Raindrops keep falling on my head

Today was a tough day. We started at Neuberg and cycled 84 kms in the rain (and cold), and by the time we reached our destination of Kelheim (still in Bavaria), we were all cold, tired, and dirty. There was a car wash just at the entry of town, and we stopped to wash off our bikes and ourselves with the power wash. It was the first time any of us had taken our bikes (or for that matter ourselves) to a car wash.

Since I started my trip, I have only taken one day off (towards the end of the second week) and this was probably a mistake. I had planned to take one day a week off, but didn't feel I needed it, and I can now tell from the build up of cumulative fatigue that I should have taken one day a week off. We are planning to take Sunday off to go down to Munich to pick up Claude Lamarre, and from now on, I will stick to one day a week for rest.

Our ride today took us through a number of towns, including Ingolstdat, with its beautiful old town. One good thing about cycling in Germany is that the towns are very close together, it's rare that you cycle more than five or eight kilometers without coming to a small town or village, often picturesque. We rode down country roads (usually with a separate bike path perfectly maintained), and along the Danube (including one memorable five kilometer stretch through fields where we had taken a wrong turn, probably to the amusement of the many deer we saw). The last fifteen kilometers was continuous up and down hills, some steep, including a two kilometer climb, happily followed by a long downhill into town, including a wonderful last stretch down switch backed roads. We hit over 50 kms per hour on the downhill, it was 9 degrees and it was raining, and at 50 kms an hour, the rain felt like icicles hitting us in the face. Now if that's not worth a donation, what is?

We were all very happy to reach our destination, and a rest and dinner.

Everyone is telling us that the weather in Bavaria in May is usually sunny and 20 to 25 degrees, which we will believe when we see it. The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow, and it will be very welcome.

Since our hotel has no internet, there will be no pictures tonight, but I will add them tomorrow.
Please hope for better weather, and you haven't already given via the above online link for donations, please reward us for the two kilometer climb by doing so today.