"The first 35 miles of the day were not easy. It was a cold morning, in the high 50's."
by Dave Young
Rolling out of Bag Mergenthein was foreshadowing for the rest of the day. We coasted through the old town and would find ourselves popping in and out of adorable old towns with towering church steeples and homes with classic half-timbered architecture. We wondered how many of these little towns are overlooked by tourists traveling by highway.
Creeping out of town at 7:30am.
Spinning through small towns through the day.
The first 35 miles of the day were not easy. It was a cold morning, in the high 50s. The tarmac was soaked from rain in the early hours of the morning. Although we only endured some brief spits of actual rain, we were sprayed from each other's tires as we hurried along.
Getting a little distance to avoid the spray from our tires.
My cockpit - looking a little grimy.
Not always rainbows and sunshine on this trip.
We aimed to stop at Miltenberg for a late breakfast not realizing this city had such a rich history. Around the 150s, the Roman Empire stretched north to the region now known as Miltenberg, most likely using the banks of the River Main for travel. It wasn't until the 13th century that the town saw another rise in development. At this time, a toll was installed on the River Main, enhancing the city's ability to fortify its, castle which was built 200 years earlier. These funds boosted construction of inns and warehouses as well as homes and churches. As we left the town, we passed through the old bridge gate.
Overlooking Miltenberg.
St. Jackobus Cathedral ahead of us.
See the riders?
The riding was much easier now as the sun had dried nearly all the rain. We didn't take a break again until Dieburg. We rolled up and down the cobbled streets in the city center before settling on a lunch spot. We enjoyed a long break before setting off for Mainz, our final destination for the day.
More roads through archways.
Just a little town we passed through.
The last 38 miles went by quickly despite winding through some highly trafficked roads as we neared the urban area Frankfurt. Pulling up to Mainz was a beautiful sight, as the city looked quite metropolitan with historic buildings abutting the Rhine River, one of the major rivers in Europe. If we thought Miltenberg was rich with history, Mainz, a city of 230,000, has a history too rich for our little blog.
Christuskirche, a Protestant church rebuilt after air raids during WWII
Our apartment is spacious, modern, and sparkling clean. Sadly, we are filthy. We've gone days without laundry, and the road grime from the morning's wet roads had us looking our worst so far. A shower and washing machine awaited us. Don and Justin were kind enough to start a load of laundry in the nearby laundromat and pick up some snacks for freshly cleaned Patrick and myself.
We decided on an Eritrean restaurant (we're a little burned out on German food) based on some research done by Patrick. The place was an absolute gem. We walked to a beautiful square for ice cream before heading home. The one flight of stairs up to the apartment caused all of our quads to burn - time for some recovery sleep.
Our amazing Eritrean food.
Outside our window, just before bedtime.
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ABOUT DAVE YOUNG
Dave met the other guys while in Boston for medical school. He completed an emergency medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and moved to Denver to complete a Wilderness Medicine fellowship at the University of Colorado. he returned to CU 2 years ago and has been faculty since. His passion for cycling began in college and was solidified when leading bike touring trips for the American Youth Foundation. Dave completed the Seattle2Boston Ride with Justin and Don in 2014 and has been looking forward to another epic ride since.
