We made it to Strasbourg on the day we had planned, but it wasn’t easy. Turned out we had underestimated the distance we would have to ride by about 50km and ended up doing 180 km in a day.
The thing about cycle touring is, especially when you’re on flat, paved roads, it’s not really about pushing hard, or exerting extra effort, you just have to cycle longer and eat more.
We got a bit lost in the morning getting into Speyer, which didn’t help and added about an hour to the journey. It was a good day though, sunny if s bit windy. It took an old German couple on bikes themselves to point us in the right direction.
“Where are you from?” Asked the husband.
“Dublin” we replied
“ahhh Dublin! You mean ‘Dooblin’?” Putting on his best Dublin accent.
The funny thing was, this wasn’t the first time we’ve heard this from a German on the trip. Actually, by now we had gotten used to it and probably would have been surprised if he didn’t supply us with this witty quip.
the cathederal at Speyer
At Germersheim, the next town after Speyer we got a big Subway sandwich. And then at Wörth am Rhein, the last big town before Strasbourg, realising we still had 80km to go and it being about 5 we got a coffee and a McFlurry.
We crossed into France without realising it, just all of sudden the road signs were different and in French.
something is funny about this sign…”Finn, are we in France yet?”
We still had a lot of distance to cover and it was getting late. We cycled through dinner time. About 30km outside Strasbourg at half eight we found a small pizza place on the side of the road and ate some more. As I said, it’s not about pushing yourself hard, just cycling at the same steady pace for a long time.
the light fading and still riding
It got dark. We got in contact with our Warmshowers host and told them we would be later than the late hour we initially warned them we would be. Nine became ten, then ten thirty and we finally got into the city. It was a bit before 11 when we finally arrived at our hosts address.
finally…Strasbourg
Our hosts were the endlessly accommodating Flora and her roommate Martin. We apologised for the late hour of arrival but they were understanding and extremely welcoming. Their cosy apartment just outside central Strasbourg was lovely. We had a quick shower, a brief chat and then went straight to sleep.
don't hurry the journey 