Welcome To Mainz (August 27)

For reasons that remain a mystery, I woke up at about 2:00 AM and decided to look at my route for today. Yes, I realize that’s an odd thing to do at 2:00 AM. And yet that’s what I did. It turns out it was rather fortuitous that I did so. When I went to bed last night, I was under the assumption that Mainz was a very leisurely 50 km away. Upon further review I discovered I was actually about 85 km from Mainz. Certainly not an insurmountable distance but considering I wanted to arrive in Mainz by mid-afternoon, it meant I was going to have to get started a bit earlier than originally planned. With that realization in mind, I drifted back into sweet slumber.

My next awakening was shortly after 7:00. Peaking out of my tent revealed that I was in for another beautiful day. The forecast called for temperatures in the mid-thirties again and but this time the winds were to be minimal. Things were off to a very good start.

My actual ride began at 9:00 as I pedalled away from Campingplatz Sonneneck. And it truly was a beautiful day to be on the bike. Hot. Sunny. Calm. And a route that literally followed the shores of the river. It was pure bliss. Plus, with all of the castles resting comfortably on the tops of small mountains (or maybe big hills), it was a very picturesque ride. And it was fun chasing, catching, and then passing several of the daily touring cruisers that travel up and down the Rhine.

As mentioned in previous updates, my goal for today (Saturday) was to get to Mainz. Yes, Mainz is a natural stop along the Rhine river route but the main reason for me stopping in Mainz was to reunite with Moritz. For those familiar with last year’s tour, I met Moritz near Elliott Lake in Ontario as we were both pedalling our way west to Vancouver. We ended up crossing paths many times over the course of three weeks including the very memorable Canada Day in Moose Jaw with Glenda (Warm Showers host extraordinaire).

I arrived in Mainz around 14:00 and reunited with Moritz shortly thereafter. After having met in Canada, it was fun to see him again on his own soil. As might be expected, our first order of business was to find somewhere to have a beer. I mean, if this isn’t a perfect situation for sitting on a patio and drinking a beer then I don’t know what is!

The remainder of the day was very casual as we reminisced about last year’s trip, this year’s adventures, and well, any other topics that happen to come up. Simply put, it was a great afternoon.

After a quick stop for groceries and beer, we headed over to the sound studio where Moritz works. He’s still in school but as part of a work program he’s employed by the sound studio. As places to work go, it’s a good one. We ended up hanging out at the studio, eating pizza, drinking beer, and watching a movie. Side note: The movie was The Ghostwriter which I had never heard of, despite the fact that it has a fairly big name cast (Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan). That said, it was really good.

As would be expected, we cycled to the studio which was about 15 km round trip. That said, I didn’t include those kilometres in today’s totals because my bike wasn’t fully loaded at that point. Although, I was carrying a bag with the beer, snacks, and three pizzas. All of which were thoroughly enjoyed, by the way.

Tomorrow is essentially going to be a rest day. Not sure exactly what the plan is but I’m just going to hang out in Mainz with Moritz. Hopefully there will be time (and WiFi) to finally post the backlog of updates I’ve now written but have yet to post. Although, if you’re reading this then said backlog has been greatly reduced.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 87.38 km
Ride time: 4:12:28
Average speed: 20.76 km/h
Maximum speed: 34.77 km/h