Radtour Eiserner Vorhang Tour, Teil 3 Gdingen-Asch

I slept well in the cabin on my luxury mat and had a solitary bath in the lake in my birthday suit. The stage today was not that long, so I took my time. Apparently no one used those changing rooms to change in, because no one came up to me.

The hills of the Rhoen now lay behind me, and although there were still hills, it was easy-peasy compared to yesterday. The hill up to Zimmerau even had the attraction  of a viewing tower at the top. An old one from 1966, which had been built namely to be able to have a look at the nearby border barrier installations and into the close, yet so distant Thuringia, as it said. Everything was in the original '60s style with eternite sheets as a cover flapping in the wind and with a large covered platform at the top with large windows. You could look down through the crooked floorboards and I saw my bike leaning against the tower, 38 meters down. I enjoyed the view and spotted the large inn nearby. People were served food at outdoor tables, so it was open. Why not eat hot food for lunch now and sandwiches for dinner, I thought. And it was a good thought, because the wiener schnitzel I ordered was as big as a toilet lid. But I ate it all with a good portion of french fries and a "radler". The innkeeper noticed I had finished my dish. He was probably not used to that. But on the other hand he didn't know how many calories I burn on my bike.

After the heavy refreshment, I probably had a little difficulty finding the right steady tramping in the pedals, but it didn't matter that much. The landscape was without major challenges today. I visited another memorial to a disused East German village, Billmuthausen, and the descriptions here came close to one. You understand what home means especially to people in the countryside. Nothing had been spared in the demolition of the apparently quite large and well-functioning village in 1978. They had started with the church in the worst unchristian way. Only the cemetery remained, and I even noted new graves from our century.

Before the campsite in Bad Rodach, I again opted out a section of patrol road and cycled a detour and entered the campsite from the lakeside. Here at the lake's outlet, I had a weissbier, but in the great solitude of the forest, because it was cloudy and dripped in between, so there were no bathers. However, the idyll was disturbed by some workers with their noisy machines. The lady in the restaurant called Barbara, the camping mummy, so I was expected when I arrived up there. And indeed was received in the friendliest way and was assigned a beautiful spot for my tent. I took advantage of that by sending a video to my followers about my camping life.

After a shopping trip to a Rewe supermarket in Bad Rodach, I ate black bread open sandwiches with strawberries and milk for dessert at a small table right next to the tent, from where I had a nice view of the countryside. Afterwards I listened to music on my mobile phone and probably got a little drunk.