Day 6: Offenburg to Augsburg

It was a hard start to the day. The night in the tent had been cold and wet and I struggled to get going even though I knew I had long ride ahead of me. I took down the dew-wet tent and bundled it away on the bike along with all the rest of the baggage and I hunched over the handlebars as I set off into the cool German morning.

The fuel gauge starts to fall into the red so I look for the next petrol station and pull in. It's deserted. The pumps are on but I can't get any fuel to come out of the nozzle. There's no one to ask. I give up and fill the tiny 3.5 litre tank from my spare fuel can. Just then a car pulls in, the driver jumps out and walks up to the 'tankautomat' machine carefully camouflaged with a bright red sign. How did I miss that? He fills and drives off.  Thinking I should refill the spare can I survey the machine. I put a bank card in, enter the PIN and wait until it displays something to the effect of "fill from pump 6". I go to pump six and...it only has diesel. Brilliant. There's no obvious way to cancel the transaction. I wait. Nothing. Eventually, I give up and ride on. At worst, I'll buy the next motorist a tank of fuel.

The next thing the day gives me is another closed road. No warning. No diversion. What I don't appreciate is that this barrier is to send me on an adventure into higher ground.

Satty does her thing. The flat landscape and long gently sweeping curves give way to climbing forest roads heading up into the hills. Traces of winter snow remain here and there. Through the breaks in the trees I can see as far as the snow topped mountains in the distance - ahead of me.

Alpine-style wooden houses are tucked away in-between the pine forests and bright green fields. The smooth tarmac gives way to sand and gravel track. It's still firm and I can keep the speed up. After a couple of hours riding, this beautiful scenery levels out once more and I start to skirt the edge of a town. Another tank fill. I check the odometer and punch it into my fuel tracking app (FillUp for Android).

139.23 mpg! Thats on a little bike that's fully loaded riding up hills and over rough ground. What is this little Honda -  a perpetual motion machine? I cannot believe how this little machine is performing.  I smile at the raised eyebrows of when people hear how far I'm going on this 90, because I know just how extraordinary this tiny motorbike is. It is truly amazing what it can do.

I arrive at today's destination in Augsburg at the correct address - but it seemed to be an industrial estate. I'm parked outside a karate dojo with the correct number carved crudely over the door. I wait. I phone. An answerphone replies. I leave a message then search the area desperately hoping to find inspiration.

At last the phone rings. "Sorry Chris I was on silent". Out of the industrial unit right next to the dojo comes Soren. Beaming, hand outstretched. Behind a battered yellow skip and metal fencing was his dance studio. In we went and it was like travelling through a portal. From the bleak industrial exterior I was transported into a warm, sophisticated (in a laid back sort of way) and ever so slightly bohemian, mix of dance space, gym areas with weights and benches, a communal kitchen, shower room, toilets and laundry room and a large private room for me. oh...and animals. Now 42, the dog, was a young French bull terrier who threw himself into everything as such dogs do. His nose went straight into my crotch and stayed there. His buggy eyes wide and his stump of a tail wagging. Now I had been on a bike saddle all day and I expect things down there were more Camembert than Dairylea, but there are limits.  They dragged him off but he wasn't to be thwarted. He then explored every item of baggage, the bike and most of me before being dragged off to the room of shame.
There were cats and hamsters.. all chosen so they were easily transportable when the dance troupe was on the road which I gleaned, didn't happen very often. Nonetheless, they were a happy troupe of dancers.
Thankful to have a chance to shower, wash and dry clothes and finally fall into a warm bed, I slept.