Day 5 - Thu 4 Jun 15: Frankfurt to Aschaffenburg

Estimated km: 46; Actual km: 65; Total km: 118; Ride time: 4h25m; Start time: 8:30 am; End time: 2:45 pm; Av speed: 14.7 kph 

14-28 deg C, fine and sunny.

What a fantastic day on the bike; we had great weather, great cycle paths, great scenery, oh and of course great company. It was a little cool at first but as the light cloud cleared and the sun came out it was perfect. The bike path we had recce'd yesterday was very quiet today and we wondered why until we discovered it was a public holiday. Everyone had been out partying the night before and were all still in bed nursing sore heads, if the rubbish on the bike path was anything to go by.  However as the day warmed, the hordes came out on every conceivable mode of transport, it was lovely to see. 

We predominantly followed the Main River with little forays into villages and towns. In the main (excuse the pun) the bike paths were smooth hot-mix and superb. Our first stop was for fresh strawberries from a roadside stall on the cycle route.  Our first touristy stop was at Schloss Philipsruhe near Hanau.  We intended to have mornos there, but the café was closed, so we moved on.  While looking for a cafe for mornos at Steinheim am Main (just down the road and across the river from the Schloss, we came across a religious ceremony outside a church, and this was the reason for the public holiday. We found a lovely little cafe just up the road where we had a very nice latte each.  We think the baristas were a little surprised to see 8 people all at once turn up all asking for coffee.  However, they did a good job and we had our drinks in no time at all. Lunch was had on the banks of the Main at the entrance of a medieval town called Seligenstadt; a real gem with 16th century houses, shops and Cloister. 

We arrived at our destination (Hotel Zum Golden Ochsen) about 2:45pm and after a quick freshen up, went in search of our favourite after-ride treat, an ice-cream; a mission accomplished pretty quickly.  Whilst devouring our ice-cream, we took a short wander around Aschaffenburg which is an interesting place with a lovely old town, a grand 17th Century palace, a 6m high sundial which allegedly tells the "real time" both day and night, and many great churches. It was then back to the hotel to conduct some admin and have a short snooze. 

It was our pick for dinner and we chose an Asian place near the ice cream parlour, which turned out to be more Thai than anything else. Greg had a red curry seafood, whilst Wendy had, wait for it .... yes, her favourite - Thai fried rice with chicken. The rest of them had Pad Thai. All meals were delicious. The beer was good too, again!!

Phillipsruhe Schloss (Castle)

Morning tea stop



Hotel Zum Golden Ochsen #27



Collegiate Church of Saints Peter and Alexander

Aschaffenburg

Our hotel

Strawberry pit-stop

Phillipsruhe Schloss (Castle)

Staustufe Krotzenburg (Krotzenburg Barrage)

Lunch stop

Aschaffenburg



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