Day 4: Franconian Water Wheel Path - 4

Today we were supposed to go from Dinkelsbühl to Gunzenhausen, covering a total of about 250 meters in altitude. We started the day with a very nice breakfast: the buffet offered a great selection and the coffee was also very good. The robots occasionally crossed our paths, which added to the joy. Around 11 am we were on our bikes and slowly rode into the old town of Dinkelsbühl. However, we didn't get very far because it started raining.... So we took shelter under a big tree near the city gate. After just a few minutes, the weather calmed down and we were able to continue exploring the city. Small alleys lined up, as well as old chic houses.

The unpredictable weather accompanied us on today's stage, especially in terms of temperatures: we put on our jackets, took them off again, put them on again, and took them off again.... Terrible! It was too cold to ride downhill without a jacket, but uphill the sun was shining and we would have preferred to ride without a top, at least Jörg :-) On the way behind a small bridge, we were almost fenced in by an electric fence like a herd of cows. Luckily, we got to the farmer in time, so we could easily ride past the herd and over the fence still lying on the ground. Another highlight was a freshly mown meadow where many storks and herons were looking for food. They were not bothered by our presence on the roadside and strolled back and forth on the meadow. We had never seen so many storks at once!

In Wassertrüdingen, we took a short coffee break; we also ate the two remaining snowballs. The chocolate snowballs were definitely the most delicious. In addition, there were some more or less well-preserved castles along the way. On this stage, the churches in every village also made themselves noticed. They always towered above all other houses. Near the Altmühlsee, we also saw an information board about the Limes border wall of the Roman Empire, which we crossed several times (mostly unnoticed).

Arriving at the Altmühlsee in the late afternoon, we spread out our blankets on a small sandy area and dipped our feet in the cold water. Very refreshing! The only thing to watch out for there is the 'disgusting duck poop' (exclamation of a passing child). After about an hour at the lake, we headed to the 'Blauer Wolf' hotel in the city center of Gunzenhausen (not Frickenfelde!). In front of us at the reception, a business guy was complaining about the closed sauna and the closed restaurant of the hotel; he also didn't want to wear a face mask. Well, maybe he had made some bad stock deals with fair weather and solar stocks before...

On the last evening with the Bompels, we enjoyed very delicious dishes from the Vietnamese restaurant "Ha Noi" in Gunzenhausen. The Sup Rau and the Buddhist meal were highly recommended. On the way back to the hotel, we could admire the colorful umbrellas in the shopping street as well as the smell clouds of the well-visited shisha bar. And so, a beautiful last day of vacation together came to an end.

Data for Stage 4:

Distance: 53.5 km

Travel time: 3:31h

Average speed: 15.2 km/h

Max. speed: 41.2 km/h

Altitude: approximately 250 m