We really had to take our time packing up this morning. Departure time 11.30am and arrival at the next site is 1pm with just over an hour travelling time between the two sites.
Riquewihr has been a lovely site to stop off at. Just two nights, I possibly could have done a third as I don’t think we gave the beautiful town of Riquewihr enough of our time. The site was good. Relatively modern facilities, spacious grass pitches and free WiFi. The only downside was that the grass on our pitch was a little too long but if that’s my only grumble we’ve done well again. There is a lot of tree cover, we got lucky and were allocated quite an open pitch, with the beautifully smelling Linden Tree.
As we were ready to leave The Boss announces that our next site has no WiFi at all and I’m pretty much home alone whilst he’s out cycling with his buddies for the weekend. I’m quickly logging into iPlayer hoping to download some programmes for my evenings.
We hit the road as the rain starts to hit the caravan. We take it slow and steady as the wind picks up. Crossing the German border and a guard with a rifle waves us through, the first thing across the border is a McDonald’s. Nothing cultural just the big golden M.
Arriving at site is very different. No long arrival lane, just enough really for two units and then we get told to move. Checking in is very hi tech. No people, just a big screen similar to what you use in McDonalds at home. We are pre booked but I can see that just turning up, as is common here, the technical part of booking a pitch may take a lot longer. Very strange arriving with no face to face contact but I guess this is the way things are going to go. Putting more people out of work, until there’s a power cut or technical issues…
The pitch isn’t very big and our car is parked halfway along the front of our unit on an angle. The bumf on the website states no WiFi but The Boss gets his booster unit thingy on and it seems like we may have a slight, very weak, intermittent signal.
The site is the biggest we’ve ever stayed on with 518 pitches, its own supermarket, restaurant, water park and trampoline park.
Daniel, the host for this year’s Muckers cycling meet rides across to welcome us to Germany. It’s nice seeing him again, this year’s gathering has grown in numbers again since the first meet three years ago. They are all off out for a meal this evening, I tuck into a lasagne and swear at the WiFi which doesn’t want to keep me company as once again the rain thunders on the caravan roof.
Readers familiar with our tales will recall The Boss rides an indoor cycling trainer connected to the online cycling platform ‘Rouvy’ where he is able to race against other riders across the world. He joined an online club ‘MuckersWorldwide’ and it has grown into a community. This year, 17 Muckers travelled from Germany, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Italy, Nederlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK to ride in the Black Forest.
Two days riding, 13 riders on Saturday, 62 miles and 6,182ft of climbing (including up The Kandel), 11 riders on Sunday, 68 miles and 4,547ft of climbing … and yes … he was very tired by Sunday evening.
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