72 miles ridden – 227m climbed – temperature 26C (average 19C at start – 33C at end.

Today was a lovely days riding. It was cool and overcast as we set off and although humid from the thunderstorms overnight we had a cooling headwind for most of the day. Aside from a couple of nasty hidden lumps it was basically flat and while the headwind caused angst for some of the riders for me it was like being at home.

First job of the day was to celebrate a birthday of one of our gang – Roy celebrated his 77th birthday today and apparently enjoyed the whole thing except for the extra 3 miles when he got lost! He’s a remarkable guy who is not only 77 but also doing the ride as a part of his recovery strategy from a stroke. Amazing.

I spent 50 of today’s ride with a chap called Neil who started his career as a broadcast engineer for the BBC – small world and while we nattered away the miles sped by. The Moselle was as majestic as ever despite the clouds which did clear by the afternoon.

We are nearing the point where Mother Moselle merges with Father Rhine and in addition to the plethora of river cruise boats there were increasing numbers of cargo vessels and massive locks to accommodate them. Some spectacular castles and other buildings along the way too.

Over these last two days there has been much speculation as to why the grapevines run vertically on such steep hills. Today as we passed older vineyards we saw the amount of retaining wall needed to support them being horizontal and clearly it’s not cost effective on the current scale.

The other mystery was how they could manage the vines on such steep slopes and today we saw the answer – helicopter crop dusters. Noisy but effective.

Our stay tonight is in a very picturesque little town with some beautiful old buildings. Dinner in the market square and my final task will be to try and cool down my un-air conditioned room.

Congratulations to Canada for making it to the last 16 at the World Cup!!