May 22, 2017: The Marvel of Marburg motivated me miles and more!


184km, 8h26, 1339hm


My route for the third day: from Meiningen in Türingen to Marburg in Hessen, a little under 200 km.


My GPS was acting weird and did not calculate the road. So for the first part I had to rely on my orientation


Chilly in the morning as I took my bike out of this parking space


En route! Marche!


Exiting the city of Meiningen already took up some time but at least the GPS signal was there


The beginning of a long day


The day began along the Werra river; the same one I had followed yesterday


In the mood for it


This is the Werra, a small river that seems to line out my path through Germany


Before having decently left the city of Meiningen there was a big road work and I did not know how to bypass it. Luckily a local gave me some advise and told me to walk down these stairs and I would be there. He was not lying.


Meiningen, one of the bigger cities in Türingen; all part of the former East Germany


The forests of Germany are strikingly beautiful though


I was sent along some main roads, but thankfully traffic was low.


Then another cycling trail along the Werra



I was a bit surprised that this part of the ride was seemingly flat


It made average speed increase well


There she floats, the Werra river


Cycling path along the Werra

At 9 in the morning I heard the morning bells of this small town's church


Werra once more...


I saw this bikepacker standing alongside the road and I just had to speak with him. He just retired and he was traveling from Switzerland to the northernmost tip of Norway, a voyage of over 4000 km. Very cool fact indeed


I could learn a thing or two from his gear


Good luck Swiss cycling friend! May the winds of fortune cross your cycling path


Some eye for local architecture



The bridge of reunification... but I could not know for what it really stands. No explanations there



This part of the ride was very dull and boring; only flat roads going through mostly urban areas. I got so sick of it that I was happy to see some deserted areas with hills like here



The German flag


Eventually I was back in my favorite zen cycling scene: fields and open skies


This ride has not been super challenging so far


At this point I reached the half way of my entire cycling trip. I had completed 460 km with the same amount to go. This time I would do it in 920km. The direct line from Prague to Cheb is the main reason.


Beautiful piece of nature


Next city in line was Bad Hersfeld; this was already part of Hessen


Along a cycling trail I found Mr. Snail again. He followed me here all the way


I spent a few minutes chatting with him



There was a very long line up of cycling paths in Hessen. This was not necessarily bad.



The afternoon was very relaxing


This ride was good to balance out my first two days with a lot of climbing


Admiring German style houses before going uphill again


It amazed me that I was well in my third day and still did not see roads I already cycled


Wonderful cycling emotions




I landed again in a more hilly area,  road was going up and downhill all the time


Rotkäppchenland


Hessen cycling ways


I first had a climb which brought me to 500 meters and then it went downhill for such a long time; with a soft gradient. I had -1 or -2% the whole time.



These yellow flowers will follow me once again across Germany


In the late afternoon it got quite warm. I even took a nap on a bench


After that nap I still had 40 km to go, so I hit the road.




Interesting slogan


One of Germany's many picturesque towns



Marbug was already close by but the road went over the very busy Bundesbahn 3. It made me kinda nervous, so I got off as fast as I could


Speaking local languages is great, I asked locals how to bypass this Bundesbahn 3 and the answer was Kirchhain. I followed the cycling trail, added a few km;  but arrived in Marburg without too much stress.


Just like yesterday; a lovely cycling trail...



It was another beautiful evening


A few more small lanes and I was there


Marburg, the university city. I stayed in a hostal next to the main station

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