August 24th Stage 26 Riedlingen to Gunzburg

August 24^th Stage 26  Riedlingen to Gunzburg  95 kms

Another fierce storm during the night and another fairly early start.  Before 9 o clock we had left the cosy campsite in Riedlingen  and were heading off across the fields towards Bechingen, Zell and  Zweifaltendorf where a very obliging landlord in the “Golden Horse” Gasthaus provided us with my essential early morning coffee.

The excellently signposted route posed no problems except to give the impression that we were riding further than we actually were. The endless twists and turns in the well-maintained but contrived cycle paths began to grow a little tedious (especially as I still have some two thousand or more kilometres to go) and it was with some relief  and, on my part, not a little tiredness that we spotted Katherine with lunch at Donaustetten. 11 more kilometres and we were enjoying the wonderful cycle piste along the riverside in Ulm, the first major city since Basle. We ducked under the ramparts and paid our respects to the highest steeple in Christendom before continuing along good cycle paths and then the long, straight, gravel forest road of the Weissinger Holzle to Gunzburg. Torrential rain drove us into a small hotel on the very handsome Markt Platz.

95 kms  Total since Schaffhausen 230 kms.  Total since Galway 213

It was good to be packed up and on our way but the tents were saturated so when the lunch meeting place was reached, a bridge over the Danube by Donaustetten (what would I do without bridges to use as marker points?) Magali and I got them out and spent an hour acting as a human clothes- line. The breeze filled the fly sheets so that at times we felt we were flying kites, lots of hilarity and amusement both for us and passing cyclists, canoeists and hikers.  Thank goodness though for a dry night last night, everything recharged, no pounding rain could be heard and the chance to get on the internet and post the first 3 blogs. Katherine

August 23rd Stage 25 Iznang to Riedlingen

August 23^rd  Stage 25 Iznang to Riedlingen  94 kms

fter a ferocious storm last night some of our group were up very early, tent down and eager to leave. First stop was Radolfzell, an attractive town with its black and white timbered houses and a magnificent church, for breakfast and more decisions about the route. By chance we chose what turned out to be the continuation of Eurovelo 6 which took us easily to Stockau alongside the main road on an excellent wide cycle piste. 

Unfortunately, in Stockau, in accepting the kind help of a passing stranger, we also lost the Eurovelo route. Instead we followed the 323 main road with cycle tracks in places and patient, courteous drivers where we were obliged to take to the main carriageway to Messkirche. It was here that, at last, after a long steady but easy climb, we crossed the east-west watershed and headed down into the Danube river system. After 51 kms, Messkirche, strangely quiet in this end of season holiday period, was a welcome coffee stop before we braved the 311 road to Mengen, which required the utmost vigilance if we were to avoid being crushed by the huge trucks. But another milestone (or should I say kilometrestone?) was crossed here: 2000 kilometres from Galway! I was excited to reach the Danube, after the Shannon, the Loire, the Saone/Doubs,and the Rhine, the fifth major river system of the trip. However, at Riedlingen the Danube is still rather small and unassuming. It will be exciting to follow its growth. We moved very quickly at the end of the day, along the manicured, gravel bicycle routes some distance from the river, to the intimate, garden campsite which Katherine had found in Riedlingen. I was surprised to find we had covered more than 90 kilometres, the more so as it had included a couple of longish climbs. I hope this augurs well for the long journey ahead of us.

94 kms. Total from Schaffhausen 133 kms. Total from Galway 2039 kms.    

August 22nd Stage 24 Schaffhausen to Izmang

August 22^nd  Stage 24  Schaffhausen to Izmang (Lake Constance) 39 kms

After a break of nearly two and a half very busy summer months, when there was time for only about 500 kilometres of training, it was very good  to be continuing the ride to the Black Sea.  After a long stressful drive in heavy traffic to Schaffhausen I got back on the bike in the exact place I dismounted on June 3^rd, at the entrance to the Hauptbahnhof. There was, however, an immediate change of plan. Instead of crossing the watershed immediately to Hausen and the Danube we decided to continue along the Rhine, through Stein am Rhein to Lake Constance and then tomorrow make our way up to Sigmaringen where we will meet the Danube. I am joined for the first six days by Vicky, and Magali is a companion for Katherine in the “support vehicle.” Although the vehicle itself is more likely to need support than I am!

The decision to change the route was a good one. Today was an easy, uneventful afternoon ride of 39 kilometres along the banks of the Rhine, full of holiday makers and very animated. The minor roads and tracks on the north side of the river wander in and out of Germany as far as Stein and are delightful. A surprise after the heavy traffic between Basle and Schaffhausen in June. I had also forgotten just how beautiful Stein am Rhein is. We pushed the bikes under the arch at the west end of the town, had a brief conversation with a gallery owner lounging outside his shop, and admired the magnificent painted facades. Maybe Stein really is the most beautiful town in Switzerland. Even the side streets are worth exploring. Now, though, at the end of the summer holidays, it was very crowded, and we were not unreluctant to leave the town and follow the road and tracks hugging the spur of the lake as far as Izmang where Katherine found a delightful and surprisingly uncrowded simple campsite by the side of the lake, although later in the evening the mosquitoes became very troublesome indeed.   

An easy first stage of the second half of the journey, in very hot weather. The shady wooded sections were very welcome indeed.

39kms   Total from Schaffhausen 39 kms. Total from Galway 1945 kms.