Day 3: Hemeln. Bridges, covered and otherwise. Except when there is no bridge, just a hand crank cable car across the river. Lunch in the square with a brass band. Sunset on the Weser River.

The ride to the city from Frankfurt airport is quick and pleasant, if not entirely obvious. Walk outside arrivals, on level 1, to the north side of Terminal 1 and head east until you see overflowing bike racks. Follow the bike signs from there, through the little empty parking area for busses, and onto the red brick path. Pedal through a quiet forest park; emerge through a bit of town and onto the bike path along the river to the city.

Ok, this is the last esoteric mechanical thing for awhile. These RD-M73x derailleurs are great; I think we have 4 bikes in the house that use variants of them. However, the seal around the P pivot tends to deteriorate and fail after 30 years. I designed and made some new seals. I guess let me know if you need one…or five.

The 6/7 carbon carrier on my Shimano Ultegra 11-speed cassette exploded on the first climb of the 1000k. It happened not far from where the route passes within 5 miles of my house, so I rode home and swapped it. I lost 40 minutes, but gained 10 bonus miles. I'm going to call it a win.