Start: Eckardtsleben
Finish: Mulhausen
Distance: 16
Total: 1525
Today’s 16 miles was a mile longer than I’d planned, but HALLELUJAH, I found the bike trail and didn’t set foot on the highway all day. I’d like to credit myself with this turn of good fortune, but the fact is I just accidentally ended up on the bike trail by chance.
I didn’t get out the door until 8:45 due to breakfast availability, and the quality of the morning meal ended up being an issue later in the day. It was very chilly all day, probably never getting out of the 50s, plus I haven’t seen sunshine in the last 3-4 days, so I walked almost all day wearing my Frogg Togg jacket. I walked the first couple of miles on back roads using the primary Google Maps route. Then, it gave me the option of following the busy highway I walked on yesterday, or walking an extra mile total and take an alternate route off the highway. I chose the alternate route and hadn’t walked a mile when I noticed I was on the bike route. You really can’t tell you’re on a bike route and not some random sidewalk going who knows where until you get to a turn in the route and you see the bike direction sign. Today, the first bike route sign I saw showed the route was going all the way to my end of day destination. I took a shortcut off the trail just before the end of the day, but I was pumped to say the least.
I went through two small town along my route today, and neither had any place to eat lunch. So the sparse breakfast I mentioned above came back to bite me because I walked almost six hours, without a break, with nothing to eat. By the time I got to Mulhausen I wasn’t feeling all that good. I went straight to a restaurant and had a late lunch but still wasn’t feeling all that good two hours later. That’s the last time I’ll make that mistake. I’ll at least carry a candy bar with me so I don’t run low on energy again.
Today’s destination, Mulhausen, population 36,000+, is a beautiful old medieval town that has a walled city center that was untouched by fighting in WWII so it retained it historic heritage and buildings, including 11 Gothic churches.
Tomorrow I continue farther north for 16 miles to the city of Leinefelde-Worbis, known for its bear sanctuary. I hope all the bears are present and accounted for. I hope to post again tomorrow. JB.
