Day 9 Ottmarsheim, France - 98 Degrees and Heading Northwest on a 62 Mile Day

Joan's View

The super bumpy trail

We once again woke up early, 6:15 so that we could hopefully beat some of the heat. We had an unexpected stop for Tony to try to repair the bike. We were coming down a steep hill with an intersection at the bottom. He had the brakes on so hard that it must have bent something. He did what he could and then decided that we may have to look for a bicycle shop in Strasbourg. The morning ride was overall enjoyable because we were riding through a mature, shady wood with lots of old growth. On the other hand, it was a long distance on gravel/broken up pavement which meant super bumpy for about 12 miles. One fairing connection came off and I got sprayed with water from my water bottle. Tony's triceps were getting a workout keeping the bike upright.

We passed what we think was a hydro power plant.

Riding into town

After making huge gains on the miles, the water bottles were getting low. We rode into this quaint Swiss town. Low & behold, there was a gelato shop. The guy at the counter was kind enough to point us to the closest water fountain. Double jackpot!! 

Gelato & water! Yay!

Lunch at the Snack & Change

We were really trying to get into Basel, Switzerland before noon so that we could meet Megan Burns' cousin, Ken, who lives there. We had made arrangements earlier to meet at the Rathaus, but Tony did some research, and found that it was a 400 ft climb plus mileage. On a hot day like today with so many miles, we texted Ken in the morning to see if he could meet us at some place along our route. Ends up the best we could find was a Snack & Change, but for Ken that turned out to be a 40–50-minute drive so attempts to meet failed. Hopefully, we'll get to meet Ken & his family another time. Thanks Megan!

Going through Basel, we realized it is a giant shipping port. Miles of shipping containers and shipping companies along the Rhine.

Shipping containers & shipping containers

Tony's first time into France

Heading to our destination, we had to cross several bridges over the Rhine. One of the bridges was over locks. We got to see a ship go into the lock, but after waiting for 15 minutes or so, there was no action to change the water levels in the locks, so we moved on. This is where we entered France.

By this time, the temperature was really heating up. We were out on country trails and seemed like we could feel the corn cooking. There was a field irrigator running, so Tony timed it for us to we ride underneath the spray as it shot water over the bike trail. We were like kids at a splash pad. Better yet, we rode under 4 more irrigators before we got to Ottmarsheim with shots of happiness each time. 

Us heading straight for that irrigator spraying over the trail.

Around 3:00 we made it to our Airbnb. The code to get the key out of the lockbox didn't work, and the hosts had an hour response time. Low & behold, with a little detective work and my accounting background, I guessed that they had transposed 2 numbers, and we had our key.  We are enjoying our first air-conditioned Airbnb of this trip. Better yet, they have a massage chair. Aah! Dinner is from the convenience store taken back to our air-conditioned home for the night.

One more thing - there are lots of these bird along the Rhine. Anyone want to take a stab at it?

Salute!

Tony's Extras

I really think riding a bicycle can be a mental game, we knew today was going to be a struggle with the high heat, distance, and climb and it actually went well. There were sometimes where you just rode and said wow that is hot.  The Airbnb is the size of our motorhome and is a concrete building with just a sloped roof going one way. but is awesome. It is similar to what Poeppelman Concrete tried to talk me into. All the luxuries that you would want. We are in France now and they even have cool bicycle bridges, so I feel the need to share.

Tomorrow it is supposed to cool down to 89 degrees, but 10 degrees cooler is wonderful. We do have a chance for rain. Actually, cooling down means rain for the next 10 days. Thank goodness that weather.com is wrong quite a bit. 😏