Day 12 The land of religious upheaval

I started the day quite deflated mentally.  Rain was going to delay what would already be another long day.  Today's route would likely incur more detours and they suck any momentum out of you.  So I opted to go off plan and avoid much of the Rhine with a reroute which then leaves us to the mercy of possible hills and Google maps which has also led us astray this trip.  It proved the right call though and we made great time for our first leg into Speyer.  The stunning Cathedral spires were a nice welcome and we enjoyed a walk around the Cathedral and town.  It was here the Protestation of Speyer asked to release the ban on Martin Luther and his teachings.   A hearty lunch here and we were on our way again to Worms.  First, however we had to pass through Ludwigshafen where the company BASF is based.  Their campus is literally 6 miles long.  Impressive to me was the thousands upon thousands of company issued bicycles we passed that workers were encouraged to use to get to work.   As they are all red, I just can't imagine how you tell your bike apart from your neighbors.  Some nausea for Greta slowed our afternoon pace but we still made good time into the city of Worms.  I can proudly now say, I really like Worms.  After a quick shower and rest at the hotel, we ventured back out on the bikes to explore the town.  It was awesome to see big crowds gathered at bars and biergartens cheering on Germany against Scotland for the European Cup.  The city was really impressive and the Statue of Martin Luther as much so as it was here the Edict of Worms banned him from the church.   It was so nice to end our day on high spirits after the drizzy depressing start.

Spires of Speyer

Constant cornucopia of color on our course

The company car