of Croatians were in Ulm and raced around town waving their flags and honking for an hour. The European Union must be working in that these countries are getting along.

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