Day 17 - Vendredi 26eme Avril 2013

From - Montbeliard
To - Mulhouse
Distance - 64km
Time - 3.5 hours
Total - 1363km

A short cycling day today and for the first time I felt that that the wind was genuinely behind me all the way. I think that psychologically cyclists always think thewi d is against them because ven when there is no wind the rider creates his own wind by riding forwards and therefore it seems there is a headwind. That's my theory anyway. Today was different because I was riding up to 10kph faster on the flat.

Their wasn't much of note on the route except that I stopped or coffee and spoke to a German woman cyclist called Antje who was going in the opposite direction. She was actually mixing her cycling with train journeys to get to the south of France. She worked in a university near Hanover. She did say the name and I think it was Gottingen!

The weather has been overcast but still reasonably warm, everyone else has a jacket on but I am cycling in a T shirt because I'm tough and from the north of England where we know what real cold is! The route sticks close to the Canal du Rhone au Rhin and will continue to do so till we get to the Rhine near Basel. There was a series of 12 locks one after the other all about 100 metres apart near a town called Montreax le Chateau. I checked the town out but found no chateau, it should be reported under the European Trades Description Act but would probably get off under Human Rights Law as it would be an invasion of its right to privacy!!

As I travelled the villages started to look a bit more chalet like and the place names suddenly sounded German. This is now the Alsace region famous for white wine and police dogs! I was at Mulhouse for lunchtime. The 'house' of Mulhouse is pronounced like 'hoose'. The centre has a very German feel to t and the Mulhouse itself is the decorated pink building in the photos. There is also some association with William Tell but I'm not exactly sure what yet. I am keeping my apple securely in my pannier and I am not about to make any new overtures! I made my own lunch sitting on a stone block in the main square washed down with a lovely Alsace Riesling wine.

I have been trying to get my bearings in the city but I am struggling to work out which direction I am walking (or cycling) in. It's OK if I use the mapping on my iPad because it also shows me which direction I am walking in.

The hostel is about 15 minutes walking outside the centre and seems good. I was the first person to arrive, shortly followed by a French guy who seemed to want a drink later. I will try not to disappoint him. The warden is really helpful and will tell me what to see in the city. He is also an Eels fan. I know that won't mean much to most of you but they are an American band that I saw in concert about a month ago in Manchester. Whilst I am here writing the blog it has started raining and I guess it may not stop till Sunday so you can think 'ha ha', I deserve the bad weather after the gloating I have been doing over that last three days.

I will definitely stay here two nights. So I don't get soaked riding tomorrow and also because I have a problem of being too far ahead of the non existent schedule I have. I don't want to finish the ride before we get to June.

More people are arriving at the hostel, so I haven't got it to myself completely.

Photo 1, Horses in a field and a small Alsacian village.
Photo 2, Mulhouse, the actual house!
Photo 3, William Tell Street.
Photo 4, My lunch.
Photo 5, Me standing outside the Cathedral.
Photo 6, Metal statue in Mulhouse.
Photo 7, Mulhouse Hostel.