Gärtitz

The weather bureau promised us another cold day, albeit slightly warmer than yesterday. We were also assured that rain would not affect our ride, even though it had obviously rained steadily throughout the night.

The day began with yet another severe reprimand from the German staff at our hotel. Our group seems to have perfected to skill of doing absolutely everything that is verboten. This morning it was my turn to be publicly castigated for having the temerity to sit at the "wrong" table for breakfast. I felt like a naughty schoolboy as I bundled up my plate of scrambled eggs and my little glass of orange juice and trundled all the way to the far end of the building. I found out later that I had also taken the wrong orange juice. I do not think we made a good impression, especially as the Iron Lady found herself having to abuse just about everyone in our team for one transgression or another.

At least the ride got underway on time, and we were pleased to find that the tailwind was even stronger than yesterday. At times we almost had to ride with the brakes on to stop us going too fast. (I did say "almost").

Although the ride was great fun, the lack of coffee stops constituted a serious challenge to our will power. Time and time again we approached a town with high hopes that there would be at least some sort of coffee shop. Unfortunately, on every occasion we were left with nothing but disappointment. There was no coffee, there was no cake, there was nothing at all - all day.

The biggest challenge of the ride came when we calmly rode around a fallen detour sign and continued along a levee bank. About 500 m later we found ourselves blocked by a security fence and some sort of construction site. We could have turned back and admitted defeat, but we are the Ghostriders and are a mischievous and resourceful bunch.

It did not take much force to dismantle the security fence and venture into the construction zone. Fortunately, it was a Saturday, and no one was on duty. The biggest problem was that the overnight rain had converted the place into a quagmire. We skidded and sloshed through the mud, and generally acted like silly kids.

Eventually we emerged on the far side and proceeded to try to remove the caked mud that was all over our shoes and bikes. It might have been quicker to retrace our steps, but it certainly would not have been as much fun.

We had one final chance to find some coffee at the Penny Supermarket on the outskirts of Riesa. Although the sign clearly said that the Bakery section would be open till 4 pm, that obviously did not apply today. The place was locked up tight.

Thus, we continued to Riesa in a somewhat forlorn state. Our hotel for tonight is the impressive Mercure Hotel, however when I arrived at the reception desk, everyone else had a room reserved for them, except me. My name was not even on the list.

For a while it looked like I was going to have to sleep outside with the bikes, but a couple of calls to Ruckenwind sorted out the confusion and I ended up with a nice room on the fourth floor. I even have a nice view down to the Elbe River.

Tomorrow, we complete Stage 11 of our mammoth ride and reach the major pitstop of Dresden. This officially denotes the half way point of our ride, and we are to be rewarded with not just one rest day, but two. Everyone is eagerly looking forward to that.Read more