Great trail, scenery, towns, Ilse’s history knowledge, Astrid’s meals

Great trail & scenery & towns. Traveling companions were great, and we didn’t know any of them before the trip. Ilse is an excellent leader. She knows a lot of history and is good at explaining it, so we tried to make sure we rode in her group, as the other leader didn’t provide that same background info. Astrid is an excellent chef; she could go on TV with her explanations of our dinners. The e-bikes seemed fine, but the other bikes could use more attention to the maintenance of the brakes. Several folks had problems with the brakes during the week. And, the low gear on the bikes is not very low, so it’s good that the hills were short.