We set off after breakfast with a planned 38 mile route today. It took us out of the Danube gorge area and onto the alluvial plane. Progress was pretty rapid on flat ground and smooth tarmac. Boy, the Germans know how to build cycle tracks. Even the gravel roads are better and smoother than the potholed, surface-dressed horrors of Aberdeenshire, and that is not exaggerated for effect! After just under 10 miles, we passed the village of Mengen where coffee called. It was too soon after breakfast to contemplate cake, especially as we were still digesting last night's huge meal. It had surely contained my entire week's meat ration! On we rode through rich agricultural land through meadows and fields of maize, wheat, oats, rape, and sunflower. An early lunch was taken in the beautiful medieval (aren't they all round here?) town of Riedlingen where I was at last reacquainted with the amazing Flam Kuchen that so fuelled the Rhine trip 2 years ago. A beer stop at the old monastery fish ponds of Zwiefaltendorf prepared us for the short 20% pull that immediately followed. With the weight we were lugging, it had to be a get-off-and-push job, no chance of riding it. From here the route kept crossing meanders so there was a succession of short climbs and drops and bridges to cross. After one of them, who should we meet again but the French couple of puncture fame! It turns out that he borrowed her bike, left her for a while and "rode into the village to get it repaired" . I'm not sure how that worked as there was no shop (of any description) that we could see, so where he rode to I'm not sure. I was aching to ask if he bought a spare tube and replaced the tyre, but language barrier precluded it. We continued and ignored our planned shortcut to tonight's accommodation (slightly off route) and stuck to the river to another medieval town, Munderkingen, where (well, why not) we stopped for another coffee. The delay was fortuitous because, after toiling uphill against the wind in full high-20s sunshine, we reached our gasthof in the sleepy village of Kirchen 30 minutes before it opened. After a lighter meal (actually heavier than anticipated Schwabische ravioli) we retreated to our beautiful room which has sadly attracted half a dozen flies through the open window. I just hope they want to sleep when we do!
41 miles at 10.1 mph avg. 4 hrs and 2 minutes pedalling to gain 386m of ascent.
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