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More valley riding to Wertheim

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Day 3 We must have seen more cyclists in the last 2 days than in months in the UK. Loads of people have ebikes and the flat riding by the side of the river is ideal for easy riding. We passed lots of villages with wood framed houses and had lunch in Mildenberg. Unfortunately it then got wet and we couldn't shelter in a bus stop all afternoon so we donned all the foul weather gear and headed into Wertheim which is full of medieval houses but means only one thing to medics- a kind of hysterectomy.   I've never seen a coin operated machine dispensing rubber products like this before. At 26 " it's got to be inner tubes. We dined on beer and sausages and sauerkraut -very Good for the digestion!
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Along the Main

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It was a 5am start to get to the airport but before long we were outside Frankfurt Airport with 2 very big boxes. Unlike an Ikea flat-packed we ended up with 2 complete bikes and no bits left over. We eventually found the Main River after an unfortunate fall where Tom and Helen slipped on gravel. The river is huge and we saw enormous barges gliding along with the modern buildings of Frankfurt across the river. We had a bit of drizzle and 66km even on the flat seemed a long way after such an early start. Aschaffenberg was the stop for the night in a modern hotel near the station. The restaurant was celebrating the pfifferling season so Tom and Jim had what turned out to be chanterelles. An early night and a solid sleep soon followed.
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Four Romantics on the Romantischer Strasse

After a very successful tour from St Malo to Montpelier three years ago ( Manche 2 Med ) and last year's sweep across Southern France from Nice and over the Pyrenees to Barcelona, our courageous couples needed a destination. Although we really enjoyed Northern Spain the restaurants have such late opening times that it isn't really compatible with tandem Touring. Verity had fancied the Romantischer Strasse on Southern Germany ever since we visited the fairytale walled town of Rothenberg ob der Tauber. The route goes South and ends up at the fairytale castles of Mad King Ludwig. From there we could join the Via Claudia Augusta - a cycle route following a Roman route over the Alps into Italy. We could get flights to Frankfurt with a return from Venice - a couple of nights booked at the beginning and a few nights at the end close to the airport and (we hope) a source of cardboard boxes to repack the tandems. Everything else we can invent as we go.
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