Day 5 - Ettlingen to Deidesheim
The morning
After the splurging last night in the fine dining restaurant, breakfast this morning consisted of a couple of croissants, jam, and a couple of cups of coffee. Then pack and go, 80k on the plan.
The ride
The 80k came with a bit more elevation (enough to be noticed) and significantly more wind. But - I was lucky, the forecasted thunderstorms passed through the area last night and I was able to ride the whole way without having to take the train.
Scenery-wise, the usual mix of agglomerations, Rhein flood plains, forest. Quite empty and with wind from the south and later from the west, it was pretty quick riding northwards along the river, but a bit tougher on the westbound parts.
Somehow the pain is accumulating. Tomorrow is a long one, a good 25km more than I did today. I need to do this a bit differently, today I would have not been happy to do another 25k. We will see.
Now I arrived in Deidesheim, staying in the Ketschauer Hof, arguably one of the top places in town. The bed is very comfortable and the jury is still out on whether I will get up and go to the spa, which is in the sister hotel, 300m down the road. It might be too much for me :)
The evening
Thankfully the 2-star in the hotel here is closed. I don’t think I could do this so quickly again after last night. I find there is fine-dining-fatigue and you need some time to recover back to normal afterwards.
So the second offering here, the 1718 restaurant, is where dinner will take place with my good friend Michael, who is stopping by on his way to work.
Dinner was great, not too elaborate but solid and delicious.