Saturday 27th April 2019 – WRWR Day 60, My Day 3
This morning I am up early, so I take a couple of photos from my bedroom window… shame about the mozzie netting
By the time I’ve managed to sort myself out I’m running late so I have to jump on the bike and really bomb it over to Dierdorf without brekkie… as I arrive at the restaurant, we are meeting there this morning, I pass two women coming out of the road and I can see that almost everyone has already gone… but where to?? Luckily there are two women left, well lucky for me as one of them has actually broken down. Now, normally I would ask what the problem is and see if I could fix it, but I don’t want to lose the rest of the girls. The other woman, who is German says they have all gone to fuel up at a petrol station nearby and I look for it on Google Maps. I check with her… is this the right one, she confirms and actually follows me to it.
Everyone is there, except for a few they are waiting for, including Dori, so it seems I have time for a coffee and croissant.. yippee!! There looks to be at least 20 bikes, so quite a large group of riders
and here we are leaving.. on our way.. yay
The weather is gloomy but dry as we head off into the Eifel region. It is very beautiful with lots of fast, but twisty roads.
We arrive at a river and await a ferry to cross over… I can’t resist this selfie op!!
Soon the ferry arrives and we all ride on… it’s always great to be on a boat in my view and even despite the gloomy weather I enjoy the scenery.
Next stop on our journey is for lunch and we ride into a car park in Bad Munstereifel, what a pretty town.
We all gather at a small restaurant for lunch.. it is very quirky and the food is excellent. Some of the girls have sat outside, but I much prefer to eat indoors. Am very relieved to have gotten a seat, especially when it starts to pour with rain.
A very delicious lunch indeed. We stop for about an hour and then back to the bikes and once again into the beautiful mountainous countryside.
We have been on the road for several hours since we left this morning and the bike is now showing a petrol warning light.. mmm we must be stopping soon. The fuel consumption on this bike is not great, especially on fast roads. The bike shows me how many miles of fuel I have left, but I don’t trust it. When I had the Sportster 48 it would show ‘low miles’ with about 10 miles of fuel left, until, on a very hot day, it ran out on a motorway after just a few miles and I had to wait for recovery. This bike seems to show the warning light at around 50 miles to go so now its showing 40 miles. We do stop for a route check, (a group of the german girls get together and discuss routes options), and I take the opportunity to tell the ride leader I have about 40kms of fuel left so need to stop.
I’m now getting very worried that I am going to run out of fuel, the indicator is saying ‘low miles’, but I don’t know what that means for this bike. I drop back to the sweeper and tap my tank frantically to indicate low fuel, he, (don’t go there), nods so I am relieved and expect to stop in the next few miles… but no.. we continue up into the mountains, lots of great twistys that I’m not really enjoying because I’m expecting the bike to cough and stop at any time. At last we pull over for a photo op of the fantastic views and I jump off the bike. I say to the sweeper that I am almost out, but he reassures me there is a petrol station just up around the bend.. phew!! I speak to the ride leader and explain that it’s a new bike and I haven’t really got a good idea of the tank capacity so I probably over estimated at 40kms.
The views here are stunning… shame about the weather, but even so very impressive. These are the Manderscheid Castles
Back on the road and sure enough, round a couple of bends and into a small town… hurrah! there is a petrol station, I am very relieved to be able to fill the tank up.
We now descend and join a fast road, just then its begins to rain, then rain harder, then blooming’ hell…. hailstones, huge hailstones… ouch that hurts. We pull over and take cover under a bridge.
Look at the size of them!! I don’t wear a full face helmet, so yep was regretting it, slightly, at this moment.
The hail shower is soon over so back on the road to Bollendorf. The sun almost comes out as we arrive.
As this is the last time Dori will ride with me on the Relay, we grab an opportunity for a few photos with the famous WRWR baton… Dykes on Bikes, we represent!!
I am staying in a hotel about 14kms away so we all split up to our various hotels. There is a meal booked in a restaurant this evening, but, even though I have paid, I am so exhausted that I really can’t face coming back into Bollendorf. I say I may return if the weather stays as it is now, but not if it rains again.
The Hotel Europa is actually situated in the town of Holstrum, in a valley the other side of the mountain from Bollendorf. When I arrive I am greeted by Mein Host, he looks like he might enjoy a stein or two. He asks if I am alone?
Yes..
All alone?
Yes…
You have booked a double room?
Yes… he looks quizzically at his paperwork..
I can have a single room, I don’t mind…
No it is ok, we don’t have a single room..
Oh! I wonder why he is hesitating.
That’s €66, ok..
Yes I know. (I already know the price as it was shown on the booking.com app)
I pay with my credit card and he shows me up to my room. The room is pretty basic and there are two single beds, only one of which is made up. This is not my idea of a double room, this is a twin and, with only one bed actually made up, single occupancy. The room is freezing cold, there is a radiator but it is barely on. My gloves and riding gear are soaking wet so I need to dry them out. I get changed and note it is pouring with rain again so I’m definitely not going back over to Bollendorf. I look for information about the wifi and find an information folder. The first thing I notice is a tariff of room charges. Now I don’t speak very much German, but I can read quite a lot of it and I can see the a double room, with satellite TV, fridge, etc. is for, between 1 and 3 nights, €33 per person with slight reductions for longer stays. WHAT! I just paid €66… am not a happy bunny! I try the wifi… it’s shit.. I can connect to the wifi network, but can’t connect to the internet… really, really not a happy bunny!
There is a menu, I can order pizza for €10 so I decide to go downstairs and order it. Mein Host comes out directly and I order the pizza, he says it will be about 20 minutes. I ask if the heating can be turned up? Yes that’s fine. Good… I see in the folder that a double room is €33 a night per person so I have paid for 2. He says that’s because I have booked via booking.com and they have to follow their charges… I decide I’m too tired so don’t challenge this, but now it is obvious to me why he hesitated when I arrived. At least the room is clean and once the heating warms up it will be ok. I mention the wifi, oh yes, we have lots of problems with the wifi because we are in a valley, it comes and goes so you have to keep trying. Seriously, so he was able to see my booking ok…. mmmm…. I give up!!
Back to my room and I keep trying the internet but no joy… the radiator doesn’t seem to be warming up, but it’s looks like a pretty old system. After 20 minutes I go downstairs to get my pizza, it looks and is delicious.
I am now so cold that I decide to change and get into bed, the radiator is no warmer. I am too tired to go down again so snuggle up in bed and am soon asleep.. I hope my gear is dry in the morning.
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