Monday, July 8th, 2024

Distance ridden 303 Kilometres

It was our final “real” day of holiday because, as soon as I started the motor, we would, however obliquely, be heading towards home. This may have been why I woke up at just before 05:00 – and could not drop off to sleep again.

Lucie also stirred early (kicking the bed will often do that ), so she was able to have her “kick-start” espresso and begin packing. As she enjoyed her first smoke of the day, a deer wandered into a meadow on the hill about four hundred metres away. It grazed peacefully and in full view for a few minutes, then it disappeared as if it had never been there at all. Leidersbach was that kind of place.

We were basically ready to roll before we went down for breakfast which, helpfully, as it was a weekday, began at 07:00.

It was another nice breakfast, nothing fancy, but satisfying and filling and we were checked out and on the road before 08:00.

We left the town, which actually continued up the valley for much further than I had thought, in the same direction as in which we had arrived – so we got to see it all. Like seemingly every small town in Germany, Leidersbach was neat, tidy and had an air of order and calm. We turned off into the countryside and rode for around twenty-five kilometres along twisty rural roads made occasionally slightly uncertain by the sharp contrast between the very bright early-morning sunshine and the deep, dark shadows in the shaded areas beneath overhanging trees.

We came to the motorway, which was the good old A3 and headed north. Our first destination of the day was another allegedly picturesque town, this time Bamberg. I often mention the vagaries of our SatNav, so here is another one. When we came to Würzburg, it directed us off of the A3 motorway, through the middle of the town – and then back onto the A7 motorway. Sure, it did cut a few kilometres off of the journey, but was all the stop/start worth it ? It did not even give us a clear sight of the town’s famous, medieval, castle …..

In no great hurry, we took a break at an Autohof. These are a kind of motorway service station “plus” and are usually situated a short distance away from the motorway, as opposed to being along side it. We relaxed briefly on its sunny terrace, the motorway was close, but scarcely audible. The place had a slightly run down air, but the staff was cheerful and Lucie declared the coffee to be excellent.

We came to Bamberg and, after some electronic confusion, regarding whether, or not, we could actually use the roads we were directed on to, were able to park for free within a couple of hundred metres of the historic Rathaus (Town Hall). This ancient building is grafted somewhat precariously, it would appear, to the up-river end of the small island that forms the central pier of a bridge that crosses the river. We guess the worthy Burghers of Bamberg have had wet feet a time or two at Council meetings !

Bamberg stands at a point where a canal joins the mighty Danube with the river Main and grew to importance as the centre of the waterborne trade routes along the two. The old wealth still shows in the number of grand, stone-built mansions and a plethora of fine statues amongst the older timber buildings. Like everywhere, it is obviously loved and cared for – and it is very pretty, but it is not as cutesy as Quedlinburg.

We had drinks in a small cafe opposite a rebuilt former inn that bore a plaque which boasted that the multi-talented artist and thinker, Albrecht Dürer, was amongst its former patrons. He last stayed there in 1520 !

We took a walk down to the river, which we think was the Main at this point. It had elegant bridges and was very peaceful.

Not hungry enough to succumb to the almost endless array of temptations on offer in the cafés and restaurants, we recrossed the canal and decided to move on. The sun had become so hot that I decided to ride without my jacket for the first time since our first morning on the road.

Inevitably, we found ourselves on another motorway, this time the A73 – and we were heading south, which was actually away from Prague ! I admit that our home was still over 300 kilometres away and that the driving force of Lucie’s planning was having a relaxed holiday, but there was a time, not so long ago, when I would have just gritted my teeth and gone for broke. As it was, we headed about fifty kilometres south towards Nuremberg and then branched off in an eastward direction along Route 14. This was not what the SatNav wanted and it made endless attempts to persuade us back onto what was a far longer loop of motorway. According to Lucie’s map program, it would eventually give up, but it took a long time to do that.

In the meantime we made a coffee stop in yet another cute little town, Lauf an der Pegnitz. In the central area, much of which was a pedestrian zone, we found the café, Style Concept (Marktplatz 8, Lauf an der Pegnitz). There was the start of a civic procession (some “King” on a large, horse drawn barrel) happening just around the corner as we arrived, but the café’s slogan “All you need is Love – and cake”, easily won the battle of competing attractions ! Good coffee, great iced-chocolate and delicious banana bread with blueberries …. Who needs some old king ?

To avoid later drama, I decided to fill the tank as we tootled out of town. In the garage was another Harley, but its rider, a gentleman who appeared to be even older than me, scarcely responded to my nod of greeting. Still, there you are. Off we went and, about twenty kilometres later, who should appear in my rear-view mirrors ? He took a standard, slightly staggered, column riding position and followed us for ages. The road was sweeping, but there was quite a bit of intermittent traffic and, on an unfamiliar road, I could not be bothered to overtake. Finally, our two-wheeled friend (whose registration number implied he was local) got fed up with my dallying and overtook us. At least he raised a hand this time. That made it my turn to be the follower and, when he could overtake, so could I. We did not speed excessively, but we did hustle a bit through some classic German greenery.

We came, in convoy, to Sulzbach-Rosenberg. Our riding partner took the route straight through the town. Our SatNav, now compliant as there really were no other choices, directed us around the centre and then through the fringes and back onto the Route 14, directly behind the other Harley…

 

Then, guided from space we wended a somewhat tortuous route through the rest of the town – but directly behind the other Harley as if joined to it by an invisible wire ! When he finally turned off, only a few kilometres from OUR final destination, I almost followed him out of habit …..

Harvest time was in full swing all along the road. Huge combine harvesters were cutting it – and huge trailers were carting it away. The green of the other crops and trees and, above all, the gorgeous scents of the harvest made it a wonderful end to the day’s riding.

We easily found our final night’s lodgings, the Gasthof Zur Blauen Traube (Hauptstrasse 16, Gebenbach) as it was right beside Route 14.

Our room for the night was in an adjacent set of purpose-built rooms, a few metres further up the hill. It was another very modern and spacious place (but with just the one bedroom) and a veranda for Lucie to sit and smoke …… I was able to park the Softail about half a metre from the front door.

The local church which, in that curious German amalgam, was juxtaposed to the town’s (pagan) Maypole – was also within earshot. The easily audible chimes indicated it was 6:30 (no need for all that “new fangled”, twenty-four hour clock stuff in the countryside !). We walked down the little hill to the Gasthof’s restaurant where we availed ourselves of the “Daily Special” which was pork in paprika sauce with french fries. It was surprisingly good and the fries definitely had real potatoes in their recent ancestry. The beer was, as beer in Germany is, quite excellent.

Because it was still quite early, we took a short walk, which had a motive. As I said, when we arrived, we had noticed that the harvest had already started and combine harvesters were busy in the fields. So, we walked across the road to an uncut field and helped ourselves to a few ears of wheat. Hopefully, these will provide us with our “Easter Grass” in 2025 – forward planning, or what ?

We also found a few poppy heads that were about to spread their tiny seeds. We collected them as well, carefully placing them in a little plastic envelope. Maybe 2025 will also see poppies in our own Jezerka Park.

Then, for the last time on this trip, it was off to bed.