Just one hour after having asked Teunis to blog for me by textmessage I happen to pass a Turkish operated internetcafe in a suburb of Mainz. Yesterday at the end of my 98 km-day I was surprised by an enormous thunderstorm. I was just in a narrow part of the Rhinevalley, where only the road and the railroadtrack fitted between the river and the steep slope. The first 5 minutes I couldn’t flee anywhere, until I saw a kind of one-person tunnel under the tracks. I could get in, my bike couldn’t. Soaked. After it was over I found a historic guesthouse in Oberwesel. Very nice and warm Still wet shoes this morning though. This will be the problem of my trip I think: wet feet. Furthermore I have to cope with an almost continuous headwind, demotivating! And showers. But also some nice encounters, especially with elderly men, telling me they go swimming everyday, even in winter, and by bike and the friends coming by car and more of this stuff. I like it. Then the Germans generally are so polite and kind, sincerely apologizing when they can’t show me the right way or, what also occurred: some little children playing on the cycle road and noticing me coming only just in time are so kind as to apologize during their play as I pass. This is something the Dutch should notice and learn from. App. 440 kms done, about one third of the distance to Torino. Wonder if I’m going to make it in time, or at all!
See you later. Frans