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We left our bus stop early and went in search of a cafe in Frederichshafen for breakfast and internet access. We had coffee and pastries at a smart waterfront bakery that advertised wifi and failed to deliver.

So we set out on our ride around the Bodensee to Reichenau Waldsiedlung (85km), to visit Christa and Dieter, who we had met at Neustadt.

We have done part of this ride in 2012, but don’t mind repeating it, as it is such a stunning area. It hadn’t rained overnight, but it was raining lightly again as we set off. The rain set in after a while and we stopped at an internet cafe in Meersburg to wait it out and to email Christa. After a while it did ease up and we set out again.

We passed a couple of bizarre fountains – this one in Uberlingen

       

And this one a little further on.

There was a road detour near Ludwigshafen, which took us right off the road and up a steep hill, which was quite slippery with many tree roots. We had to even push our bikes part of the way. The view over the lake was stunning.

   

We stopped at the same country road shop that we had in 2012, to buy some cherry liqueur and cheesecake. As we were about to leave I noticed that my tire was completely flat. After pumping it up again, we made it a few more kilometres to Bodman, and it was flat again. So Kris had to change the tube. For some reason the tyre was very tight on the wheel, so it took some time to get it off.

We spent the evening in Bodman on our last trip, so visiting again brought back happy memories, including seeing the bed and breakfast where we had stayed was still going.

We found that we couldn’t continue our journey along the lake from Bodman, so had to cut across inland again, passing Radolfzell. There was a steady climb through farmlands, with many roadside stalls selling summer fruits, and then a downhill run until we reached a turnoff for Reichenau Waldsiedlung. This is a suburb about 6km away from the island of Reichenau. Most of our journey as on superb off-road cycling paths.

We had a generous reception from Krista and Dieter at their home, including coffee and home made cake on their garden veranda. Dieter made a traditional meal for us, including Spargel (fresh white asparagus), potatoes and salad. We enjoyed seeing the photos of their visit to New Zealand.

 

   

The weather was overcast and cool when we left Bad Waldsee – taking a countryside route through Wolfegg. When we reached the larger town of Wangen we decided to buy some food at the supermarket, as we had not had breakfast at our accommodation. Kris was still locking the bicycles up when it suddenly started to rain very heavily. He managed to get them to a dry place and we did our shopping and then over the road to a kebab/pizza shop. We ordered a pizza which was absolutely delicious. I had asked if they had coffee (they didn’t) and before we left the young woman who served us came and asked if we would like some Turkish tea. The tea was good and warming – when we offered to pay we were told it was on the house.

It had sort of stopped raining when we left, but we struggled to find the right bike path out of town because the signs didn’t show our route, and it started raining again. This time we sheltered in a wooden covered bridge and got directions from an Englishman living in Germany who passed on a bicycle.

After some more circling we found the bike route and followed it for a while – passing by Haslach, Neukirch and Langnau. Our route was convoluted, and our progress was slower than we expected.

The countryside was beautiful, even more hilly than the previous day – so there were some lovely vistas. We also began to see some dairy cows, some of them kept inside barns, and even a milk truck at one stage. Also some corn.

The last six kilometres was along the banks of the Argen river, which was pretty muddy because of the recent rain (so we were dirty again). We reached the Bodensee at Kressbronn and began to look for accommodation at Langenargen. There were lots of signs up along the road advertising rooms, but most of them had a sign up that the room was taken (zimmer belecht). It was after 5pm at this time, also a Saturday night. So we rode another few kilometres on to Friedrichshafen, a much bigger town, where there is lots of accommodation.

Here we had no better luck. The youth hostels, pensions and all normal hotels (hotels up to three stars) were full. Riding around town we noticed groups of strangely dressed people walking towards the dock area. We saw lots of black, lots of leather, and collars and masks. It turned out that there was a huge fetish weekend scheduled on a ship (for pictures see http://www.suedkurier.de/region/bodenseekreis-oberschwaben/friedrichshafen/Leinen-los-fuer-das-Torture-Ship;art372474,7944881). After some more determined searching we came to the conclusion that we are not going to find beds to sleep in. We considered camping but discounted it when there was a heavy downpour. We had a very cheap and small tent and lying wet in the tent seemed like an early visit to purgatory. Eventually we settled on sleeping in a bus shelter. We settled in at around 9pm, and gradually wore more and more of our clothing as the air cooled down. We slept fitfully. We had a tiny sample of Jeagermeister which we drank and we had some bread and cheese. Passers by ignored us, as one would when seeing vagrants sleeping rough.

Today we left the Danube, after following it for over a thousand kilometres, to head south towards the Bodensee.

It was a cool morning and our route took us through farm roads, with a few hills, between small villages. A change in landscape for us, having been alongside the river for so long. We passed Laupheim and stopped at Biberach to buy as snack (orange juice and a sandwich). The gradient between Bieberach and Bad Waldsee was gentle as it was mostly alongside the railway line.

      

      

We arrived in Bad Waldsee in the early afternoon (after a 75km ride) and found accommodation easily through the tourist information office. The room is above a pub in a house that is more than 700 years old (it has very uneven floors and some exposed beams upstairs). The woman who runs the pub is the fourth generation since her family has owned the house. Her great grandfather, a carpenter, bought it. Her grandfather had a tailor shop and grandmother sold milk from the house.

The pub is a family run business and we were offered a coffee by the mother when we arrived. We had an enjoyable chat with the mother and her son, who is about to start studying engineering.

After washing up, we went to buy food and explore the town. The town is small but very pretty. There are two small lakes, where you can swim (but it was too cold to be tempted that day). You can also promenade right around the lakes and there are nice cafes and parks along the shores. We had a picnic on a bench on the lake shore.

    

When we got back, we had some beer in the pub at our accommodation. The beer on tap is made by the boyfriend of the woman running the pub, so we got to meet the beer maker and his daughter too. We chatted a little with an elderly man who is also staying at the pub, while his wife is being treated for a hip complaint in the nearby hot pools.

We had a good breakfast with Frau Lacher and more conversation – I particularly enjoyed the jam, home made by her daughter.

It began raining as we left. At first it was light and not unpleasant. Our route alternated between forested roads and every now and then alongside the river. I was annoyed because my gears were playing up after they were adjusted by the Gunzburg mechanic (they were perfect before).

The rain began to come down harder during our last 10km into Ulm (birthplace of Albert Einstein) and we quickly headed for shelter and information at the tourist info. We found that it was forecast to rain for the rest of the day. Luckily there was a very reasonably priced hotel in the town (just next to the Cathedral), so we decided to stop after only 32km. The hotel was full of other cyclists escaping from the rain.

We met a British couple, Peter and Linda as we were checking in. They were shown up to the room next to ours and we decided to do some sightseeing together. We had a very enjoyable afternoon chatting, exploring, stopping for snacks and drinking beer in a couple of local pubs. They have both just retired (early) and are on an open ended cycling tour around Europe. They are mostly camping, except when it rains.

                                                

               

The spire of Ulm Cathedral is the tallest in the world.

                             

We left Danauworth on the north side of Danube and after a little while on the river, past through an industrial area. We saw the Airbus helicopter factory, where our friends of the previous evening worked.

The sign posted bike route took us mainly through towns, including Tapfheim and Dillingen, after which Kris decided to depart from it and find our way back to the river again.

A little further on the cycle road took us through some suburbs in the town of Lauingen. And there was a totally unexpected Roman temple, tucked away just behind some houses – dating from the first century.

           

Kris departed from the route again after Gundelfingentook, back into the forest and after a bit of a roundabout path, we found a way out to the river bank. The last ten kilometers or so was alongside the north river bank, on good gravel roads.

We decided to stop early at Gunzburg (after 65km), to see if we could easily get reasonable accommodation. We got a privat zimmer in the nextdoor town of Reisensburg, about 2km away. The accommodation is old fashioned but spacious, in an apartment next to the main house (no wifi). The house is near the small castle and church that dominate the town.

We had a relaxing afternoon buying food and looking around Gunzburg.

             

We got my chain replaced at a large bicycle shop (Fahrradland). The chain is worn, but was not yet giving specific problems. It was a rip off, as they charged us extra labour cost to readjust the gears as well as replace the chain. The work cost double what it cost to replace Kris’s chain and the same amount as our accommodation for the night. We were not happy.

Kris enjoyed talking with our hostess – the elderly Frau Lacher and her daughter (in German). They came to sit with us on the porch outside our flat, while we drank some beers. The house used to belong to her parents. She is also very concerned about the situation with the Greeks and the EU.

Our route from Ingolstad to Donauworth started on the southern side of the Danube. We notice that the Danube is not quite as big as it was at the start of our journey, though it is still a sizeable river.

We crossed over to the northern side just before scenic Neuburg.

The route took us a bit away from the Danube and through many little villages.

We ate some cherries off a tree on the side of the road at one of the villages.

When we reached Danuaworth, we found a lovely friendly town with a helpful tourist info (in contrast to the previous day). We arrived early (the ride was only 66km) and they quickly identified a reasonably priced “privat zimmer” for our accommodation. Also some detailed information about the town in English.

We spent some time exploring the town, which was one of the first centres of the Knights of the Teutonic Order, founded in 1197. Most of the buildings along the towns “showcase” road – the Reichsstrasse, were rebuilt after being bombed in 1945 – Donauworth being one of the worst hit towns in Bavaria.

                       

     

On our wanderings we noticed a small “beer bar” near our zimmer and decided to return in the evening after we had eaten, which we did.

When we entered, it was obviously all locals who knew each other in the bar (about six of them). Two men sitting at the bar immediately made space for us and invited us to sit down. Then we began to discuss the types of beer on tap. They declareod that beer is classified as a food in Bavaria. One was an Englishman who had been living in Germany for 15 years, so it was nice for me to talk English with him. He had a sweet little dog called Max (a Daschund Fox Terrier cross) sitting under his seat. He used to work with the other guy, at the nearby Airbus helicopter factory but is now retired. The other guy was also very friendly and could speak a bit of English too.

The barmaid was welcoming, giving us different beers to taste and bringing some (free) Jagermeister chasers out at one stage. It was a night to remember, thank goodness the zimmer was only a few hundred meters away and we didn’t have to ride back on bicycles. We did not have an early start the next day.

We woke up this morning to rain and our hearts sank. We needn’t have worried as it had almost stopped by the time we left. We were also cheered by an exceptional breakfast at Pension Carl Bauer, Kelheim – we loved it that our hostess was wearing a Bavarian dress.

We tried leaving town this morning on the south of the Danube, which appears to be the standard route from the maps. However we were foiled by roadworks and ended up going back over the bridge to the northern bank. We found ourselves in a nature reserve with the Danube on one side and forest on the other. The river looked very misty and moody due to the rain, and the path was muddy. In fact we were riding through puddles that covered the entire path for some of the route, getting the bicycles, breaks and our shoes all dirty. The river is much narrower here and it has cut big vertical drops into some of the rocks along its banks.

    

This was a wonderful ride for a few kms until we reached a dead end!

So we had to back track to a turn-off, to the Kloster Weltenburg, that we had passed. A tourist passenger boat came down the river while we backtracked.

The turnoff took us up a steep gravel road through a forest and we pushed our bikes for part of the way. Every time we stopped, swarms of aggressive blood sucking mozzies alighted on our arms and legs, so we had to keep moving. Eventually we had a nice downhill run and found the Kloster, standing alongside cliffs on the other side of the river. There were a lot of people (presumably tourists) milling around outside.

We continued around the bend in the river to the little town of Stausacker, where a ferry was waiting. We decided to cross. The ferry did not require power, as it was moved across the river by facing the ferry in the direction using the current to push the boat along. The boat is prevented from going downstream by a pulley on cable running across the river.

               

              

From here the route took us away from the river a bit and through farmlands and small towns. We saw strawberries and hops growing. We went through Bad Gogging to Neustadt. We met up with another cycling couple who had stayed at the same Pension – they are a German couple and have been to NZ on a 9 week tour. He rides an electric assist bicycle because he is 80 years old. They invited us to stay when we are at the Bodensee.

We bought some pastries and ice cream at the Neustadt supermarket, crossed the Danube and carried on to Ingolstadt.

We cycled into the old town centre of Ingolstadt, which looked very nice, with lots of cafes. However when we got to the tourist information she said that there is no accommodation during the week. What there is, is very expensive at over EUR100. This is because the Audi factory and its workers are taking up accommodation. She advised us to either stay in the camping park or ride onto a smaller town. It was just starting to drizzle again so we decided to carry on. We bought some food at a supermarket on the outskirts and found a pension soon after. The pension is only about 5km from the city, and still not cheap. However neither of us were in a mood to spend more time riding around – our day was a manageable 73km, which seemed about an ideal length to us.

This morning we worked our way to Regensburg, along bike paths. At the start we were riding through lots of cornfields, also wheat. A lot of the bike paths are bike and walking paths between villages.

There were lots of people out on bicycles or walking, particularly around Regensburg, being a Sunday. Also lots of people fishing on the river. 

We continued on the north bank after Regensburg, but found that the path petered out. We decided to backtrack and crossed at a railway bridge (that caters to cyclists). From here there was a smooth run with hundreds of bicycles and walkers.

      

 

We stopped at the small town of Bad Albach – and discovered that supermarket are closed for the whole day on Sunday in Germany. So we had an ice cream at a shop in the old city, which was so exceptional that we had two. As we stood there eating our ice creams lots of people came to that shop – it is obviously the place to eat ice creams!

We continued along the Danube to Kelheim.

      

This is a nice old town but we found the hotels expensive, so we rode across the river and a bit out of town until we found a cheaper place – Pension Carl Bauer. Two other touring cyclist couples arrived just after us. The place may be more affordable, but it is also very good, with big rooms including kitchenette and attractive gardens (would recommend). Here is a photo of all the touring bikes in the bike shed.

In the evening we had a beer at a posh brewery beer garden in the city.

Then we went to a more casual beer garden just a few hundred meters from our pension, alongside the Danube. We had some traditional beer garden food – including bratwurst and sauerkraut.

Cyclists need to rinse or wash their clothes every night and always look at how an accommodation can be used to wash and dry clothes (washbasin, plug, hangers). You can hang your wet stuff in the shower or in various other spots (we have been forced to hang them on the bicycles).

Things balance out. When it is hot, the breeze from the front will help to keep you cooler. When it rains the heat your body creates from the exercise will warm you up. You inevitably develop sore spots. Some of these may be a sore wrist, sore aching muscles and saddle sores. On the flip-side your body also adapts and become more effective each day.

Food tastes better when your body really needs it. Many cyclists drink beer. Beer provides carbohydrates and alcohol and liquid. Beer is a triple whammy that makes your body purr after you have done a days cycling.

You need fewer belongings and simple stuff become more valuable, like rope and tape. You depend on your bicycle, so the state of your bicycle becomes important. This is common to all cyclists, so it is very normal for inn-keepers to initiate the first interaction by saying they have a place where you can lock your bicycle. Conversely it is reassuring that you can replace your whole bike for a few hundred dollars if you need to (for the cost of renting a car for a week or two). It seems like the hotel community is keen on cyclists. Cyclists leave early and they drink a lot of beer. They will also eat almost any food after a ride.

You become adaptable. If you travel by bicycle and you are finding your own way and accommodation, days can be a little chaotic at times. Random things happen. A kid in a very small village threw stones at us. We used water bottles to store left-over red wine. A sip of wine is useful to improve the mood when you a close to your destination but you are struggling. Bicycles and equipment break. The towns where you planned to stay may not have suitable accommodation. The people you stay at or road users may behave in an unexpected manner. Your main source of locomotion is your body, which may have an injury or feel off. Some days you will get lost while you are trying to find accommodation. You learn that life is not on rails. Your stable job and the next five years of your planned life is a chimera.

When you cycle tour every day you start dreaming regularly at night. I discussed this phenomenon with a fellow cycling psychiatrist. He reckoned it is because the brain has received many inputs during the day which it has not had a chance to process, There are decisions about routes, interactions with other road users and glimpses of interesting surroundings. Cyclists think about their bicycle, bodies, and contemplative thoughts on a straight stretches. Your mind tries to catch up with the processing by staging varied dreams

Today we set off wanting to do a shorter route – which we achieved at 70km. The weather was also a bit cooler than yesterday with some cloud cover and a breeze in the afternoon.

It was a bit of a navigational mission to get out of Plattling, across motorways and back on the Danube. This all went according to plan and we were back on the river, on the north bank, after about 20km. From here it was reasonably easy going. The route varied from easy tar sealed bike routes to compacted earth on stop banks.

   

We stopped for ice cream from the supermarket at the town of Bogen (should be the sister city to Lower Hutt?).

We decided to start looking for accommodation earlier today – and we first stopped at Kirchroth – which advertised some rooms from the cycle path. When we got there it was pretty dead. The advertised gasthaus had a sign on the door saying they were on holiday. The gasthaus opposite looked good, but no one responded when we knocked. So we rode on.

A few km further we passed a sign that said radler hotel. We wondered whether there were any shops nearby, but Kris decided to stop and ask the proprietor. We learnt that the nearest shop was 3km, but that they could provide beer and wine and bread and cheese, so we we stopped.

      

 

      

This has proved to be a very relaxing place to spend an afternoon/ evening. We have our own little house and porch next to the big house. The owner is retired but building a swimming pool out back. He came and had a beer and chat with us. He used to be a German traffic policeman. He showed us this photo of the fish his son caught in the Danube near Regensburg. It was 2m long and 100kg. The fish was released live back into the river after the photo was taken.