Stade, Germany 485 km

Last night we were both very tired and slept solidly for 6.5 hours then were wide awake with minds turning over thinking about the upcoming first ride. We started with a buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Most of today’s ride can be summed up in one word “AUTOBAHN”. We left Frankfurt about 9 am and joined every semi-trailer truck in Europe on the freeway heading north. The trucks were very good – staying in the far right lane. The speed signs were posted electronically above the lanes and read 120. At least they did until we came past some that were off. Perhaps malfunctioning, I thought. So I set the cruise for 115 – fast enough for us and slightly below the speed limit. The first Mercedes that passed us was going at least 160. Then came a sports cars that was doing well over 200k/hr. Of course! The signs were not malfunctioning there is no speed limit. . . Just like on roads at home there are rest stops every so many kms. We were glad to get off the crazy road a few times for breaks. Scenery varied from rolling farm land to forests to huge power generating wind mill farms and back to regular farm land with lots of towns along the way. We were noticing that most of the farm houses have solar panels on their red roofs. Yes, most German houses have red roofs. Not sure why that is.

So one would think that we travelled the 500k today in no time flat, right? Nope. Large stretches of the autobahn are under construction with the signs reading 60-80 kph. For the last couple of hours today  we left the freeway and had a pleasant ride through the mixed hardwood forest but the traffic was still heavy. We did stop at a fruit stand to sample some delicious cherries.

The hotel tonight is on a bit of a side channel from the Elbe River and a very pleasant place to walk around in the evening. From old shipping locks to a spired cathedral it is so, well, European.

It has been quite warm the first two days . Highs in the high 20s and low 30s. Hopefully to continue into Scandinavia.

Our new German word for today is ausfahrt - no not what you might think - exit from the freeway.