Month: August 2014

Having had porridge and coffee I left the camp site at a reasonable hour, with the tent once again wet and muddy. No sun this morning – but that’s good cycling weather anyhow.

I made good progress in the morning and stopped off for an early lunch just after 12. Generally things on menus are quite descriptive and most of the time I don’t know what it is exactly that I’m ordering – but that’s OK because I like the surprise.. What I received was in effect a very nice fried breakfast.

After lunch the weather deteriorated into a drizzle.  In good news although there were a lot of hills today, the majority were downhills with a few nice hairpin treats.

For the past few days the housing has been chalet style, often ornamented with large displays of flowers. Today I cycled out of the ski resorts towards Bodensee, and the houses are looking less ‘alpine’.

Virtually all houses have brightly coloured window shutters (always open). This one had black and yellow chevron shutters which looked odd.

Shortly after that picture was taken, it started to bucket down. I took partial shelter under two chestnut trees for half an hour (one tree for me, another for the bike). It lightened a bit but didn’t look like it was going to stop any time soon, so I got on the bike and cycled on. It got very bad again very quickly and after unsuccessfully trying to get some shelter in a pine forest I found a bus stop at which to shelter. With the next bus due on Monday I made myself comfortable and brewed a coffee.

The weather didn’t get much better, but I did have a bit of phone signal at the bus stop and found a hotel on the island if Lindau about an hour’s cycle away, booked myself in and set off.

A pretty miserable cycle, but my gore jacket kept my top half completely dry and stopped the wind, so I wasn’t feeling too bad. Could have done with some gloves though.

I squelched into the hotel and made good use of the hot air heater in the bathroom to dry everything out.

I went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and ordered the ‘very hot’ fish curry to head off any potential cold, and am now in the harbour-side bar as recommended by the restaurant staff to write this blog.

Here’s a pic I took earlier of the Lindau harbour entrance. Note the wind and rain.. Fingers crossed for a brighter tomorrow.

Großer Alpsee to Lindau island, 68 km. Total so far 1,915 km.

So last night it rained very heavily pretty much the whole night. I made a recording on my phone (a decent digital recorder didn’t make the cut of things to take unfortunately):

The tent stood up well to the rain. The inner tent was completely dry in the morning, but the outer tent was soaked inside and out.

It had stopped raining by 8am or so (well just a light drizzle) so I got up and packed up the wet tent. Too damp to hang around for breakfast so I just got on my way as soon as I could.

The hills were covered with mist and cloud.

Things started brightening up within an hour or two. I thought best to keep on pedalling.

At some point today I lost one glove, so I’ll be stopping in at a bike shop for gloves and air at the next big town, which will probably be Lindau.

A very hilly route today – probably the hilliest – but all on good road surfaces, so progress wasn’t too bad. I reached over 1,000 m altitude too at this point:

Around 3pm (I think) and well aware my tent was soaked and the sun was out, I decided to check in at a camp site that was en route.

With my tent drying really quickly in the afternoon sun, I took a break 🙂

With no clean cycling clothes, I also took the opportunity to get up to date with my laundry.

A very nice campsite and the woman at reception kindly charged up my battery. A pizza and salad from the campsite for dinner brings today to a close.

Bannwaldsee to Großer Alpsee, 72 km. Total so far = 1,847 km.

Good start to the day. The other camper at the camp site (also on a bike heading to Bodensee) had a problem where he couldn’t get his derailleur to shift to the largest cog, which I was able to fix for him. I’m sure he found this beneficial as the day went on and the hills got steeper!

After rolls with banana in my tent for breakfast, I stopped off at 11 for breakfast at what looked like a monasterial cloister. Everyone was drinking large beers, but 11 is too early for me, so I went for a pretzel and latte. The two don’t go. Lesson learnt. Should have had a cake or a beer.

Another day with great scenery. Keeping the mountains to my left there were a lot of hills still.

I’d been recommended to try ‘haxe’ – a crisped pork knuckle – when in Bavaria and found my opportunity.

Mixed-bag of terrain today. A lot of chunky gravel that I wouldn’t attempt on a road bike and a couple of river crossings. Brompton coping admirably.

At one point my route took me to a closed gate and a crowd of cows looking like they wanted to escape. I had to lift my bike over the fence – no mean feat, it weighs about as much as one of the cows!

Nice weather when I was out today, but that was to change later.

There was a camp site on the route itself so I headed there.  Very large camp site with two restaurants. Other camper there was doing the Southern Germany route heading East and warned me of some big hills to come tomorrow.

As I was putting my tent up it started to rain. I went for a shower and when I came out of the shower block it was pouring with rain. I ran to my tent (a 2 minute run past all the caravans) and dived in.

It didn’t sound like it was going to stop any time soon, so I got out my stove and made 5 minute bolognase inside the tent.

A while later it did stop raining so I went over to the bar (the one that didn’t have a Bavarian oompa band) for a glass of red wine.

When I left it was torrential again. Another run to the tent, into less wet clothes and to bed!

Bad Tölz to Bannwaldsee, 88 km. Total so far = 1,775 km.

Leaving Munich at lunchtime I worked my way to the Isar and then followed it South. There are many parts of the Isar that are used as a beach within Munich:

I stopped for lunch at a biergarten at a fish farm. The river next to the garden had plenty of fish:

As I went further south, mountains appeared on the horizon, and worked they way closer.

I reached Bad Tölz around 5pm. It’s a pretty town, and judging by the cars and the poseurs in the high street cafes, it’s a wealthy town. I stopped off at an organic food store to pick up some groceries and beer.

Even the camp site is expensive – 14 euros – most expensive yet. For that I get a muddy bit of ground, but at least the tent pegs went in easy. Dinner was  ravioli with olive pesto all fresco.

Munich to Bad Tölz, 70 km. Total so far = 1,687 km.

Sat nav had plenty of issues today and also managed to delete half the route after crashing. Thanks Garmin.

Today (Wednesday) I took a break from cycling so I could be a tourist for the day in Munich.

The day started with me breaking my glasses so I found an optician and in German explained I had broken my glasses and could she help me. She understood what I had said and was able to help. German speaking landmark success! And glasses fixed.

I walked over to the BMW museum and spent some time there. I think the 50s and 60s were the most stylish decades and I’d be happy driving any one of these:

After the exhibition I toyed with the idea of buying a German touring motorbike which I’ve had my eyes on for a while, and riding that back, but I don’t even have my driving license with me, so that quickly put an end to that!

I had lunch and then went for a walk in search of art nouveau / jugenstil type architecture in Munich, following a guide I had found online.

Then on to see the Villa Stuck. An early 1900s house lived in by the artist Stuck. A highly decorative house that shows some of his art and also holds exhibitions.

I got talking to one of the gallery attendents who gave me a history of Stuck, a tour of his art, and some tips on where I should head on my cycling tour. Excellent stuff!

After this I headed to an outdoor shop ‘Globetrotter’ to get a light long-sleeved top to protect against the sun / provide an extra layer for when it’s slightly chilly, and to get a sleeping bag liner and long-johns for those cold nights in the tent. It’s a huge store and even has a large pool in the basement where zou can try out your kayak.

In the evening I met up with Hilla and Greg and we ate at an Italian restaurant in Preysingstraße. For dessert I had kaiserschmarrn with apple sauce. Highly recommended!

Many thanks again to Hilla and Greg for their very welcoming hospitality and a couple of great evenings 😀

After breakfast I got ready to leave. I topped up my tyres (Martin had an air compressor and line conveniently in the garage!) and had a fabulous sending off by the whole family, which was wonderful.

This point marks the furthest East I’ll be on this bike tour.

It had rained all night and during breakfast, but luckily stopped just before I left. I took the backroute along the river as sugested by Kim and Martin into Landshut, and took in the sights by day.

I popped into C&A to see if I could find something warm to wear on the cold nights in the tent. Whilst in there I couldn’t help thinking the clothing range here must be different to the one in London.

The day’s route followed the river Isar all the way into Munich, so was pretty flat, but it was a wet gravel path, so not good for the drivechain, and not the most comfortable of long rides.

This fishery had placed lots of cans alongside the road.. I am not sure why. Perhaps they had been used as torches for a festival?

I found the perfect spot for lunch (packed lunch by Kim – thanks again!)

There were many short waterfalls on the way to Munich:

Occasionally the path would be blocked and I had to find other ways around.

It took a while, but I found Waldo…

And finally, I made it to Munich at around 5pm, so I pedalled slowly around the town for an hour to take in some of the sights briefly.

At 6pm I arrived at Hilla and Greg’s lovely place which is super-central in Munich.

They made me feel at home, and Greg cooked a wonderful thai-style chicken curry which hit the spot nicely, and we spent the evening chatting and catching up.

I’ll be spending one more day here in Munich so I can take in a few sights properly, before heading back. But how to get back home?

Oberahrain to Munich, 97 km. Total so far = 1,617 km.

I packed up the tent, damp with condensation and got on my way, wondering at what stage a caravan with awning attached becomes a house with caravan attached.

Conscious of the fact I need to keep on top of my nutrition I spotted a quick way to get 4 of my 5-a-day.

The scenery is chaning again with rocky outcrops appearing from the hills. In many instances this has been seen as prime real estate.

My destination for the day was Kim’s house in Oberahrain, near Landshut. For some reason I thought this only about 40 km away, and had been taking the ride pretty leisurely, but looking at the map at lunchtime I discovered I still had another 70ish km to do – I had some pedalling to do!

So the afternoon was spent at a brisk pace, and breaking away from the scenic route later on in the day so I could get some quick miles in on main roads. I had some energy gels in my bag left over from a sporting event so decided it was a good time to use them!

I arrived a little late to a very warm welcome at Kim’s house. The kids have grown in size and number since last time we met! Martin had made a stew with dumplings which was exactly what was needed, and we spent time catching up.

Later on Kim took me into Landshut for a guided tour, where we took in the sights of the elegant city by night, including St Martin’s church – the tallest brick built building without steel support in the world, the duke’s castle, and a festival. Even for a Monday night, there were hundreds out in the beer tents on the tables, most in traditional Bavarian dress.

Landshut is also famous for hosting a very large medieval festival every four years, next one in 2017, which I am assured has to be seen.

Many thanks for the wonderful hospitality 😀

Irfersdorf to Oberahrain, 121 km. Total so far = 1,520 km.

Having spotted laundry facilities at the campsite the previous evening I decided I would take the morning off cycling to have some clean clothes to wear.

I soon joined back with the canal, which has some very large locks:

I stumbled upon a busy backerei and ordered the ‘New Yorker’ breakfast which could have fed a family of four for a week. I ate it all (never knowing when the next stop might be..).

Today’s cycling was lots of hills, but none too taxing. Lots of gravel paths too.

One village I went through had a volksfest going on – a beer tent, lots of food and lots of activity.

Someone had got creative with this fire hydrant:

Weather was on my side today.

And some more creativity with these toddlers jeans:

I reached my destination campsite at a decent hour (the sun was still out!) And pitched my tent by the river. Then headed to get dinner at the campsite – currywurst and fries. Here in the South, the dialect is very different to the North and I find it difficult to understand anything being spoken. Managed to get my order in though 🙂

This campsite is popular for kayakers and hangliderers. You might be able to spot some in this pic:

Eckersmülen to Irfersdorf, 56 km. Total so far = 1,399 km.

Leaving the guesthouse, I set out to rejoin the cycle network.

I came across this peculiar work of art of a cyclist being bitten on the bum by what looked like a carp, and hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come:

Many German villages and town have these totem-pole-like trees:

My satnav guided me through some nice forests:

Back to cycling along the canal.. No more hills for a while!

I reached Nuremberg around lunchtime. The old town centre was strangely quiet. I cycled around a bit and came to another part of town which was a bit busier.

And found a place that served noodles and also provided shelter from the rain shower.

As I cycled out of town, I found other parts looked very interesting, and realised I’d only seen a fraction of what it has to offer, but need to come back another time when I can do it properly.

It started raining again persistently. At one of the heavier points I discovered a snack in my front pannier that I’d bought earlier that day in case of such an emergency..

I cycled on for a few hours towards a campsite. I stopped off along the way at a supermarket.

At one point I saw a deer in a forest I was cycling past. I stopped the bike and went back, but the deer had moved on.

I arrived at the camp site at 10 minutes to 8pm, checked in, put up the tent, and went to the camp site cafe for a drink.

Markt Taschendorf to Eckersmülen, 110 km. Total so far = 1,343 km.

Up early, to find the river by the campsite blanketed by mist.

Once the sun made its way into the valley it soon cleared away the mist. After my porridge and coffee, one of the caravaners at the campsite gave me a banana in respect of my journey ahead.

The morning’s cycling was on decent tarmaced paths alongside the river. Nice and flat and comfortable cycling.

I saw lots of vineyards today but I’ve not tried any of the German wine yet. I think I reached Würzburg around 11.30.

I stopped for a ‘proper’ coffee in the town centre.

Not long after leaving I decided to divert from the main cycling route which was heading North with the river, and make my way East across country towards Nürnberg. The roads soon got very hilly, as I cycled from village to village.

With no campsites nearby (this was proper farming country) and a need to charge my devices, I found a guesthouse that was on the way and checked in.

Dinner was a carp with salad on the side.

Karlstadt am Main to Market Taschendorf, 103 km. Total so far = 1,233 km.