This was scheduled to be my last short day (with the exception of Florence to Siena) of the trip. It started with another Mega breakfast (just how many bowls of fruit salad can you have before you start feeling guilty - 3 in my case). I rolled out down the Pave at about 11am on a very sunny and windy morning. The first part of the ride followed the Germany-Luxembourg border, alongside the rivers Our and Sure, heading towards Echternach. I was happily pedaling along when a mountain biker overtook me near the top of a hill, he quickly gained about 200m on me, but after a while I noticed he had not gained any more. Right I thought, challenge on. I dug in hard and chased hiim down and caught him quite easily. He had obviously forgotton all about me thinking his spurt to overtake me would be enough to get rid of me for good. He then took up the challenge of dropping me and kept accelerating on little hills and bends etc. He even tried the double-bore snot gun trick, but I was not going to let go, and sat on his wheel for abot 8k until we reached Echternach We said our goodbyes and parted ways. Like all cyclists I do enjoy the challenge of overtaking or dropping cyclists even with 2 full pannier bags.
After Echternach I headed west through the Mullerthal woods which were beautiful (a bit like Cheddar Gorge, but perfect road surface and few cars). It was then some back roads and on to Luxembourg City.
Following the advice of The Lonely Planet, and because Luxembourg is very expensive, I decided to stay in the Auberge de Jeunesse (Youth Hostel). Only Dorms were available so I felt like Grandad again. There are 2 things I forgot about Youth Hostels: the first is that there is no soap in the shower: the second being that you dont get a towel. I showered as best as I could and wandered into town still a bit smelly. Luxembourg is a lovely place, The old town was built on a plateau surrounded by gorges. It is now connected with adjacent plateaus with bridges that give wonderful views. (Or as one of my room mates said "Yes, Luxembourg is lovely if you are old because everything is neat and clean" OLD was he calling me OLD!!!
Todays Stats
Distance 78.35k
Riding Time 3:20;31
Average speed 23.4kph
Climb 877m
Total Time 5:07:58
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