The bike had remained upright - a good start. Getting through passport control was easy (he didn't even open my passport!). I pulled over to set the GPS to get me onto the right motorway and head south towards Brussels and then Frankfurt.
My first stop near Liege was at a petrol station which confused the hell out of me. A french man explained I had to pay for fuel first but I had no idea how much the tank needed! So I gave her 10 euros and decided it was their loss I didn't buy a full tank. As I paid the woman explained, if 10 euros was too much, I should return for the change. Typical!
At the gas station, 4 brits on bikes explained they were on their way to the Nurburgring. The day was hot and they were collapsed on the grass verge - said they'd been riding "flat out" since getting off the ferry. They didn't see the irony that I had been on the same ferry.
I headed towards Frankfurt. Alongside the autobahn, I noticed the KPMG offices looked like a gigantic cruise liner. It was a tough ride, the heat was almost unbearable. I had bookmarked an Etap hotel near Wurzburg but as I approached around 6pm, I decided with another 2 hours of daylight I could make it to another Etap at Regensburg - meaning I was 120 miles further south.
At this point, the scenery changed. I was surrounded by pine forests with a great aroma and the farmland was pretty. The temperature dropped and the air felt refreshing. For a while, I was happy I'd made the decision to continue riding. But after an hour, I developed an ache between my shoulder blades which I could not shift no matter what position I adopted.
The GPS led me to the Etap, just a mile from the autobahn & I was happy to receive an en-suite room for 47 euros including breakfast. Miles today: 550
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