I woke at 3:00 am this morning, suffering a little buyers regret regarding Sally's new e-bike. One of our criteria was internationally available parts. Just as we were finalizing the decision I noticed the automatic shifting mechanism was made by a company called Nuvinci. Who the hell is Nuvinci? Sally had spent so much time testing and making up her mind that I did not have the heart (guts) to mention my observation, so we bought the bike and rode away. Now, at 3:00 am my mind was not going to let me sleep until I answered the question, "Who the hell is Nuvinci?" I had visions of giving up her current bike, getting 50 miles down the river and having her self shifting hub go kaput!
Luckily, the web was quick. I started my web search for reviews of their automatic shifting hub. Early returns were promising. The more I read, the more I smiled and the more interested I got. Details on the planetary gearing system were fascinating. And, the fact the hub was developed and manufactured in Texas set my international concerns to rest. The problem now became this, I was so interested in what I was reading I did not go back to sleep. 4:00 am in Germany is 7:00 pm in the US. I had a few text conversations running, talking to Jeff, Jackie, Ken and Andy.
Sally wasn't sure she wanted to trust her backside to a new saddle. We got up at 6:00 am so I could switch her old saddle for the new one on her bike and let her test ride each. After a few minutes she settled on her old saddle, but we put the new one in my pack so we could switch on the road if necessary.
Sally went in to talk to the lady at the desk, to offer her old bike to the hostel, or one of the ladies working there. This lady immediately jumped on the offer and accepted the bike. Sally said goodbye to her old frenemy.
Breakfast was served at 7:30 am. We entered the dining room, served ourselves and blindly sat at a table, not recognizing it was reserved for a family. Halfway through our meal, the cook moved the reserved sign, rather than us. We apologized, and finished our breakfast.
Once out on the road, there was a definite change in our riding situation. Before the e-bike I would stop at the top of a slight rise to wait for Sally. Now, when I looked behind, she was right there. In fact, she used to dread hills. Now she squealed with delight at the site of uphill, knowing her bike would push her to the top with no more effort than what is required on the flat.
We covered the 33 miles to Mainz in record time, for us. The best part? Sally was not exhausted when we arrived. We stopped at the tourist information center for directions to camping, then rode across the Rhine to find the campground. As usual, we arrived while the office was closed for lunch, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. We rode up the river, found a restaurant with outside seating and had a beer and a coke.
Once the tent was up and camp established, Sally rested while I cooked dinner. Afterward, we rode back into Mainz to visit the dom (cathedral) and go to the Lutheran church to see the stained glass windows done by Chagall. The first was great, but we were too late for the windows. We settled for a coke on a bench downtown people watching, then returned to camp.
We had met a nice couple from the Netherlands before we went to town. Now, we had a chance to talk with them again before we retired for the night. Very nice people.
My 3 hours sleep from the night before had me wearing thin. It had been a great day, but it was time to sleep. Tomorrow we planned to go back into Mainz and see the Guttenburg Bibles at the Guttenburg museum, then head downstream toward Rüdesheim, a short day, just 20 miles. Sally's e-bike battery was in the camp office charging, as was my extra phone battery. Time for me to recharge too.
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