Day 5: Zwickau to Bad Elster

In Zwickau our safehouse was under the shadow of the old town church. It was an imposing structure and very pretty. So were the bells that tolled every hour, on the hour. Still, it was an imposing structure and very pretty.

We headed out of town at about 8am for a day that was to test our fortitude as we headed towards the border.

Height Profile

There's not too much to report on the ride. There were a number of villages we passed through but not a lot to write about. As we are leaving early a lot of places are closed. today's ride was shorter then yesterday but with a lot more hills. So, climb we did, Thighs burning, lungs heaving, sweat dripping, we ground our way skywards. The benefit of climbing is that there are nice downhill runs. The problem with downhill runs is that there's usually a climb. 

Slog

There was a stop in Rodewisch for food. It was supposed to be a snack to get us through but for Stan and I it turned into a full meal at a kebab/pizza joint. Refuelled on we rode.

Battle of Wounded Knee

The highest point of the ride was just north on Schoneck. However, it was also the location of "the incident". Feeling weak through loss of fluid and beginning to waiver in the heat of the heat, Hank's bike took on a mind of it's own and veered into the verge.  We were quite a way ahead and missed "the incident". A friendly local stopped and starting telling us in German and with sign language that we could find a place to sleep in the town. Only later did we realise that wasn't what he said. However, it was a minor scuff with no real damage to either Hank or the bike. Injury #2 in year #3.


Onward we soldiered making our own trail in the absence of anything else in this part of eastern Germany. The tracks were getting easier. We had a nice ride from to Adorf alongside the railway line. This had to be flatter as we'd hoped. Not long now ... Ah, the sign. Destination reached after a more challenging day's ride. Bad Elster is one of a number of spa towns around the German/Czech border region. IT was bigger than I thought and a very nice looking town. ~75kms travelled, top speed ~56kmph.

But wait ... there's more.

Bad Elster Town Square

After a refreshment and finding accommodation, it was time to have a look around and find somewhere to settle down for the evening bier, food and game of Marisias. Across the road is a nice park like area so we found a place to eat and sit outside for the evening. As usual the food was good and the Marisias competitive with no mercy shown by anyone and great delight in taking someone down. An entertaining aspect of the evening was that our waitron was proud to show us the menu in six languages from Google. It was interesting and caused some laughs.

Day 5 Marker -
Katja Gliem

As the evening drew to a close we had to place today's marker. In broken German, we asked our waitress if she'd like to be a celebrity and have her photo published. Finally, she agreed.  So, here, in full Day 5 marker glory is Katja Gliem. She was a good sport and even asked for the blog link. 

Note the eyes are a feature of women in this part of Germany. Local folklore is that in ancient times a sign of beauty was to replace the eyes with cherries, hence the natural red colour of the eyes. 

The day is over and time for snoozing. Here's todays map.