Day 37: St. Avold to Rhodes (not Greece)
After the previous day’s long ride, my legs were extra achy. Good job the ride today was another 50km! Before we set off, we chatted to Denis from Canada. He is undertaking a 14 month, 20,000km bike trip around Europe and Southeast Asia. His bike weighs 45kg with all of his equipment, and sometimes cycles over 150km a day! It was really cool to chat to him and he kindly donated to our cause. Top man!
We set off hoping for good weather and fewer hills. The weather forecast predicted a storm at lunchtime, so we needed to get a move on. Check out VIDEO 1 for our early assessment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dd1jmiAtLE
The weather was a mixed bag. It rained a little (see VIDEO 2) and there was lots of strong wind. Good job we were heading straight into it! Today’s ride for me was as tough as yesterday because of this headwind. I kept getting pins and needles in my right foot, so I had to stop more often than normal. I also felt nauseous during the first hour, but this feeling slowly disappeared (see VIDEO 3).
King of the Mountains:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnZMzOes-I4
As we were pedalling our way up some hilly terrain, we had a surprise vehicle coming up behind us! Mum and Brandi had caught us up, and zoomed past gleefully. See VIDEO 4 for their footage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRHVCRZTj0M
We followed main roads all the way to Rhodes. At times, the scenery was stunning with mountains on the horizon (see VIDEO 5). Dad nearly fell off at one point as he swivelled his head to look at a woman passing by in a mini skirt, or he spotted a shop selling Leffe, or he mistakenly waved back at fishermen who were actually just casting off, or he went over a large speed bump. Finally, we made it to the campsite just before the storm began hammering it down. Perfect timing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-0_MlYoSTI
Looking forward to a rest day at out lovely campsite in Rhodes.