… about what I’d be doing at some point this morning. Sure enough, it was to change yet another tyre on Caliburn – the third on this trip so far. And it was the old one that I’d fitted to replace the new one that keeps on having these mystery losses of air.
At least there was a good reason for this particular puncture – a big nail stuck in the tyre – but that’s not really all that much consolation.
What else wasn’t much consolation was that I didn’t have much sleep last night. I’m not sure why, because the bed was quite comfortable and it wasn’t too warm. Evidently nothing on the dictaphone which was a disappointment. I really enjoy my nocturnal rambles, as regular readers of this rubbish will recall.
To my surprise, I was the first awake so I wrote up my notes for yesterday and put them on line, using the “tethering” function of my telephone to access the internet. That’s quite a useful function.
When Jörg came back from the bakery we had breakfast and then we went to change the wheel. It’s a good job that I’d picked up both of those tyres two years ago. And it’s amazing how quickly we can change a wheel when there are two of us. I told him that I’d sign him on as pit crew for the rest of the voyage.
And I do seem to have done my right knee a permanent mischief after yesterday. I can’t put any weight at all on it.
Jörg went out later so Jackie and I had a long chat for several hours about all kinds of things. We had a lot to say for ourselves.
Later on we all had a coffee and then it was time to go. Jörg took me to the nearby petrol station to check the tyre pressures and then I was on my way.
Yet more umleiden to confuse The Lady Who Lives In The SatNav but apart from that the journey was pretty uneventful. However I did manage to arrive in Aachen and drive past the football ground 10 minutes after the final whistle when I was swamped in football supporters and police.
Now I’m in Eschweiler about 15 miles north of Aachen in a modern unit hotel and at €42:00 per night it looks as if I’ve struck lucky. This is definitely one up on the unit hotels that you find in France in the same price range.
This is probably my last night in Germany. Tomorrow I’m off to Liège – a town in Belgium that I hate but where I stand the best chance of having my tyres fixed. I’m not comfortable speaking in German when it comes to this sort of technical detail and so French is my best bet.
We’ll see what they can come up with – after I’ve had a good night’s sleep. I need one after the miserable failure of last night.
