This would be my longest distance in one day ever by non-motorised means - 72 km. Yay me! I do need to point out that I'm not a 'cyclist'. Yep, rode when I was a child and have ridden every now and then, but never really got into it. I don't own a stitch of lycra (although I'm a pushover for padded shorts!).
Fitness-wise I'm feeling stronger every day although I'll take a day off in Basel so as not to tempt fate and overwork an old body! My training regime for preparing for the ride was Wait Training (not to be confused with Weight Training) - 'wait' until you start riding to get fit. Not quite true but near enough.
I got away at 7.15am this morning, partly because I knew I had a long day ahead but mainly because I love the solitude of the early hours. Also riding when it's cooler has obvious benefits.
The first part of the ride wasn't near the lake - I actually didn't see Lake Constance that morning until an hour into the ride. That first hour was spent riding through the quiet streets of small towns and villages, with traditional houses starting to make way for some more modern designs. The area is a holidaymakers paradise however it's somehow ironic that the people drawn to the area's beauty and character in the first place may now be destroying it by buying up property and 'modernising' it. Regardless the ride was a perfect start to the day.
The areas between villages were actually quite rural with apple orchards or corn fields the main crops. Most farm lots seem to be small, family-owned plots - machinery seems quite 'compact' compared to the large and modern harvesters and tractors seen on most farms in Australia.
I've seen a few small-scale vineyards on the trip so far, however today I seem to have hit a winegrowing region. Some of the chateaus in the area are huge and ornate, and most seem to have been built over a century ago. I have refrained from stopping and picking an apple to eat - I wasn't keen on having a shotgun pulled on me. However, I was keen to try one teensy weensy grape ... I actually tried two - one black, one white. They actually tasted great - I had an obviously mistaken impression that wine grapes didn't taste that good in their original form although very reasonable in a bottle!
At one stage I stopped to photograph a vineyard in the early morning light, as a man who had been inspecting the grapes hopped into a van which had the estate's logo on its side. I signed, by waving my phone, could I take a photo? The driver smiled and nodded; I then called out if I could try a sample from a bottle! He smiled and nodded, then drove off. I waited for about 10 minutes just in case ... he never returned.
The bikeways were excellent throughout the morning, with many of them dedicated to walkers or cyclists. This made riding very easy!
I entered Meersburg to catch my first ferry of the trip. After parking my bike on said ferry I headed upstairs to pay my fare and get a coffee and muffin. I asked the attendant how long the trip took ... "fifty minutes". I sat down, looked up, and saw us about to dock in Konstanz ... apparently, it was 15 minutes - my bad!
I headed off the ferry, cycled up a big hill, and rode alongside Marius, a Dutchman who'd been cycling for a few weeks in France, Germany, and Switzerland, and now cycling to the train station to head home. He gave me his contact details and graciously offered to catch up when I get to the Netherlands.
I then went in search of a hardware shop to buy some gaffer tape to make running repairs to my Ortlieb pannier that had split (I had given them a big wrap in a previous post!). Rain is on the way so I need to make sure my gear stays dry even if I don't. I discovered Toom ... the German equivalent to our Bunnings in Australia. Marvellous! Tape purchased, I headed for Stein am Rhein.
Just out of Konstanz, I passed a fruit shop so circled back to buy morning tea. The day-old muffin on the ferry was lacking somewhat. A bunch of grapes, two bananas, and a big juicy peach for 3 Swiss francs ... bargain. Within a couple of kilometres, I found a large park to have a break and eat my fruit!
Shortly after I passed through newly sown fields of a wide variety of vegetables - turnips, carrots, cabbages and kale (although I still don't consider kale a food!).
The bikeways at Ermatingen were the best of the day as they weaved through the town and close to water. In the background, the church bells were peeling as they do every hour on the hour during the day. It was here while riding, I met a young girl from Stuttgart who was on a summer break, so went riding as she does every year. She looked about 11 years of age until she told me she'd been doing tour riding for 11 years ... I re-estimated her age to mid-20s! I kept pace and chatted for about 20 minutes, until I realised that she couldn't understand a word I was saying, not because of any language barrier, but due to my breathlessness trying to keep up. Instead of embarrassing myself further, or dying, I meekly said I needed to get water and peeled off. She'd won. It was sometime later before I realised that she may have been the older sister of the six-year-old I'd raced and beaten so comprehensively yesterday!
After passing through the picturesque towns of Berlingen and Steckborn, both lakeside on Untersee, I came across a drink stand and honesty box. The top shelf was water or apple juice. I couldn't read German so was unsure what the deal was, but I did see CF4 (4 Swiss Francs) ... which I thought was steep for a glass of juice by the roadside. It did taste good.
Before arriving at my destination for lunch, I passed a very large man on a bike with panniers, working hard to get up a hill. He didn't give up which was impressive. But more about Tobias later (that's a teaser folks, so stay and read on).
I eventually made Stein am Rhein where I stopped for lunch. It's another historic town with alleyways and houses to match. It was particularly touristy today. I slowly rode through a few backstreets before heading onwards towards my destination of Schaffhausen. Not long out of Stein et al., I had to head up a steep incline ... with a full stomach. I named this one Heart Attack Hill followed by another one a few kilometres later, Coronary Crest. But what goes up must come down, and the descent was fantastic, dividing its time between forests and paddocks of crops - sunflowers and corn. The gravel paths were well-graded and packed.
As I closed in on my final destination for today I came into a fantastic bike path alongside the Rhine, and on the other side was a town that seemed surreal. Diessenhofen looks like a town where time stood still a couple of centuries ago. Old buildings of amazing pastel colours, and a historic wooden bridge which is the most impressive I've seen yet.
Suddenly I heard a "hello". It was the young girl I'd met while riding a few hours earlier, and I had just passed her. I thought about asking if she'd heard of the parable about a tortoise and a hare, however, that would be childish and I'm an adult. Soooo tempted. I stopped and asked about her destination. It was another 40kms further on. I decided to double down and ask how far she'd eventually ride today ... "100 km" she replied. "A short day then, I'm on track for about 130kms", I wished I'd replied. Instead, I said "well done you". I was hoping she didn't ask if I wanted to join her for that 40 km. She didn't. I left her there eating her apple, still without a hair out of place, makeup perfect, and as fresh as a daisy ... while I wondered if I could get to Schaffhausen in time to see a physio.
A few minutes out from my destination for the day I came upon my dream house. A fixer upperer ... maybe a contender for Grand Designs ... must call Kevin McCloud.
I pulled into the campingplatz and set up in time to see my camping neighbour was none other than the big guy with a big heart cycling up a hill a couple of hours before. Tobias beat me here ... but it isn't a race ... no one's counting.
Tobias has just graduated from Stuttgart University with a Master of Mechanical Engineering. Yes, the same Stuttgart that cycling girl came from. No wonder he beat me here. As Tobias was a student, I bought him a beer and we talked about everything but mechanical engineering.
It's now 9.30pm, rain coming, and everyone's in bed. A new neighbour on my other side has just arrived ... he has a noisy electric pump for his mattress.
Thanks for reading.
I'm doing this ride to raise funds for Blue Dragon Children's Foundation. I'm self-supported so all donations go directly to Blue Dragon. If you can give please do at ... https://au-bluedragon.givecloud.co/fundraisers/pedalling-for-a-purpose. Alternatively, go to Blue Dragon's website at bluedragon.org
Comments
Post a Comment