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Friday, July 5th - Darmstadt to Heidelberg, 6492 km
Franz eats breakfast with me at the youth hostel before he goes to work. Uwe is up too, then heads off to do a few errands. I return to the dorm to pack and find Werna still in bed. She has missed breakfast, but she doesn't mind as long it wins her a bit more time to sleep. I suspect this might also be an attention-seeking behaviour. Ah, the torment of sharing a single bed with a hot man....
She is in a better mood this morning and actually a bit talkative. She asks me about my trip and if I enjoy, a concept that is still strange to her. Uwe returns and takes her membership card to get permission from the kitchen to make a sandwich for her. He is enthralled with her, so very much in love, and will do anything for her. It's so sad to see. 
They are also headed south to Heidelberg and ask me to cycle with them. Since it is only 55 km I agree. A ride under 60 km is no sweat for me after four months of cycling, but for others, even these two in their late teens, it may be much harder. After all, I figure it can't be any worse than cycling with Mike. Before we leave town we stop to change money and phone the hostel in Heidelberg. There is no answer in Heidelberg.
I am pleased with our first hour because we cover 15 km, which at this pace suggests we will arrive in about three more hours. But Werna is riding an ill-fitting bike she has borrowed from a friend because hers is old and because she is the mental architect of her own doom. After one hour she is complaining and uncooperative. We coax and cajole her into doing a 8.5 km/hr speed for the next five hours, which lets her to drag out her misery with some left over for the two of us. At the edge of Heidelberg, only 5 km from the hostel, which will be filling up quickly, she commits her crowning achievement of passive resistance by shutting down completely and sitting uselessly, at the side of the road and refusing to speak to us. Uwe is not willing to ride on without her. I call the hostel and find out there are only a few spaces left so I ride ahead in a mad dash and pay for three places, which is more than Werna deserves. Uwe and Werna arrive less than a minute behind me, which proves that she could have hustled at any time she wanted to.
Heidelberg youth hostel is a huge, dirty institution with crowded barracks for rooms. Uwe learns that there is a swimming pool nearby and asks for details. The three of us go for a swim. Werna drags her sorry ass the 300m walk to the pool, complaining the whole way, but once we are in the water she is revitalized. She and Uwe start necking passionately and shamelessly. Uwe treats her so tenderly - a gardener in love with his favourite rose, brimming over with nurturing energy. He looks pretty good with a raging hard-on in his bathing suit. Maybe her total helplessness turns him on, but I hope for his sake he comes to his senses before committing to something long term with her. Coming back to the hostel, I spot Benoit, the French Canadian I met at the Luxembourg hostel. He has eaten but he joins the three of us on a trip downtown to look for dinner. We use our bikes. The three kilometre ride renders Werna into a semi-comatose state of wallowing self-pity. Oh gawd, I would not put up with her very long if she was riding alone with me. I am ready to leave her in a sewage ditch at this point. Uwe has to help her off her bike and ask her repeatedly, without getting an answer, whether or not the restaurant with OK with her. I stop myself from suggesting he leave her sitting on the sidewalk with a feed dish and bowl of water. But she 'come to' with a little food and alcohol. The ride back is much easier.
PHOTO 1: Luisenplatz, Darmstadt
PHOTO 2: Laudenbach
PHOTO 3: south of Laudenbach
PHOTO 4: Heidelberg Castle and bridge
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