Day 4 Bingen to Ladenburg - 69 Miles




Leaving Bingen, we headed 69 miles south east to Ladenburg, much quieter than its neighbour Heidelberg...

 ...oddly, passing through multiple funfairs on the way.
 We cycled out along the Rhine for a short section to Ingleheim and then cut inland... 




 ...and cycled through a mixture of farmland, villages and residential areas.
We travelled together at a leisurely pace, cyclists mingling up and down the line, dipping in and out of conversations.
First brew stop with some fine pictures above our snacks table.
...and some rather weird looking bushy-tailed mousey sweetmeats.

After lunch in Osthofen we traversed the Rhine north of Worms and travelled east of the river.
Our route avoided a large section of industrial areas and urban sprawl around Worms, Ludwigshafen and Mainz...
 ...passing through picturesque villages, rolling countryside, some mild hills (in contrast to much of our hillier UK landscape).
Hills are coming up tomorrow though!
Wind turbines were a frequent sight. The country has increasing it's wind power from 9 to 19% in the last 7 years.


We were treated to long, flat and smooth sections of road interspersed with a number of small towns.




A super lunch laid on by Tori.
Much of the architecture was grandiose, startling and dramatic.
 By mile 54 we were hot, hot, hot!
 My Garmin cycle computer recorded 36.4 at one point.



Thus, our scheduled "Fountain stop" led to much frivolity!
 Great to get your head wet and have a paddle.
Not quite sure this was the intention of the designer.
 Cartwheel time...




...or 'ein Rad schlagen' - literally, to throw a wheel.


Local sculpture - asparagus farming.
 We arrived in Ladenburg... 



...and put our bikes in a fabulous triangular, windowed, shabby chic bike storage facility.

The Golden Krone Hotel was the best accommodation so far.
Ladenberg itself was lovely. Wonderful old city with cobbled squares, cafés and 16th century part-wood buildings towering high above.
It's an old Roman and Celtic city, its Roman name being Lopodunum

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