Day 30: To Marcus and Yolanda's July 30
Bad Zurzach to Marcus and Yolanda's house in Lostorf 38 Miles
Started today off with coffee in the morning from the gas station down stairs from our hotel. We cycled off but quickly found that Bruce's brakes were rubbing. When we fixed the brake problem we found a chain problem on Bruce's bike. The connector link in Bruce's bike chain was loose and the pin holding it in was crooked. So we used our tools to fix it. Straightening the pin and clamping the chain link. We continued along bike route 2 to Koblenz. No real issue with the brakes or the chain. But when we saw a bike shop, we pulled over to get the chain checked out by a professional. After some, English/German/Bike Lingo conversation we had the nice bike guy tighten the chain and fix the pin. We also found CO2 cartridges for our inflator. We paid the man and thanked him for his help and headed off. Cycled off and over the bridge for the last time in Germany. We were heading for a little gas station shop when Bruce's chain totally snapped ( right after he said how great it felt). So we spent a few Euros on a coke and candy bar and walked back over the bridge and back to the bike shop in Switzerland. Turns out that after removing the now very bent link on the original chain, the chain was too short no matter how he adjusted it, so he had to put a new chain on. He didn't charge us much more for the new chain since I think he felt bad that it broke right out the door (even though it wasn't his fault) so we thanked him again and off we went. Without issue this time. After jumping off the Rhine, we started up the Aare River. It is turquoise green. Really cool. Over the hills, we saw a huge long conveyor belt going up into the hills from the river, turns out it is a rock conveyor. We also saw a molecular research facility that we think had a collider since that had s funny looking round building. So we stopped in the edge of the Aare for lunch and cooked scrambled eggs with pancetta and cheese with sliced tomato... Beautiful scenery and good food on a lovely day, what could be better? After washing our dishes in the Aare (and feeding the little fishes at the edge with our scraps), we continued on. Passed some military barracks and basic training (we saw guns and gas masks and we were in fluorescent yellow)... We looked like target practice for the new recruits... Ya know... Just outside of Aarau, we met a nice helpful man who asked if we needed help and so we asked him if he knew a nice cafe or place to get coffee. He led us to an outdoor cafe for an afternoon coffee and ice cream break, which was so nice of him!!! There were tons of wasps at the cafe but the coffee and ice cream were good, so we paid and headed off. Then we met the nice man again and he directed us on a route through the woods to Lostdorf that he said would be better. We got to chatting and turns out that he lived in Lynn!!! He worked for General Electric and lived in the town right next door to Salem for a couple of years... Many years ago. But how cool is that? Such a small world!!!
An aside: Andrea loves swans. They are so regal and majestic slowly floating in the water usually in pairs or with their baby cygnets. So we had some bread left over from lunch. Andrea used it to feed a couple of swans so she could take pictures. So we took pictures of swans. For your information, swans are only majestic and regal from a very great distance! They are mean and ugly beasts that hiss and gurgle when you run out of bread rolls to feed them!!! They are huge and damn intimidating! I think that the makers of Jurassic Park used swan aggressive sounds for some of their dinosaur sounds. Not doing that again... Soon... Well maybe just once more....
Got to Marcus and Yolanda's after a climb through the woods. They had just gotten home as well from a 2 week cycling tour with their nieces. They are very cool. Turns out they have a lovely B&B! So they showed us around, gave us a lovely room, and made us a fabulous dinner. We had wine from Marcus' uncle's vineyard and Rivella (think Swiss IRNBRU but slightly less orange). They are such a lovely couple and so generous!!! We are staying with them tomorrow for a rest day and a Swiss National Day celebration in their home town tomorrow. It is Bruce's birthday tomorrow too!!! Good day to take a rest day.
The World is Our!!
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