A little drama...timing is everything: Schwabisch Hall to Aalen
The predicted hills started almost immediately after leaving Schwabisch Hall. With the short kilometres yesterday the legs felt strong and we cruised along at a good clip. The sun was really strong today. Keith's thermometer read 36 degrees. Sometimes when we got into the shade it felt like someone had turned on the air conditioning. Lovely.
A last look at Schwabisch Hall. We really enjoyed it.
There was a narrow spot in the road, on a curve, so you push this button and traffic gets a red light. Can you believe it? No wonder we like cycling in Germany so much.
One of the many, many things we enjoy about cycle touring is that you see everything. We went past the local dump and recycling centre today, something not on most tours. It was actually pretty interesting.
A shot of some of the recycling sparkling in the sunshine.
Then came our little drama. We were happily booting it down the bike path, both of us on the right side of the trail, I was about ten metres behind Keith. He was right at a sharp right curve when another tourer came absolutely flying around the curve, which was a blind corner because of trees, cutting the corner because he was going so fast, and straight towards Keith. Keith had nowhere to go, and the other cyclist jammed on the brakes, made a fast swerve out of the way, and then several more wobbles before he had it back under control. Really, the chances of two cyclists meeting each other at that precise point were pretty slim, but it happened. However, a miss is as good as a mile, so we all continued on our merry way, albeit with slightly elevated heart rates.
And going up. Both Keith and I had to push. As he said, when the front wheel is coming off the bike path it is time to walk. This was the hill the careless cyclist had just come down.
When we got to the top here was the sign the fellow flying down the hill missed. Even I have enough German to read it. Loosely translated...'sharp left curve...please ride extremely slowly'. The graphic speaks for itself.
After that incident to wake us up the rest of the ride was uneventful and beautiful. We stopped for lunch at the side of the bike path, in the shade of course. Aalen is officially the start of the Kocher Jagst Radweg and when we arrived in town we simply followed the well marked, interlocking red brick road and it spat us out in the pedestrian zone, where you can ride your bike, of course. It was brilliant. I am sorry we are not doing the whole loop, but to continue down the Jagst River would take us back to where we started. Anyone who would like a seven day or so circle bike tour would not be disappointed with this Radweg.
We visited tourist information and settled into the Hotel Rad before walking back into town. We were cruising the book store looking at bike maps when Keith ran into a man with a Canada tee shirt on. We had a great conversation. He is from Germany, lives in Detroit working for a German automotive manufacturer and was here for work and to visit family. Our chat led to beer, dinner and a super evening. Another great day. Pictures will follow. This is the worst internet this trip.
One portion of the bike path had a sign announcing the 'torso Radweg'. We weren't totally sure, but it soon became clear as there were sculptures of torsos for about two kilometres. It was actually a pretty nifty art installation.
