Day 4: A Fork in the Road, a Stork in the Sky and the Group's Expertise: Food

(Plus, a Good Cold Beer at the End of the Ride)

Day 4, Winding Paths, Pastures and Tiny Villages En Route to Torgau


    Our Group Leader, Dirk Broeren, was already on the way to becoming something of a legend among the adoring group for his dry wit and easygoing manner. He took it to another level shortly after I approached him before we began riding that morning. I had "borrowed" a fork from the dining room that morning (I returned it) and told him to hang onto it. With the group huddled around him, he previewed the day's ride. On cue, I said, "Dirk, I've heard there's a place on the ride today where it can get confusing about which way to go." Dirk looked at me. He said, "Yes, this is a place where you can go one of two ways." Holding up the silver cutlery for all to see, he then walked a few feet and laid the fork down. "You need to follow the fork in the road," he said.

Elliot Kaufman's GoPro video camera (atop Elliot's helmet) caught Dirk Broeren engaging in cutlery humor.

   Opportunities to observe wildlife were plentiful, although much of it wasn't really wild, like lions and tigers and bears (actually, there was a bear ... more on that tomorrow). But there was nothing prettier than a lush pasture with a herd of cows grazing, coming around a corner to see horses' coats glistening in the sun, and one time, spotting two goats peeking out from under an automobile's camper top. And I thought I was hearing things while riding along a river thicket, certain my ears picked up the words, "Cuckoo, cuckoo." Riding another 20 feet, again I heard, "Cuckoo, cuckoo." Sure enough, it was a cuckoo bird.

    And another time someone shouted, "Look up!" I did, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be seeing. "It's a stork in a nest!"

Charlotte Sutton (left), Kay Lazar and a stork ... oh baby.

someone yelled. Honest to goodness, in that small village, and several more villages on our route, we saw storks laying or standing in their nests. Later, Dirk explained that the German Storke Route, or "Deutsche Storchenstrasse," is centered around the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Elbe River landscape. Storks begin their return from wintering in Africa in March and stay till September, when the first chill hits the German air. There are more than 100 villages, town and hamlets that build nests for storks. German artist Carl Spitzweg painted his 19th-century "Der Klappenstorch" showing a white stork dropping a baby into the waiting skirts of three village women.

   I loved all the learning we did on our Road Scholar program. It's education that sets Road

Mein mistake, mein sheepish face.

 Scholar apart from companies that can put you on a bike for 252 miles (that would be our total from Dessau to Melnik in the Czech Republic) but don't do much more. As we like to say at 11 Avenue de Lafayette in Boston (our headquarters), we exercise the body AND the brain. A healthy and active brain is directly linked to longevity.

   Having said that, all that exercise our bodies were getting as we devoured the miles along the Elbe meant that we were in need of fuel. And Dirk and his wingman, Carl Heinz Schneider, knew exactly where all the best fuel could be had along our route, so we had excellent coffee breaks mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Germans love their pastries and my wife, Kay, and I have never tasted so many kinds of wonderful bread. The chocolate is exceptional, the German meats are extraordinary and a breakfast buffet laid out in a German hotel is something to behold ... and savor: a half-dozen different cheeses, same with cold meats (yes, for breakfast), eggs, sausages and bacon, pancakes and french toast, plentiful fresh fruit, juices, potatoes. Oddly, I should have gained weight but didn't because of all the pedaling.

(Left to right): Nancy, Sue, Paul, Nan and Jay sit down to a coffee break.

Elliot and Kate Kaufman have good reason for sunny dispositions: gelato.

Sylvia Mabe and son Logan share food for thought with Carl and Dirk.

    Of our nine days on bikes, this would be the longest, surpassing 40 miles. The psychology worked in our favor because such a long ride near the end of our adventure might have been more

Jay Schneider channels his inner farmer before shouting, "Time to make hay!"

demanding than we'd have liked. But the day's ride was so exhilarating because of the breathtaking scenery and because we were getting to know each other (and enjoy each other more and more). We also knew that our first good look at life in the former German Democratic Republic was going to unfold when we arrived at day's end in Torgau. What we didn't know was what else awaited us when we finally pedaled up to the Central Hotel in Torgau. As we climbed off the bikes, the wonderful innkeeper welcomed us with some really cold, well, I won't tell you. You can see for yourself below ...

(Clockwise from left), Paul, Leah, Elliot, Kate, Logan, Charlotte (partially hidden) and Nan toast the day's ride.

Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 41 miles.