May 30, 2010 - Neuburg to Regensburg

Estimated Mileage 70 miles
Trip Route Link
Photo Album Link

This was one of those days that had some major ups and some major downs.

The Thumbs Ups
Thumbs Up #1: Seeing the Welterberg Cloister, which has made the finest Bavarian beer since 1050

Thumbs Up #2: Taking a cool little boat trip from the Cloister up to to Kelheim

Thumbs Up #3: Getting to ride this stretch of road, about 15-20 miles out of Regensberg






Thumbs Up #4: Tooling around Regensberg trying to find a place to stay.

The Thumbs Downs
Thumbs Down #1: 30+ miles of muddy, rocky and sandy dirt roads
Thumbs Down #2: Constant rain showers

Thumbs Down #3: 15+ miles of black fly swarms hurling into my face while approaching Regensberg.  I thought that kids were in the trees, pelting me with rice, until I realized that it was actually thick swarms of flies.  I wore sunglasses to keep the eye bugs to a minimum, and I couldn't wear any lip balm because it would make the little bugs get stuck on my mouth.  Really gross.

Of course, I did it just fine, and it was a lot of fun.  Regensburg is an astonishing town, one of the fully intact medieval towns in Europe.  It was the old center of the Holy Roman Empire for a while and the heart of much of the religious and political history of this region for most of it's history.  The entire center of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to give you some idea of how special it is

Tomorrow is a much deserved rest day here, where I'll cool my jets before contemplating a 100-mile day on Tuesday...

Travel Tips for Guest Houses in this Region

This is my first attempt at writing something approaching a travel tip, so bear with me.  Over the last 3 weeks of biking through Northern Switzerland and Southern Germany, there's a few items I've learned that I wish I would've known previously.  So, here's hoping the next intrepid traveller can get his hands on this knowledge before heading over here.

The best prices for overnight accomdations seems to be the "Gasthaus" (guest house) rather than the normal hotel.  Typical prices range between 25-40 Euros for a single room at a nicely appointed place (similar to low-end B&B's in the US), with the cheaper ones being the more rural spots.

Most of the smaller guest houses here are run by a single or perhaps a couple of people (usually a family).  Sometimes there'll just be a handful of rooms which are mostly empty in the off-season and mostly full in the high season.  Because of this, there's a definite schedule to the day when they do their various chores: Morning until 10 is taking care of everyone's breakfast and settling up bills.  After that, until around 4 or 5 is cleaning up the rooms and prepping for dinner.  5 to 7 is usually when they will actually man some kind of reception desk and after 7 is reserved for them putting together and serving dinner for everybody.

So, if you're someone like me, who trundles casually into a town and knocks on a door randomly at 11 AM and asks to be shown to a room, don't be surprised when you're met with a mild annoyance.  Don't get me wrong: they are professional and courteous, but you've just thrown them a bit off their schedule and you'll get very rushed service.

After a couple of weeks, I finally picked up on the rhythm of the day, and have found things to go much smoother.  My days are planned around me arriving in my destination no earlier than 4 PM and no later than 6:30 PM, which means that all of the reception areas are staffed properly and all of the folks I meet are more or less ready to accomdate the dirt-encrusted bicycle tourist.

Of course, for the larger hotels, this schedule means nothing: most of them have staffed reception areas 24 hours a day, always ready to help out.

May 29, 2010 - Gunzburg to Neuburg

Estimated Mileage: 75 miles
Trip Route Link
Photo Album Link

I was up feeling like someone had poured the contents of an ashtray into my mouth. To bed at 3 AM, up at 8 AM. Ugh. And the Planning Committee had set out a solid 75 miles for me steamroll today.

Around 2 AM the previous night, I ran into the hotel owner playing cards, so when I saw his wife at breakfast, she laughed at me, obviously aware of my raging hangover. Ha ha, very funny...

I hit the road, going at a snail's pace for the entire morning, sweating out the contents of some of the finest beer I'd ever tasted. In this region, they make this stuff called "Weissbier" or White Beer, which is truly spectactular.

About 30 miles into the trip, I made what was to be one of the most fortuitous stops of the trip so far:

At this market, I purchased what was to be the simply the finest salami I've ever tasted. Here's where the Refreshments Committee determined we were to stop for lunch, and I had a lunch meat-induced religous experience

Well, that solved the hangover. I did the longest day of the trip yet, going 75 miles all the way into the town of Neuberg. It was only 65 to the town, but I spent another 10 miles cruising around, looking for a camping spot that turned out not to exist.

I was pointed to a guest house in the Altstadt (Old town) which happens to be at the top of a hill. It was primarily a Greek restaurant, that had a few rooms up above.

 As soon as I got into my room, thunderstorms made themselves heard and suddenly the difficulty in finding the camping spot seemed like the best thing that happened that day, after the salami.

May 28, 2010 - Munderkingen to Gunzburg

Estimated Mileage: 45 miles
Trip Route Link
Photo Album Link

This was an odd day, in that I felt very strange and shaky the entire time.  I don't know what the cause was, but I took it easy, going at a slow pace for about 45 miles, taking me about 4 hours.

It rained in the afternoon, and I stopped in the gorgeous town of Ulm for a cup of hot tomato soup

After waiting out the worst of the storm under a tree in the town square, I went another 10 miles or so to the town of Gunzburg (there should be a couple of dots above the first "u", but I don't have the right keyboard).  More importantly, this was the first town I was going to stay in that was officially in Bavaria.  I'd heard many stories about Bavarian friendliness and warmth, so it was much anticipated.

Well, I got a nap in at another guesthouse (the wet afternoon made the decision for me) and went out in search of the infamous Bavarian hospitality.  Well, I found it, and then some.  I looked out my window and saw general revelry coming from this place right across the street:

I peeked in and saw a dark wood panelled place, with a cast of characters sitting around a wooden table.  I came in and was immediately welcomed by the bartender, a Greek man who spoke no English, putting "Jukebox Hero" on at ear-bleed volume and pouring me a shot of ouzo.  I met his wife, a sweet lady named Cornelia (who they called "Corni") and a manic guy named Klaus who had his own set of hilarious stories to tell, which included his blood-fued with the gypsies of Hungary.  He had a tiny Pekinese with him that he loved.  There was also the hard-living guy in the corner who didn't say anything, who I was ordered not to engage with.  There's lots more to tell about this place, but I'll have to save it for another day...

Anyway, let's just say that I may have enjoyed myself a little too much, and it put a very nice end on what started off as a pretty difficult day.

May 27, 2010 - Tuttlingen to Munderkingen

Estimated mileage: 70 miles
Trip Route Link
Photo Album Link

Well honk my hooter! Look who I found about 10 miles into the ride today:

Yes, it's mon bon ami Remy, camping on the bank of the Danube and packing up to be on his way. He had made his way up from the Bodensee the day before and was recuperating from all the hills. So we rode together for about 20 miles before saying goodbye. It was good to spend a few hours with him, and the ride was truly spectacular.

The Danube isn't a wide river at this point, but rather narrow, cutting it's way through various bends and turns, with the steep, bare cliffs on either side showing clearly how the natural erosion has occurred over the years. The natural terrain lends itself to semi-circles of cliffs overlooking the river, which, in turn, lends itself to building fortresses and castles on top of those cliffs to control the river traffic.

It seemed like every bend in the river lent itself to another castle or abbey perched on top of a a cliff. Each one from a different era, and each one with it's own storied and bloody history.

And then you end up at one of the seats of power of the old Hohenzollern dynasty in Sigmaringen.

The Hohenzollerns, in addition to ruling this part of southern Germany, also ruled East Prussia for many years. This is the part of what is now Poland that encompasses Gdansk and parts east of there. In addition to being one of the main components of the German state which caused WWI and WWII, the Hohenzollerns ancestors, the Teutonic Knights, were religion-mad militants, hell bent on importing their particular brand of crazy to the godless Slavs. Their main export was zealots, and they would send their unlanded youth to the Gdansk region (then Danzig) to fight the heathens and establish a name for themselves. These young noblemen were called "Junkers" and until all of the Germans were expelled from Gdansk in the aftermath of WWII, these guys were the ruling class of the North Baltic coast. Considering the general misery this bunch of twisted dudes caused upon Europe and my ancestors, I got shivers up my spine when I came upon their Place of Power.

Anyway, the day ended in a town called Munderkingen. It was rainy and wet all day, so the Planning Committee met and chose to stay in a hotel, despite the fact that the expedition had already spent the two previous nights in a guest house. Various motions were passed to permit such an unprecedented move, and the night was spent at the Hotel Adler in Munderkingen. This is a highly recommended establishment, with the nicest family on Earth running the place.

The funniest part of the day was no doubt the scene at the kebab place where I had a cheapie dinner.  There was a young guy running the place, bossing around his two elderly parents, shouting out to-go pizza orders and screaming at them to go faster.  While eating my dinner, he came over and said, in fairly good English "Where you from?".  I told him I was from Seattle, which caused him to launch into a fairly hilarious stream-of-consciousness monologue about he and I were going to open up a chain of fine kebab houses in Seattle and how I was going to sponser his greencard.  It went something like "You find space and tables, then you give greencard then I come to USA and then we have finest restaurants then I pay you money then when I come over you help find space and you get the tables then I run kebab shop then we make good money then..." it went on for a while till I said "greencards are pretty hard to get" and without a goodbye or anything he left to deliver some pizzas.  When he left, the two older folks visibly relaxed, and the guy put on a soccer match.

May 26, 2010 - Rest Day in Tuttlingen

Estimated Mileage: A BIG ZERO

Map of Tuttlingen

Photo Album

Waking up in a random beautiful German town on the Danube, I had a list of very quaint to-dos which should be familiar to travelers and bike tourists.  Some items included

• Write postcard to niece
• Buy a salami
• Groom

So you can see that I had a very slow day.  Whatever words are the exact opposite of "action-packed", those are the words to use.  Languid.  Molasses-speed.  You get the idea.  And despite the fact that Tuttlingen was quite a nice little town, it was also a very little town.  I walked the main drag to find a salami, the post office, some bread, a postcard, a coffee and a barber.  I found all three within 5 minutes.  By 10 AM, all my chores were done.

After days of constant forward motion, I needed ACTION dammit!

The whole day I took 3 pictures.  The first is of a duck that was nesting in a river.

I watched the partner of this duck deliver straw a few times.  This killed an hour or so.

This next picture is a wood carving of a dude with a high collar.  I call it "Wood Carving of High Collar Dude":

And the last picture is of the bike superstore that solved my loose rear cartridge problem.  They are called "N.E.R.Z" for reasons known only to them since I am not on the Internet and cannot really speak German.  They were amazingly professional, fast and cheap.  If you're anywhere near Tuttlingen and need some bike work, go here first:

By the end of the day, I was champing at the bit.  I've never champed before, and here I was, in Tuttlingen, champing.  Go figure.

May 25, 2010 - Titisee to Tuttlingen

Estimated Mileage - 55 Miles
Photo Album Link
Trip Route Link

I had expected the day to be mostly flat, after the grueling ascent of the previous day.  I was mistaken.  This was the typical terrain for the first 20 miles of the day:

Each town was nestled in a valley, which meant: climb, descend, repeat.  Also, I had to wear a jacket the whole time because my forearms were turning into lobster claws from the sun.  This made me sweat like a madman.

But the ride was another world-class beaut.  Behold:

Empty roads, beautiful weather, picturesque towns with friendly people waving to me the whole time.  My mood was brightening slowly all day long knowing that I was getting closer and closer to a goal that I've spent the last half-year dreaming about...the start of the Danube River.  Here's my first glimpse of the Breg River, one of the feeder rivers to the Danube:

It felt a bit like a pilgrimage, and I was arriving at the start of the official route:  the Donauquelle at the Furstenburg castle in Donaueschingen:

If you look past the fine looking piece of machinery, you'll see the circular pool of water.  That's the source.  Here's me, standing in front of it, taken by a couple of German fellows also on a bike trip:

Head full of crazy thoughts linking me to centuries of travellers, soldiers, merchants, explorers and pilgrims who have all used the Danube to get some place far away, I started down the river, into adventure...

Some Random and Superficial Thoughts on Germans

• They seem to enjoy an inordinate amount of miniature golf.
• Their native cuisine is not conducive to slender builds
• Everybody who is at work is a total professional at their jobs
• Many older German men have cartoonishly large beer bellies
• Most older German woman will avert their eyes from me if they are alone or with only other women
• For a country that loves their pork as much as Germany, I haven't seen a single live pig
• Many of their dogs are bearded and moustachioed
• They really know how to make and serve beer properly
• They have clearly done a bang-up job in protecting their eagle and falcon habitats.  Almost every field has a handful of them hunting overhead
• Young German teens love hair product
• They use the hell out of their bicycles
• Once approached, every single German I have spoken to has been extremely helpful and kind.

May 24, 2010 - Kirchzarten to Titisee

Estimated Mileage - 20 miles
Photo Album Link
Trip Route Link

The was the day of the Big Climb. I had two big bicycling goals of the trip. One was to do a Century (100 miles in a day) and the other was to tackle a significant climb. Well, I've done the latter.

I woke up in morning feeling a bit odd: my hands were shaky. I chalked it up to sun exposure and dehydration, and just forgot about it. My route was to go straight up the side of a large hill (I won't call it a mountain, but it was pretty big) and get to a lake alluringly named Titisee.

I went up, and up and up - straight up for about 3 straight hours. If any serious hill climbing bicyclists are reading this (like Dustin) then that's not a very long climb. But for me it was a killer. On top of the steep grade and relentless ascent, it was a muddy logging road, which made it an even dodgier proposition.

Well, I Did It. It was the toughest voluntary physical activity I've ever accomplished. I am now, officially, a Tough Guy.

On the way up, about 5 ancient tractors passed me going up this deserted road. I caught up with them during a break. One lady told me they were just on a family outing, riding tractors in the mountains. Here's some hot tractor action

Once up in the top of the Black Forest, I was treated to some really spectacular views

I got to camp around 2 and just sat on the banks of the Titisee, with my feet in the water, watching boatloads of beer-soaked Germans cruise around the lake. My neighbor was a man named Oliver, who fished until dusk and was up before dawn. I spoke with his wife who told me that she would live in the Black Forest, but there are no jobs to be found. She said "My man has a job in Mannheim, which is ugly. But there is work there, so we come here only for vacation."

May 23, 2010 - Basel to Kirchzarten

Estimated Mileage: 65 miles
Photo Album Link
Trip Route Link

I hadn't planned on going to Alsace during this trip, but when I looked at the map and saw that it was simply a matter of crossing a bridge and going north, of course I had to do it. It only took a little convincing at the morning's Planning Committee to change the day's route.  Here's the Switzerland/France border crossing

It was a holiday weekend, so everything was going to be shut on Sunday and Monday. Remy had told me that if I saw an open shop, that I should take advantage and stock up on supplies since there would be very few opportunities for groceries till Tuesday. I passed an open boulangerie in France on Sunday morning and witnessed a complete mob scene; everyone knew that things were going to be shut.

Often it seems strange that the epitome of civilization, France, was the cause of such barbarism duing the Revolution. Well, I saw with my own eyes the birthplace of the French Terror. I can just see the scene back in the late 1700's Paris:

Man at boulangerie: Please my good sir, sell me a baguette.
Baker: I am sorry, but there is no bread today.
Man: I and my friends will now murder everyone.

There was a line 10 deep, out the door. Cars honking trying to get in and out of the parking lot. Scalpers selling places in line. A very nice man behind me in line struck up conversation. He was, of course, a bicyclist, and has had dreams of doing a trip similar to mine his whole life. My first impression of France was insanely positive: friendly people and fresh bread. Here's the Chump Steamroller, with a fresh baguette bungied to the back

My next impression was that the bike route signage was atrocious. I was constantly getting lost. Luckily, there was an enormous river pointing the way most of the time. Also, it was a gorgeous day, perfect for getting lost in the Alsatian countryside.

The second half of the day was in Germany, winging my way in and out of tiny little Black Forest hill towns. I got constantly lost there as well, but it was a much bigger deal, since the towns usually lay in valleys, and to get from town to town, you have to climb hills. I think I did about 1000 extra feet of ascent because I confused the towns of Dottingen and Dattingen, one of which was my destination and the other is rat bastard hilly son of a bitch.

These towns at the foothills of the Black Forest were just fantastic: you'd spend about 20 minutes riding through rural vineyards and then come to a small town where they were doing wine tastings from the same vineyards. The wine was good (that's as nuanced as my wine terminology goes) and every restaurant had half their menus filled with asparagus recipes (they're in season right now).

I came into my final destination of Freiburg, and it was like arriving in paradise: there's a grassy canal that runs down the center of the town, shaded by trees and dotted with beer and wine stands. Everybody in town was down there, luxuriating in the beautiful weather.

I did a bit of luxuriating myself before pushing the 5 or 6 miles to a suburb called Kirchzarten. It was a long day of riding, full of sun, wine, rivers, 3 countries and a slight Nutella accident (it gets fairly fluid in the heat). I actually passed out at 8 PM as soon as I got my tent set up.

May 22, 2010 - Rest Day in Basel

Mileage: ZERO
Photo Album Link

I didn't intend to spend a rest day in Basel, but between the generosity of my host, and the opportunity to meet a guy named Remy who is at the beginning of a trip around the world, I had to stick around for another 24 hours.  Armed with a city map and all of the Rick Steves' approved touring gear you can imagine, I set out into Basel, Switzerland for a day of unadulterated tourism

I walked and walked and walked.  I got lost 3 times and once I literally did a spit-take when I looked up and saw a church that I had walked past an hour previously as I was trying to make my way down to the river.  The entire town is bisected and surrounded by the Rhine river, yet I had a difficult time finding it.

I did all of the inexpensive tourist things you can do, like take the St.Alban's ferry.  It's attached to a guy line, and uses the current of the river and it's rudder to move across from shore to shore.  Here's an action shot:

Check out the wire connecting the boat to the guy line. Hot Basel ferry action.

Anyway, Basel is an endlessly fascination town, with lots of history and old buildings.  For example, it has a lot of old history associated to the Basilisk, even though the town wasn't named after it.  The Basilisk is what occurs when a rooster lays and egg and it's incubated by a toad.  Apparently it has the head of a dragon, the feet of a rooster and the hair of Larry King.  Or something like that.  It can turn you to stone with it's eyes. Anyway, here it is, just before spitting drinking water into my mouth:

There's a whole story that I listened to at the history museum about Basel and the Basilisk that's too mundane for me to recount.  It involves a well, a Basilisk, and a mirrored bucket.  You can probably fill in the gaps

Anyway, I came home, did some photo and blogging stuff, then Remy, the French guy going around the world showed up.  I think I pestered him with too many questions about gear and his plans, but no matter.  He was a very cool guy, and shared with me the last of his French sausage, bread and cheese.  It was his first day out of France for the next two years, and the fact that he was willing to share the last vestiges of his yummy food meant a lot.  Here's Remy, looking as good as he'll probably look for two years:

God speed, Remy.  Here's his blog, if you can read French.

May 21, 2010 - Waldshut to Basel

Estimate mileage: 40 miles
Trip Route Link
Photo Album Link

This was a mostly forgettable stretch of riding, mostly due to the fact that much of the countryside leading up to the town of Basel is rather industrial.  There was one particularly nice stretch going through a protected forest before heading into the suburbs of Basel:

On the say-so of my German buddy I met the night previously, I stayed on the Swiss side of the border for most of the day, because the German side was populated with dams and factories.  Not that the Swiss side didn't have it's own set of factories.  It just had less.

Once in Basel, I met with Biff, my host for the evening, who proceeded to provide everything a bicycle tourist could ever want and more: A warm shower, a hot dinner, a comfortable bed, route and tour advice and a wonderful conversation after nearly of week of living within the confines of my own head.

That's Adrian, her neighbor, on the left.  Biff gave me some tips for what to see in Basel the next day, and I felt to sleep the instant my head hit the pillow.

A Quick Note on German City Names

It's well known that my sense of humor still hasn't progressed passed that of a 12 year old.  So it's difficult to ride through a ton named "Nusselwangen" without spending the whole day snickering to myself.  Same goes for "Huntenwangen".  And then there's this, which I provide without comment:

May 20, 2010 - Radolfzell to Waldhut

Estimated Mileage: 60 miles
Trip Route Link
Photo Album Link

This was my second 60 mile day, and did it just fine.  The ride was also particularly spectacular, which made it seem short.  From Radozfell, I meandered through a Nature Reserve for about 30 minutes, going slow and enjoying the scenery:

I wound up at Stein-am-Rhein again, where my journey started, just so that I could officially say that I've completely circumnavigated Lake Constance.  About 15 miles of the ride was a stretch that I did on May 15th.  But after I hit Rheinfall, it was all new, including the tiny town of Rheinau, little "island" town that lives on a pinched parcel of land in a loop of the Rhein river:




View Larger Map

Very cool spot.  Note the small island named Klosterinsel.  This is where the cloister is located:

The rest of the ride was along the Rhein or through large swaths of farmland.  There was a nice campground in Waldshut, where I stayed.  Again the tent campground was near deserted, except for one nice French couple who was also biking.  After a customary dinner of an embarassingly large schnitzel, fries and beer, I walked past the picnic area and noticed that they were cooking a vegetable stew, putting myself and all of the schnitzel-eaters to shame with their healthy living.
Had a nice conversation that night with a German fellow and slept just fine except I was woken up by what I think was a fox trying to get at my Wurst.  I peered through my small tent window and saw a bushy tailed fox-esque creature skulking around (and I know my raccoons, so before you write, no, it wasn't a raccoon).  When I woke up my shoes were moved about 10 feet away from the tent.  So I can say that a fox moved my shoes.

May 19, 2010 - Reichenau to Radolfzell

Estimated Mileage: 20 miles
Trip Route Link
Photo Album Link

Today was a rest day, with only 20 miles from beginning to end.  I needed desperately to update my blog, upload pictures, shower for longer than .50 Euros would allow (the campgrounds all have coin-operated showers) and do a small shopping (my wurst supplies were near critical).  I decided to stop in Radolfzell, a relatively large town just a small ways away.

Luckily for me, that it was market day when I got there!

I bought a roll of bread with a weiner in, as is my wont, and strolled around to observe a typical German outdoor market.  First impression: they sell a lot of cleaning supplies.  Brooms, brushes, solvents, mops, soaps, scrapers, unguents and salves.  It makes me wonder what came first: German anal retension or the German cleaning products industry?  A chicken and egg problem.  Here's a broom stand:

So I wandered through the town, bought some supplies, went back to the hotel and messed around on my first solid power and Internet connection in 4 days.  My room was very nice and affordable, except for the fact that the ceiling came down through the middle of it at a 45 degree angle, which meant I would scrape my shoulders every I stood up.

So I would crab-walk around the room to avoid further shoulder injuries.

I received an invite from an email companion to come to Basel for a night.  I hadn't planned on heading that way, but I was already a few days ahead of my rough itinerary.  So, after consulting a map, the Planning Committee (which consists of myself and a tiny plastic Koala) make tracks for Basel, a two day ride to the west, on the Rhine river.