After a very good night’s sleep on nice lush grass, woke at
6.30am and lazed for a half hour before we went into the house, where the kids
were well up and Ellen had prepared breakfast for us. Latte Machiattos, with boiled eggs,
croissants, rolls, cheese and salami and orange juice. The day had dawned as one of the best we’ve
had for a while and it would remain so, sitting around 19 degrees until at
least 6pm. During breakfast, Rosa gave
us a violin concert and then followed it up on the recorder….great for nine
years old. Since meeting us only last
night, she opened up this morning and was trying her English.
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| With Daniel, Ellen, Rosa and Gustas (not sure if we have spelled these correctly!) |
About 8am we all took photos and then Daniel
took Rosa to school and he went to work. It was fantastic of him to offer us a
place to sleep last night, but then to let us shower, feed us a main meal and
then give us breakfast…well that just capped it off. By 8.30am Ellen was on her way to work after
dropping Gustas at Kindergarten, whilst we packed up another condensated tent
and fly.
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| A goose farm - not something you see every day. |
On the road out of Osten and riding in amongst the wheat and
corn fields, the trees swaying gently in a light breeze, ideal conditions for
cycling. First we had to find our way
back to Delbruck after our cycle to Daniel’s house, but it was only 5kms. Didn't really have a set destination today
after our 120kms yesterday, we were just going to enjoy the ride and that is
what we did. Conditions were brilliant
all day, both with the tracks and road surface. I was however just about at my
wits end as the squeaking /whining noise I referred to in the blog was now loud
and continuous…..now come on guys…..we all know the first thing that popped
into your minds…..sounds like the wife on a normal day. Passed a bike shop as we were riding into one
of the larger towns, called Gutersloh. Julia suggested that I call in, however
what I didn’t mention in the blog, was that this has been going on for about
five weeks and three bike shops have tried and failed to fix the problem. One
in Slovakia, one in Czech and a real bunch of cowboys in Leipzig, who suggested
that the bike needed a major overhaul, but they didn’t have time to work on it
anyway. They didn’t listen to what I was
telling them and just wanted the Englander out of the way. Roll on to a small town and we come across a
small bike shop. The owner would have been in his sixties, but his young bike
mechanic was in his twenties. He listened to what I told him and then took the
bike for a ride. Came back, tried something else…..listened to the bike as he
moved the pedals. Then he hit upon the problem and went to work. A half hour
later, twenty Euros and a new rear derailleur cog and Dave, the mechanic had
solved the problem. My bike is now
running as it should….smooth and silent.
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| Salvation!! Thank you Dave - have been enjoying smooth cycling ever since. What a relief! |
Out of Gutersloh and heading, once again on lovely bike
trails, for Harsewinkel. On one of these tracks we stopped for lunch to
discover that we had lost our sporks (spoon, fork and knife combined into one
utensil). This to add to a growing list
of lost articles including Ju’s pink sock and my Swiss Army knife (not the old
one I’d had for years with the blunt knife, but the brand spanking new one
Markus had given me….grrrr!) As we had
already served up two bowls of cereal with blueberries and yoghurt, we needed
spoons. So we cut up the plastic blueberry container into two rough and ready
spoons and sat down to enjoy lunch. The
tent and fly once again were hung out to dry and we were off again, this time
heading for Warendorf.
Just outside of Harsewinkel we played a bit of pass and
be passed, with another couple. Cycled with them virtually all the way to
Warendorf. They were German, with very few English skills, but the guy and I
hit it off and talked non-stop about all sorts of cycling adventures, obviously
with a lot of gestures. He told me that
he was 78 and his wife was 64. Two years ago, after a lifetime of riding, he
bought his first e- bike and was really enjoying it. They go for a one week
tour every year. This time they were heading to the
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| Warendorf Town Square |
Arrived in Warendorf looking for a camp. Took the trail we
thought it was, but met a couple of nice ladies, who spoke little English, who
told us it was back in town…..so back we go….Wrong choice…! We were in fact only about a km away, so
after spending time in town taking photos, buying a knife fork and spoon set and
eating a lovely lunch Ellen had prepared for us, we ventured out again, this
time
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| Amazing detail on the church doors |
finding the place and booking in.
Germany and France play the semis of
Euro 2016 tonight and the owner has no bar on site (amazing for a German camp)
and no television to watch it….so there’s another game I won’t get to see! Installed in the camp, I wrote the blog,
whilst Julia showered, then we had some food and I grabbed a shower.
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