Out Of Town

[Marcus von Cube]

(05-17-2015 03:29 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote:  Marcus (the Gorilla) von Greipel as the peloton passes
through today's feed zone. Marcus had to settle for
second in the stage's sprint finish to The Couple on the Tandem.

Not bad but I have never joined the Tour de France. I still like the picture.

[Marcus von Cube]

Day four was a little less exhausting except for the first and the last ten kilometers which had some steep slopes to climb. We rode 94km to Nancy along the River Mosel (Moselle). To compensate for the mostly flat terrain the pace was considerably higher then on the previous days. The reward was a pleasant visit of the Place Stanislas downtown Nancy.

A blister on my right thumb has the potential to cause trouble tomorrow. I'll see what happens...

[Marcus von Cube]

No trouble so far on our next ride to Thionville, Moselle. We made 108km. On our way we had a stop at the Cathedral of Metz. It was definitely worth a visit. Tomorrow we will cross the frontier to Germany. Beer will be much cheaper from then on.

[CR Haeger]

My "rule of thumb" is to avoid wearing the same gloves or shorts for more than one long ride in a row. That seems to minimize blisters - or worse.

That, and a couple of end of ride beers!

Enjoy the rides.

[John Smitherman]

(05-19-2015 08:49 PM)Marcus von Cube Wrote:  Tomorrow we will cross the frontier to Germany. Beer will be much cheaper from then on.

Cheaper wine in France. Cheaper beer in Germany.

Please post photos of your journey. :-)

[parse]

Your trip reminds me The martian by Andy Weir which I've just finished reading. Sol 1... Sol 2... blisters... keep the urine to be recycled...
How dare you compare beer and wine (well, I'm French) ? Wine will always give you the strengthness of the Earth and maybe sometimes kind of aeriality : good for slopes if taken straight forward !
Have fun !

[Marcus von Cube]

Thanks to all who show interest in my adventure.

Today we had a mostly flat trip along the river Mosel to Trier. 90km worth five or more flat tires (I stopped counting). I was lucky but others weren't. We were prepared and didn't run out of spare material.

Aching knees and open blisters hurt but are being mostly ignored during the trip. I don't have spare gloves to change so I must live with the outcome.

We were rewarded today with a nice walk through Trier. We had a short visit to the Basilica and a nice view of the Porta Nigra, both Roman relics in good shape. The day ended with some really good beer...

[Marcus von Cube]

Trying to sleep in th hay tonight...

We made another 104km today with a nasty long slope of 12km followed by a an endless sequence of ups an downs to Weiden near Idar-Oberstein on the Hunsrück. Our destination is a hotel that has specialized in very basic ways to spend the night. The barbecue was excellent.

Good night everybody!

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

(05-21-2015 08:18 PM)Marcus von Cube Wrote:  Trying to sleep in th hay tonight...

We made another 104km today with a nasty long slope of 12km followed by a an endless sequence of ups an downs to Weiden near Idar-Oberstein on the Hunsrück. Our destination is a hotel that has specialized in very basic ways to spend the night. The barbecue was excellent.

Good night everybody!

The greater distance I rode on a bike was 42 kilometers, non-stop round trip to nearby town, a running distance to some. No fancy bike, but almost no slopes. Also, I was 16.

Have fun!

Gerson.

[Marcus von Cube]

The tour is coming to an end...

Wie made another 120km to Mainz today. We rode along the rivers Nahe and Rhine. In theory this was easy. In fact we suffered from several deviations an rough ground. I'm in bed know, so we must have made it.

Tomorrow we will arrive in Usingen, our final destination. I doubt I'll have enough time to post anything shortly because there will be a lot of fun that comes first.

[Tugdual]

How was the night in the hay? Scratchy?

[Marcus von Cube]

(05-22-2015 10:09 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  How was the night in the hay? Scratchy?

Not at all. Hay itself is quite soft. I had additional protection and a sleeping bag.

The tour is over, the diploma that was handed out says we made 970km in 9 days. My bike is in the basement. It will stay there for a while...

It will take some time until I get access to photos showing me. So be patient. I tracked most of the tour with Google "My Tracks". I'll try to export the info somehow in order to present it here.

[CR Haeger]

Congrats on your long successful ride!

In honor of your efforts, Im preparing a little bicycle related brain teaser...