Day 3, Mainz rail station to Worms, 66 km

 First off I made it onto the train out of Berlin, despite again having to relay the bike and bags down to my platform. I only had 8 minutes to change trains in Frankfurt; it went well because all the train lines were on one platform. In Mainz I used a lift to go up, but maybe I was confused because to get to street level I had to go down again, carrying everything.

It took some navigation and course correction to find the Rhine and get out of Mainz. Maybe I'm out of practice, but it seemed like my Google maps turn by turn and physical maps were out of sync. Plus the little signs that have been helpful were sparse and the arrows not quite right. Thus, I was still getting lost outside of city center. After Laubenheim I was somewhat sorted.
Sometimes I just have to go back and revision the space, such as around Nackenheim I lost the track and almost thought my direction were sending me onto a busy highway. I backtracked and found the Rote Hang, meaning red slope, where the hillsides grew steep and I was actually climbing after things being so flat. The track wound up and down through vineyards, where I'm starting to hear some French.
Niersteim was a quaint little town that the track went through. Then Oppenheim, then ... I was used to little towns and promenade with cafes selling ice cream and sandwiches-- but the next 20 or so km were without anything. There was double track with hard-packed dirt and gravel. My km per hour went way down and it was harder pushing. At one point there was absolute silence dino cars, boats, or planes. Just me on my bike riding next to the Rhine.
Worms was hard to get into and I kept making navigation errors, finally I asked a commuter for help. He said follow me. I love that. He got me to with a km of the youth hostel! Which was totally booked!
Help. There was no Warm showers offerings either. The hostel gave me a list of hotels to call. The first was booked also, the second gave me a recording, and the third answered, said there was a room for me, for E60. I got there in seconds.
It's sort of nice after spending the first 2 weeks with folks to have my own space for the night. After showering I visited the Lidl across the street. I ate in my room then went for a walk down the pedestrian strasse to view the dom and Trinity Church. I know Martin Luther did something here that shocked The Church, just not sure what. I will read up at home later. Let's just say I'm not on a Diet of Worms.