The longest leg of our tour sadly turns out to be the most boring, too, at least for the most part. The stretches at the beginning through the Steigerwald are quite nice and challenging, although Elli’s horses really struggle up those hills.
Schlüsselfeld, opposite side. 
Schlüsselfeld, somewhat to the left. 
Schlüsselfeld, a tiny bit to the right.
In Schlüsselfeld we have freshly brewed coffee at Feinbäckerei H. Fischer, while the other customers in the back room seem to be enjoying a beer.
Cafe Fischer, note the beer advertisement. 
The filter coffee was freshly percolated. The cake was not a lie.
I wouldn’t recommend following the long stretch that the route remains in the triangle of Bamberg, Schweinfurt and Würzburg, respectively. This way we enter Würzburg through an industrial area, maybe according to the principal that it can’t be all bad as long as you follow the river Main. But in fact, it is.
Another crossing of the river Main. This one wasn’t very cheap. 
Stopping for a cool drink in Volkach. 
Much welcome shade.
Only after Würzburg does the route become appealing again and the last stretch following the Main to Homburg compensates for the earlier unattractive bits.
Das güldene Rößlein welcomes us with the sound of heavy machinery breaking open the concrete of an adjacent square 🙉. Upon our friendly request whether the good man might end his work any time soon (after all it is already close to 6pm on a day before a bank holiday) we receive the unsettling reply “Well, he does start rather late in the mornings…” from our receptionist.
Knackered, hungry and sweaty, we each take a shower to the construction sounds and decide to find a beer garden as quick as possible. Well, that’s the plan at least. Homburg am Main will not make it easy for us: Our first attempt leaves us somewhat baffled at the locked doors of the Homburger Bräuscheuere. This place actually is the reason we came here in the first place.
When we had tried to make a reservation in the planning phase of our tour, they told us on the telephone that they had no room left on the date of our travel. What they failed to mention was that their pub would be closed, too. Their web page didn’t mention any of that, either. 👎 👎 👎
The receptionist in our hotel doesn’t exactly raise our hopes, telling us of only two alternatives that both might be closed. The wine bar is deserted, from a half open window next door we hear a stertorous smoker’s hack at one second intervals. Hunger, thirst, and despair take hold.
But somehow I cannot believe that this should be it and I press on – and lo and behold – a few steps further on down the road the redeeming sign of a beer garden flashes in the corner of our eyes. Once round the corner, we spot a former barn with a courtyard filled with gravel. We have discovered the “Vogelfrei” in the shadow of a huge cherry tree and quite possibly we sigh with relief.
Two sausages and two Helle later, the future looks bright again. Even the approaching thunderstorm cannot touch us, since the barn roof protects us and the other costumers.
| Daily leg: | 210 miles – Lower Franconia – Steigerwald – Main-Franconia – Würzburg – Homburg a.M. |
| Unterkunft: | Zum güldenen Rößlein – double room with breakfast: 68,00 Euro. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Unterbringung Mopeds: | Locked garage. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
The next morning starts sunnier than expected. Bob the builder thankfully has had to take the day off on Ascension Day in Catholic Bavaria.
Checking Elli’s oil level indicator makes me frown, though. Elli looks thirsty. After a brief research that barely postponed our departure at all, it seems we should be asking for 10 W 40 motor oil at the next service station. The third filling station we try finally has said product on offer and after topping Elli up with approximately 300 ml of the stuff, we can continue homewards.
We ride a stretch through the Spessart and once again pass Aschaffenburg. Then we visit a friend in Mörfelden, where we are offered coffee to warm us up and Elli’s beginning inflammation of the cubital joint capsule is treated with first aid. After that we eat out in a Turkish restaurant.
Our finish follows the Rhine on the B42. The weather forecast for the day isn’t looking good. There are dark clouds on the horizon and we decide to put on our rain gear near Wiesbaden just to be on the safe side. As it turns out that this wasn’t really necessary as there are only a few drops, but the warming effect alone is very nice and welcome since it has cooled down noticeably.
We have one final break in St. Goarshausen and head back home from there in one go.
Daily leg: 186 miles – 👍🏼 – Spessart – Hesse – Valley of river Rhine.
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