> I have a bad night. First the original owner of t he room returns from who knows where and he is obviously surprised that his private domain has been invaded. There is a lot of German muttering which wakes me up and the only word I can tell is "Jesus". Eventually he retires with much restlessness. I too am restless but do doze off only to be woken again by key turning in lock and lots of bag unzipping. I assume it is my friend but in the morning it turns out that we had a 3rd guest arriving late and departing early. In fact, I just catch him as I get up at 7am and he is packing his rucksack. He is a rather small and earnest looking young Japanese man who does not care for hearty German breakfasts as he is nowhere to be seen n the short time it takes me to hit the groaning table. My night further disturbed by a very loud annoying and persistent mosquito.
>
> It is raining lightly and so on with the waterproofs and it is good that I did park the biker at the top of a hill as it refuses to start and dressed as I am it is unlikely that I could push the bike far. About half way down the hill the bike eventually fires up and I am off with no great desire to stop until the engine has warmed up.
>
> I do the 500 road again for old Lang sagne (sp?) and once I get halfway up the hills the rain clears and the road is dry. Great! Although, when I look across over the valley towards France all I can see is cloud. This certain sky has 50 shades of grey which i have no intention of reading but believe is rather into S&M which is what the bike riding will be like.
>
> I stop at a huge lock on the Rhine and watch as 3 large barges are lowered the 50-odd feet from upper to loader level. I store the procedure for possible future canal holidaying. Surprisingly, the cloud is lifting and by the time I enter France it is sunny and I need by Top Gun sun shade which is built into my helmet. I had thought this an exclusive feature but earlier in the trip both Jony and Charlie show that they have exactly the same feature in their helmets.
>
> I have chosen to go into the very hilly and forested area to west of Strasbourg along windy, yellow roads. First to Mont Sainte Odile then to the Col du Donon. The riding is good but road surfaces are not too great and my head starts to ache. I expect this is the influence of last night's poor sleep and the fact that one's eyes and brain are doing a lot of work - where is the road leading, how tight is this next bend, is there a cow or tractor just round the corner, will the bike slip on the road surface, etc, etc. After about 5 hours of this, my head is not getting any better and I decide to make for Nancy and a hotel so I can get some rest.
>
> I have recalled that my brother in-law, Clive, has said that Nancy is very nice. I stop by the canal in the centre of town and book into the first hotel that looks reasonable in both senses. It is then that I crash. No, don't be alarmed, not the bike, me, on the bed. I have just got up had a long soak in the bath and realised that I am exhausted. I have not yet found out whether Nancy is nice but will venture out for a quick walk around now at 8:30pm and also tomorrow am.
>
> It is raining lightly and so on with the waterproofs and it is good that I did park the biker at the top of a hill as it refuses to start and dressed as I am it is unlikely that I could push the bike far. About half way down the hill the bike eventually fires up and I am off with no great desire to stop until the engine has warmed up.
>
> I do the 500 road again for old Lang sagne (sp?) and once I get halfway up the hills the rain clears and the road is dry. Great! Although, when I look across over the valley towards France all I can see is cloud. This certain sky has 50 shades of grey which i have no intention of reading but believe is rather into S&M which is what the bike riding will be like.
>
> I stop at a huge lock on the Rhine and watch as 3 large barges are lowered the 50-odd feet from upper to loader level. I store the procedure for possible future canal holidaying. Surprisingly, the cloud is lifting and by the time I enter France it is sunny and I need by Top Gun sun shade which is built into my helmet. I had thought this an exclusive feature but earlier in the trip both Jony and Charlie show that they have exactly the same feature in their helmets.
>
> I have chosen to go into the very hilly and forested area to west of Strasbourg along windy, yellow roads. First to Mont Sainte Odile then to the Col du Donon. The riding is good but road surfaces are not too great and my head starts to ache. I expect this is the influence of last night's poor sleep and the fact that one's eyes and brain are doing a lot of work - where is the road leading, how tight is this next bend, is there a cow or tractor just round the corner, will the bike slip on the road surface, etc, etc. After about 5 hours of this, my head is not getting any better and I decide to make for Nancy and a hotel so I can get some rest.
>
> I have recalled that my brother in-law, Clive, has said that Nancy is very nice. I stop by the canal in the centre of town and book into the first hotel that looks reasonable in both senses. It is then that I crash. No, don't be alarmed, not the bike, me, on the bed. I have just got up had a long soak in the bath and realised that I am exhausted. I have not yet found out whether Nancy is nice but will venture out for a quick walk around now at 8:30pm and also tomorrow am.
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