From Munich to Augsburg - and back home: Dress rehearsal
From Munich to Augsburg: That will be the first day of our ride to Paris. And we've just cycled it, two weeks in advance.
We have a good friend, Martin, who has ridden back and forth hundreds of times between Munich and Augsburg's suburb Bobingen where he has an apartment. Seeing we were having a fantastic east wind, which doesn't happen so often, he suggested we take advantage of it. He would show us the prettiest roads and the best shortcuts to Augsburg. The weather couldn't be more beautiful as Martin, Janos and I head west in the general direction of Paris.
The first half of the trip is flat, only in the second half do we have some mild hills, just enough to keep it interesting. We have our panniers and camping gear with us and plan on camping on the river Lech. This is our first loaded tour on our new bikes and they handle beautifully. When we set out in two weeks time we will have more gear, but not too much more. I find what you need for two days isn't much less than what you need for two weeks or two months. If you are prepared for rain and a cold night, your bags are pretty full already.
A tempting beer on a warm sunny day. We stop for lunch in Maisach. The Maisach brewery has a simple beer garden with a view to the brewery's warehouse
Coaster or beer mat in Maisng showing Räuber Kneissl (1875 - 1902), a Bavarian Robin Hood and local hero, revered for his defiance of police authority and injustice. In the end he was sentenced to death by the guillotine. His famous comment on hearing the death sentence pronounced, "The week is off to a good start," is more effective in Bavarian dialect " "De Woch fangt scho guat o".
Brilliant canary-yellow fields of rape seed are in bloom. I wonder how much of these fields of rape seed - it seems there are more now than there used to be - are for diesel fuel.
Typical Bavarian church with a "Zwiebelturm" or onion dome, a church tower in the form of an onion, as the name says. Probably this style dome is more often associated with the Kreml in Moscow but it isn't new to Bavarian church architecture, which saw its first onion dome in the early 16th century.
When we get to Bobingen, Martin invites us to his apartment for a beer and a bite to eat. He also offers us his living room to camp in and Janos and I agree it would be a shame to abort this enjoyable evening by rushing off to a campground. I fall asleep to the drone of the men's voices as their philosophical discussion deepens ...
The next morning Martin takes us on a tour to some of the sights in the surroundings of Augsburg. We're not in a hurry so we can take dirt roads, push our bikes up steep hills in the woods and follow paths along the Lech.
Pedaling in the surroundings of Bobingen on our way to visit the monastery and church Oberschönenfeld
