Our Bavarian bike ride officially kicked off with a group photo whilst everyone is in clean fresh club uniform and before any fatigue sets in and stretches friendships!

Everyone of course is in good spirits and we get away at a reasonable time considering the group size and learning the ropes on the logistics with luggage loading and last minute adjustments.

The weather continues to exceed our expectations with another cracker of a day... again in the high 20’s, just a little too warm for cycling adventures, but no complaints!

Our support van was supplying the group with some yummy treats early on into the ride and then went ahead to scout for a lunch spot. This proved more difficult than any of us thought, with many of the small hamlets not having cafes and then when found, were not open between 12 and 2!

With most getting desperate for refueling we stumbled across a lovely cafe/restaurant with decent ammenities that coudn’t have come a moment later! After summoning our support vehicle from down the road in the next town, we were soon all reunited and suitably nourished in very efficient German style!

Whilst we were spoilt with magnificent country side scenery the later half of the day included some very steep climbs that started to wear a little thin with most of the group and when finally reaching our destination town, got a very most unwelcome climb out of town to our accommodation for the night!

But if you are booked into a hotel with the name “Panoramic” what else would you expect? Whilst the climb wasn’t necessarily appreciated so late in the day, it was soon forgiven for the wonderful views from the balcony and the diningroom window was very special!

Lucky for all of us, we have Brett! Brett has taken on the team leader roll very seriously and it is a real pleasure having the evening meal already pre arranged without having to work out what to order, nor how to order!

We were all getting on famously with our host for our evening meal and we have been so impressed watching Meryl converse in fluent German, but suddenly as we looked on, our poor German host looked aghast. Meryl, with a friendly smile had just told her that the meal was “Very terrible!” Brett came quickly to the rescue and smoothed things over... (some of us think Brett may have been too smooth with the host, but Meryl was in no position to complain!)

Today’s facts: Distance covered 56km | Total Ascent 900+ m | Total ride time 4.5hrs

A big day is expected for tomorrow...