Bringing Alonzo Home - Part 2

Sonja: The second day promised much better weather. I left Bingen after a good night's sleep and a perfect breakfast catering to my dietary requirements (which was in fact part of the standard breakfast.).

TomTom showed me the way through the German hinterland, and riding along those beautiful byways one could think that the country only consists of vineyards, orchards, forests and fields, with rivers flowing through.

Again, I was surprised that traffic was almost non existent. I remember my homeland as a very crowed place but I never made a real effort to explore its backyard. Vacation in Germany just wasn't considered cool.

When I left the river valley the scenery changed from rolling hills to plains, and wide open space. The still picture doesn't show but I got pummeled by wind gusts so badly that I had to slow down every so often to regain my balance, and I had a pretty good workout, too keeping the scooter straight.

I took the shortcut through France and learned how much French drivers don't care for scooters, or any other kind of motorized or pedal powered two-wheelers. It became quite regular getting tailgated and cut off, as well as being overtaken in the worst moments... it was almost like riding in Richmond, BC, except that most French actually know how to drive. In the beginning I was fairly upset but got used to it after a while, and remained alert in order to be able to defuse risky situations.

Alonzo got to visit its first foreign country! Since France is pretty much around the corner from where we live, I recon that my Italian stallion pony will touch French territory on many more occasions in the future.

Back at river Rhine again, right across is Germany, and I was in the last leg of my journey. I was getting hot in my gear and welcomed the cooling breeze by the water.

The mountain range of the Blackforest is getting closer as I meander through the farmlands of the flood plains of the Rhine. The land is very arable, and the climate is moderate, so crops and fruit of various kinds grow in this area.

I gathered another 330km and 7 hours of saddle time. What a bliss this trip was! It never ceases to amaze me what good riding can do to body and soul. At the end of my journey I felt rested, and got to liberate my mind from the worries of the last weeks.

It is not only Alonzo, that I brought home that day. I feel that I have arrived as well.