Loop ride from Eutin -- Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Today was an all around great day of cycling. Weather certainly makes a difference. It was warm enough to set off without a jacket; the forecast for 0% chance of rain proved accurate, and the wind has all but disappeared. I did the 40 mile loop which consisted of easy rolling hills through a number of small farm towns and villages.

We all started off together and stopped for pictures at “The Bridegroom's Oak,” an oak tree in the Dodauer Forest. It's important feature is a hole in the trunk, reached by a ladder that functions as a dead drop or public letter box for people seeking love partners. It is the only tree in the world that has a postal address. The story, greatly condensed, is that a young man and his lady love (whose father disapproved of the relationship) corresponded by letters left in the tree. When the father relented and they married, word of the tree's history leaked and people started writing to the tree in hopes of finding a partner. The postal service delivers several letters a day. It is a public letterbox; anyone can open, read, take, or answer the letters. At least 5, and reportedly more than 100, marriages, have been brought about by the Bridegroom's Oak.

Checking the mail

Colin reading a letter

Our next stop was Plon where we had coffee and visited the castle, one of the largest in the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the only one located on a hill. It is currently owned by an optometry association and is used as a training center.

Coffee in Plon

At the Castle in Plon

Many of us stopped in the lakeside village of Malente for lunch. I had a very tasty schnitzel with french fries (and mayonnaise – the German way to eat french fries) before setting off for the second half of the ride.^th century, and officialy registered as a church in the 16^th century (1529, if I remember correctly).

When pigs fly -- cows will walk on water?

Many of the group opted for the 2 hour boat tour of 5 of the region's lakes, followed by the short route back to the hotel. At the top of the region's highest hill (which is not all that high – 550 feet), I met up with John and Pat at an old church. It was originally started in the 13

Throughout this tour we have been seeing beautiful large fields of grain – in Denmark it was mostly rye; here is is apparently wheat. The bright green makes for some very appealing vistas.

Fellow rider Andy Jardin is celebrating his birthday today. At breakfast he was surprised by a nice vase of roses! Then, as we were cycling, I noticed that Ronny who was marking the route with chalked had written a birthday greeting on the pathway. (Andy and his wife, Gwen, were on the Chile tour that I did in 2016.)

Tonight we will be having a traditional German dinner together.

The hotel WiFi is currently out of service, so I will post this when we get back on line.