Day 3: From Sulzbach to Kitzingen — Wet,

Sulzbach → Kitzingen | via Marktheidenfeld & Würzburg
The hotel in Sulzbach set the bar high. Our bikes spent the night in a conference room, and at some point we may or may not have cycled through the corridors. No regrets. We felt like kids and we’d do it again. 😄
A quick note on how we ended up there: we’d booked what looked like a normal hotel, only to arrive and find the lift was too small for the bikes. The staff improvised magnificently — bikes in the conference room, charging included. Lesson learned: always ask about bike storage before you book. And always check the lift dimensions.

Before the ride report, a massive shoutout is in order. Marritta made a deal: for every kilometre she ran in the Wings for Life race in Breda, she’d donate €7.50 to our trip. She then went out and ran 10.81 km — a personal best. That’s €80,-, and she’d already transferred it before we even got back on the bikes. Extraordinary. 🙏
And Marritta — getting passed by the Catcher Car driven by Robbert Doornbos and Churandy Martina is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. That’s basically a podium finish. Good luck with the muscle ache.
You can still donate too — the link is here: https://tinyurl.com/PJ-Adem-on-trip

Back to the road. We rolled out of the hotel feeling great, right up until we didn’t.
The Frankfurt weather forecast said: fine. The Frankfurt sky said: hold my beer. We got absolutely drenched — proper biblical rain — and of course our rain jackets were buried somewhere at the bottom of the bags. This is becoming a theme.
Here’s a confession: when preparing this trip back in the Netherlands, the weather was gorgeous. Sunny, warm, the kind of days that make you feel invincible. So naturally, waterproof gear didn’t top the packing list. Rookie mistake. PJ’s particular oversight: no Gore-Tex shoes. Wet feet, cold feet, complaining feet. Fortunately Adem spotted a running shop exactly 110 metres away. PJ walked in and walked out with a brand new pair of Gore-Tex trail shoes. Feet: saved. 👟

A few dispatches from the road that deserve their own mention:
Finding a place to charge the bikes remains a daily puzzle. Even when you’re happy to sit down and order food, a surprising number of places say no. The hospitality gap between words and reality is real.
German drivers are, in general, impressive. Highways, roundabouts, merging at speed — all handled with surgical precision. Cyclists and pedestrians going straight on, however, appear to fall outside the scope of the programme. We were manoeuvred onto a 100 km/h road today. Not ideal. 🚗💨🚴
The cycle paths deserve a special mention too. Beautifully paved one moment, then — without any warning — they either switch to the other side of the road or simply cease to exist. Navigation becomes an act of faith.

Once properly kitted out in rain gear, we settled into it. Adem made a thorough detour through Lidl, stocking up on an aggressively healthy selection of gluten-free supplies.
The climb toward Marktheidenfeld was long and beautiful in equal measure. At the top: a small miracle. The local church let us charge the bikes, warm up, and look around. Cosy, quiet, exactly what we needed. ⛪
Then a push to Würzburg — a genuinely lovely city — for dinner and the daily flag photo. Final stop: Kitzingen, another charming town to rest our legs.
Another day done. Still wet, but still smiling. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️Read more