Day 1
Tim has wanted a road bike for a long time, but just hasn’t been able to part with the money. Then, of course, we can’t just buy one; I have to have one too! Well, we finally broke down last Friday and purchased two Specialized bikes. Specialized calls the bike “a true multi-tasker for anything from commuting to a weekend camping trek down the coast with loaded panniers” A great alternative to a road bike - the difference being the handle bars and some other minor details. The bikes are made in the US but has all the additional German engineering added to it (i.e., built in generator for front and back LED lights). We also bought additional gear, which includes, special pedals so that our new shoes can clip in, a water bottle holder, and 2 waterproof panniers each for carrying our ‘stuff’ when we go on biking trips here in Europe .
 |
| Our New Bikes! His and Hers Cute but not by choice, they only come in one colour. (yes, they are stored in our house - it is like art work - useable art work) |
Tim had done a lot of homework (he even had the quality control guy at adidas make a few phone calls for us, in German of course, to determine which bike we should buy, he advised this bike over the two other German models we liked). We first found the bikes that we wanted at a Bike Show in Furth
 |
| This is our man!!! Axel |
After a few adjustments (and it was determined that Tim needed a longer stem on his bike), we made an appointment to come back and take the adjusted bikes out for a longer test drive. When we went back a couple of weeks later (of course we picked the hottest day of the year so far 33 C), we took the bikes out for an hours test drive (without committing to buying them), up and down hills (Bamberg is built on seven hills) and along straight stretches. (sorry didn't take any pictures as we were concentrating on the bikes). We loved them. Our experience at this bike shop was absolutely amazing. Axel, was wonderful, patient and informative. He made sure that all the adjustments were done correctly (i.e., seat height, handlebar height, seat placement back/forth, new seats, new pedals). Once we were done (read – paid for), we had planned on biking them back to Erlangen Germany
Day 2
Okay, now we have to take them out. So, on Saturday we got ourselves all dressed up and went for a spin. We only went out for about an hour as the weather was threatening rain.
We went out to a green space, with paved bike trails, and practiced clipping in and clipping out of our pedals. The hard part is remembering to unclip as you get close to stopping. If not, you fall over. And, fall over I did. Doh! I was too busy talking to Tim (he claims I was telling him where to go) and I forgot to unclip. Luckily I fell softly onto the curb and onto some grass. I came out with a sore wrist and a bruise on my thigh – not bad, and most importantly my new bike was not scratched.
Again, no photos, sorry. Can you imagine how many times I would have fallen if I did bring my camera. Oh, here is a picture of the green space.
 |
| Not so exciting. But all the trails and there are many of them criss crossing this field, are paved and used by thousands to commute into Erlangen. |
Day 3
This is the real test drive. We geared ourselves up and headed to Franconian Switzerland (named after the hills of Switzerland Erlangen
 |
| This was our route! |
 |
| This is the view from one of the smalls hills we cycled up - just outside Neunkirchen am Brand. |
 |
| Tim all geared up in his Team adidas cycling outfit! |
 |
| Another lovely view from another small (!) hill. This is the town of Grossenbuch. |
And I mean hilly. We rode up one hill that was 15% grade for 3 km. Oh boy, that was interesting. What goes up must come down, so down we came. Then we realized that we were in a valley and had to ride up another hill – 12% for 1 km!!!!! Yikes. With our new bikes we rode the whole way up one of them and 7/8th of the second one. I think with our other bikes we would have had to walk the whole hill. Of course, with hills you get amazing views.
 |
| And......this is the view from the top of the last hill we climbed. (I like to refer to it as a small mountain) We cycled from that village below - Ermreuth. We are now in the village of Gleisenhof. |
 |
| Lost? No way, just ensuring we are going the right way (cough, cough) |
We treaded gingerly along a gravel trail, which you are not really supposed to go on with these bikes, but we definitely weren’t going back the way we came. We ended up in Hetzles, a gorgeous typical a little German village (which we had actually biked through a couple of weekends ago) filled with half-timbered houses and luckily it was time to eat.
 |
| Hetzles - half-timbered houses! |
 |
| Hetzles - gorgeous bird house!! |
 |
| Here we are right in the middle of Hetzles and this tractor is parked in the yard. We have learned that farmers do not live on their land, they live in the villages, keeping their costs down by being close to all the services. This also keeps the cost of providing services. We are not sure if the farmers lease or own the land that they farm. I will look into that... What is nice, is that there are no fences around any of the farm fields, so it looks very neat and tidy. |
Of course, nearly every German village has a Gasthof with wonderful homemade food and delicious beer. I think the Gasthof is called Schwarzer Alder.
 |
| Most Gasthofs have a crest / coat of arms. |
 |
| This is the main door to the Gasthof. |
'The three Wise Men
C (Caspar),
M (Melchior), and
B (Balthasar) followed the star of God's Son who becam human
20 two thousand and
12 twleve years ago
++ May Christ bless our home
++ and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen
You do see this on a lot of houses. The donatations solicitied goes toward worthy causes such as efforst to end hunger in Africa.
 |
| The Gasthofs Biergarten. |
 |
| This is our lunch. Typical Franconian Lunch. Traditionally always a hot meal. Yes, I ordered Schnitzel and Pommes but I did share with Tim (okay, I only shared the Schnitzel). I really felt I deserved it! Tim had Schweinbraten with Kloss (roast pork with dumplings). |
The hills also allowed us to share the best rhubarb pie we have ever eaten.
 |
| THE Rhubarb Pie / Crumble (mit sahne) with Cream. |
 |
| Die Koche (the o has an umlaut over it but I can't seem to figure out to type it in) The Cooks! |
 |
| The cook's helper carrying the beans!! |
According to Tim, the next trip we will be packing a lunch, as he says we spent the food budget on new bikes. I think he believes I have time to cook or somethingJ
We made it home 5 hours later and only 40km cycled. I say only 40 km because it sure seemed longer than that, because I am sure 30km was uphill. I have to admit that was a hard ride on Sunday, but a great one. I sometimes think we are gluttons for punishment. Yes, we had a nap, as we are practicing for our trip to Tuscany
Until next time…….
Jayne
