In the groove

What a beautiful day of cycling. We awoke early and after a very good breakfast (and merely ordinary coffee), we were rolling by 9:10. And we were not alone. Even on a Tuesday morning, there were quite a few cyclists on the road, both locals out for a ride and fellow loaded-down cycle tourists. But the view is still spectacular

Just another gorgeous day on the Moselle cycle path.

Vineyards perched on a hillside

The vineyards here are amazing. It's hard to understand how some of them can be worked, they're perched up so high and on such a steep slope. This is also clearly a country the has been inhabited for millennia. You encounter vestiges of the Romans all over the place.

Roman ruins.

Around 11:30, we stopped for the obligatory (in our case) pastry break to recharge the fuel tanks before continuing on our way. At lunch, we met Cheryl and Chuck, a couple from Arizona with whom we had been playing a game of cycling leap frog, as we stopped and passed each other from time to time. They had much more experience than we with cycle tourism, and we gained a lot of insight about cycling in a few other countries (England and France, thumbs up; Portugal, thumbs down).

Fuel stop.

This evening, we have landed at the youth hostel in Traben (emphasis on the youth), which is perched up at the top of the down, a cruel surprise after 60 km. Tomorrow night, we're treating ourselves to a swanky Airbnb in Cochem, which we are told is very beautiful. It's another 60 km down the road, but it will be nice to cook a real meal for the first time in a week.