Day 34 – Holzingen to Friedrichsdorf

70 miles (112 km) – Total so far: 2,039 miles (3,282 km)

The mornings certainly are getting tougher to rise. I treat myself to a 15 minute lie down after breakfast, and that is probably the most difficult but, getting up from that. Once on the bike, no problem at all, and with this morning’s riding terrain the enjoyment soon outweighs any accruing fatigue.

I followed EuroRadweg 1 all morning and except for the times when the track crossed roads there was no traffic at all other than the odd tractor. It was also pleasantly undulating, with three climbs of at least 150 metres. My 2000th mile went by, strangely appropriately in the town of Horn.

The afternoon was similar but flatter, and from time to time the route was a path at the side of a busy road, so not quite as rewarding. It is necessary to circumvent the British Army area which occupies about 200 square kilometres, south of Detmold and north of Paderborn. There is just a blank on the map and the GPS as if the land did not exist. I went north, the way of the Radweg, through Detmold, and for lunch there as its inhabitants sprayed each other with hoses, clearly not used to such warm conditions.

Clear skies for most of the day also, and the temperature seems to be rising each day – when the sun is over head, about 3 pm in the afternoon, that hour and the couple after it are hot now, 29C tops today. Necessary therefore to drink more water, which hasn’t been a problem so far as the temperature has been so low.

I was heading for Gutersloh but knew it is quite a big city, and didn’t particularly want to stay there. Just before entering the city limits I spoke to a woman on a bike crossing the same traffic lights, she advised me to head north and gave me the name of a particular hotel. 6 km away and it was full, most likely because word had spread of the price and quality offered. The owner sent me a further 4 km to a place that did have vacancies, with breakfast at €35, and that’s ensuite. The Olympic hockey was on in the bar, so it was difficult to get the owner’s attention, but it will do me fine.

Distance 69.7 miles Time left 10:50 am Time arrived 6:00 pm Time riding 6 hours 14 minutes Height gained 698 metres