Day 8: Goodbye Bayern, hello Thüringen!

First of all: How was breakfast at the 'Vierjahreszeiten' hotel? Rather mediocre for vegetarian requirements, and the tour group before us had already plundered the buffet, leaving only minimal leftovers. So, according to the owner, we were the last ones at the buffet at 8:30am (!). In the end, the basic rule at practically all hotels (unless you only want cheese, cold cuts, and the usual cereal mix): bring delicious (vegetable) spreads for your rolls! And a simple advice to all hotels: simply offer more (vegan) spreads, they greatly enhance the variety (as seen at the hotel in Goslar). Moreover, they come in small quantities, are often long-lasting, and only take up minimal space on the buffet table.

At 10:45am, we were back on the road, focused on our destination, the campsite in Bockstadt near Eisfeld. After following the still small Main from Bamberg to Breitengüßbach, we now followed the Itz up to Coburg, where it flows into the Main. After the first few kilometers, we were cycling on a bike path that also served as an orchard trail. Many fruit trees lined the path on both sides, with information about the variety, harvest period, and taste. We found the tested plums to be the most delicious. The pears were partly ripe, while the apples were still very sour. When we stopped there to apply sunscreen, a road cyclist stopped by and asked for some cream for his forearms. He was from Goslar and enjoyed doing the route from there to his parents' place in two (!) days. As he originally came from Goslar, he raved about the huge cream puffs there and warned us that the Harz region had been heavily affected by bark beetles... So, we received information about the Harz region in exchange for sunscreen, a fair trade :-)

Before we reached Coburg, Janina suddenly had a loose screw, or rather - more precisely - her cycling shoe had lost a screw. As a result, she couldn't disengage from the pedal with one shoe anymore. Only after a bit of wobbling, the attachment had become wedged enough for the shoe to be free again. We searched the bike path for the lost screw, but our search was unsuccessful. After passing many cherry trees with lots of sturdy remains on the ground, we fortunately came across a hardware store. Jörg found a suitable replacement for the required M5 x 12mm flathead screw, so Janina could immediately put her shoe back on!

We arrived in Coburg around 2:30pm. After the meager breakfast, we were hungry, so we went to a bistro-café. We chose 'Picknick coffee & snacks'. We devoured a wrap, a piece of cake, and a vegan curry. After that, we strolled to the market square and then rode a few meters to the castle square. We actually wanted to go up to Veste Coburg, but it was impressively perched on a hill. The thought of riding up this incline to see the castle from the inside deterred us, as we expected plenty of climbs in the next few days. We stayed on the ground (of reality) :-))

Next, we headed to the campsite in Bockstadt. On the bike path, we were surprised by the bare buttocks of a woman urinating in the open after a curve. She had chosen a completely inappropriate spot at an intersection, maybe she didn't have time for an extensive search. We were all quite surprised... After Bockstadt, it was already quite hilly. We passed through Unterlauter, Oberlauter, and Tiefenlauter in the Lauter Valley, crossing the border into Thüringen without noticing. Along the way, on a field path, Jörg's rear brake had minor problems. It was now clear that the mediocre two-piston brakes with 160mm brake discs were absolutely unsuitable for luggage-laden cycling through hilly terrain. Caution was required!

We arrived in Bockstadt at around 6pm. It was a small campsite, but it impressed with its cleanliness and privacy. Top-notch! The campsite attendant also provided us with the local beer 'Schwarzbach'. This brewery has been around since about 1400 and is allegedly the oldest brewery in the Thüringer Wald. Nowadays, it still has around 15 employees. On the small but fine tent meadow at the campsite, we were the only ones on this Monday; it seems it was much busier the previous weekend. So, we had the benches and tables all to ourselves for our luggage. Jörg checked his rear brake and Janina made the inner tent ready for use :-) In the evening, we had some fruit and cereal bars because we didn't feel like going to the next restaurant in the neighboring village. It doesn't always have to be a 3-course menu at a restaurant!

Data for Stage 8:

Distance: 63.8 km
Travel time: 4:33h
Average speed: 14.0 km/h
Max. speed: 36.2 km/h
Elevation gain: 488 m