Tour de France: Days 38-39
Day 38: Freiburg
Today was the wettest tour day thus far with persistent and at times heavy rain throughout the day. It was a day typical of many wet cycling days when there were a number of punctures. Glass and debris come to the surface in wet weather and can become embedded in tyres therefore causing punctures. It was a shame that the weather was not great to experience the lovely views of the Black Forest mountains as we rode however we reminded ourselves how fortunate we had been with the many sunny days to date. Although there was limited climbing and the day was expected to be reasonably straightforward at 133 kms the weather resulted in this being a fairly long days riding. Again at the border there was seemingly little interest in a group of cyclists. Once over the border into Germany it was straight to the bakery to sample some of the lovely German baking and a hot chocolate. Interestingly ovaltine is used in place of hot chocolate here and the malty flavour as well as the hot drink on a wet cycling day was delicious. Arrival into Freiberg involved multiple bike routes and it was evident in biking through the city to our accommodation that the city was well set up for cyclists with a strong transport infrastructure of light rail.
Day 39: Freiburg
Today was a rest day in Germany’s sunniest town ‘Freiburg’. This is a university town with a high standard of living and advanced environmental practices. On other rest days we have interspersed sightseeing with resting and conserving energy for another week of cycling however given there are only three days of actual cycling remaining on the tour on this rest day we have tended to optimise our time by spending more time looking around. We started with the fruit and vege market where we purchased wine, raspberries, fresh local cherries and coffee. We then had a look around town at the church and at some of the shops. We also took up the recommendation from the hotel receptionist where we are staying of a local German restaurant called the ‘Feierling’. This was similar to the former Dux de lux in Christchurch. The menu options included sausage salad, sausage salad with cheese and sausage salad with cheese and bread. This was different and great to try the local fare. Prior to this we tried some apple strudel and drinks at a cafe as well as undertook some basic bike maintenance which was much needed after the rain. We enjoyed the city of approximately 230,000, particularly the lack of traffic in the city centre and the focus on car free streets. It was the first chance in quite a while for some shopping and good preparation for shopping in Paris!
