Day 10: We roll out of the Thuringian Forest to Erfurt

Fortunately, the weather calmed down overnight! So the morning actually greeted us with sunshine. The outdoor tent spread out on the meadow could dry out for a while. Once again, breakfast was a bit sparse. We still had cereal bars, a mix of nuts, and sour apples. Accordingly, we started the stage to Erfurt relatively early; shortly after 10 am ;-) The Lütsche Reservoir invited us to swim in the sunshine. However, the outside temperatures were not yet bathing-friendly. Today's route was mostly downhill, so we also rode downhill along the Lütsche at the beginning. It was very woody, which especially pleased Janina. The steep sections were a challenge for Jörg's brakes, so it was important not to go too fast and to ride with caution. On a climb, we discovered a small group of donkeys standing very close to the fence. The gray animals even allowed us to stroke them :-)) When we started riding again, a donkey came running with loud noise and chased away the donkeys we had petted... This was somewhat curious! We also saw a few llamas by the wayside; here donkeys and llamas could probably be 'booked' as companions on the way.

On our way through Frankenhain and Crawinkel, we once again found several paths lined with fruit trees with apples, pears, plums, and medlars. The apples we tried were still very sour despite their delicious appearance. Every now and then, when we turned around, we could see the Thuringian Forest in the distance. Not long ago, we struggled on iron climbs there, and now we enjoyed the descents with some sunshine. How quickly time and kilometers fly by! What day was it today, actually? If we didn't have our plan with all the dates, we would have had to think longer that today is Wednesday, August 11th.

In the Bachstadt Arnstadt, located on the northern side of the Thuringian Forest, we took a break at Café Marlitt. There was a delicious soup - we could have used that last night. Strengthened, we now leisurely followed the Gera cycle path to Erfurt. It was a beautiful cycle path in good weather. Here and there, the path was a bit narrow, but it seemed to be under construction.

On the outskirts of Erfurt, we were drawn to Molsdorf Castle. The park/garden area was not so impressive (at least from the entrance), but the café with its homemade cake - as we later found out - was an outdoor area and a highlight of the Federal Garden Show (BUGA). If we had known earlier, we would probably have taken a piece of cake with us :-)) Unfortunately, all the outdoor seats were occupied. In the late afternoon, we arrived at the Airbnb ground floor apartment we had rented. It was spacious and conveniently furnished. The first thing for us to do was laundry. After 10 days of cycling, the bag with dirty laundry had already reached oversize. We distributed the clean wet clothes throughout the apartment. We are now world champions in this after many vacations. Corners and edges of furniture were used, as were the horizontal kitchen chair leg reinforcements :-)) The partially damp camping utensils were also aired out.

In the evening, we didn't have to leave the apartment anymore; earlier, when we rode through the city center of Erfurt, we bought delicious wraps and vegan tiramisu at the 'Green Republic' vegan store! Now we enjoyed eating them and relaxed, well-deserved after yesterday's exciting ride.

Data for stage 10:

Distance: 50.7 km
Time: 4:00h
Average speed: 12.6 km/h
Max. speed: 27.9 km/h
Elevation gain: 209 m