Day 14. Gemunden am Main to Kahl am Main.

Day 14 Gemunden to Kahl am Main. 50 km 3h15.

Today's cycle started in wet conditions. We planned to cycle to Lohr am Main and then over the mountains to Kahl am Main, as the section from Lohr am Main to Karl am Main goes through a densely built up area with a lot of industry, which we figured would not be very interesting. In addition we have to meet Pat Devine and his friend Andrew at Frankfurt tomorrow, which would make it a 240 km cycle for tomorrow, not possible in a day. 

We checked the weather, thunderstorms with possible flash flooding was forecast for 3 pm. We did not want to get caught in this and decided to cycle to Lohr am Main and ask them at TI what the route is like and if the weather conditions are likely to change.The route over the mountains would cut out a substantial amount of kilometers, but it would be a 1000 m climb, we were not sure of the surface of the route.

The lady at The TI was very helpful she said that the weather was not looking good and the surface of the route across the mountain is mixed, some asphalt and some gravel. We decided to cycle a short distance on the route across the mountains and then catch a train from Heigenbrucken, however the road we started on was very busy in rainy conditions and would not be a pleasant 30 km cycle. The only option left was to catch the train from Lohr to Aschaffenberg and cycle to Kahl am Main where we had booked a room at Hotel Dorfler. 

The train trip took half an hour to Aschaffenberg which is a large town with the imposing Johannisberger Schloss that overlooks the Main River. Built out of red sandstone, it has a beautiful tower and the best Glockenspielen we have heard every hour on the hour.

The last part of the cycle today was along the river bank and as it was raining on and off we did not stop to do sight seeing. We did find a marque tent on the banks of the river where we could take shelter from a shower and have our packed lunch. We are getting good at coping with the rain now.

We were a bit apprehensive about our overnight stay in what appeared to be a very dreary village. However our pension turned out to be very comfortable with friendly and helpful hosts. They ran a restaurant which also turned out to be good. Jen had pork with potatoes, and I had potatoes with pork.