September 6, 2022
Day 2: More palaces than forest
Rastatt - Bad Wildbad
The day started with a good breakfast and we were on our bikes at nine, eager to discover the Black Forest, new to both of us. But first we wanted to have a look at Rastatt's baroque palace, at least from the outside. It is very photo worthy and it was a while before we were on the road.
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The first kilometers retraced my route coming to Rastatt the day before, on a bike path next to a road busy with commuters on their way to work. Eventually we had fields, but our bike path was still next to roads, not in the Black Forest yet. Next to the bicycle paths were many fruit trees, apples, pears, I think I even saw quinces, with the ground beneath them littered with windfall fruit.
In Ettlingenweiher we stopped for a mid-morning break. We enjoyed our bakery purchases on a bench in front of the church in traditional pink and yellow. Then off to Ettlingen, a larger town and the end of the flat part of the ride.
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I was surprised to see the planned route taking us across the train tracks and directly into what looked like a palace courtyard when we reached Ettlingen. I had made a mental note the Ettlingen was worth stopping but I didn't remember why. Now I knew.
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It is too bad that there isn't enough time in a cycling day to visit the museums that these palaces house. There is some outstanding baroque art by the leading artists of the day in Schloss Ettlingen. But we had more miles to cover and they were up and into the Black Forest.
Our path was paved, a pleasant surprise, but it felt like we were far from civilisation with nothing but trees as we climbed. Suddenly the view opened to fields, and a sports field. Not so far from civilisation after all.
The route had another surprise. It showed a sharp left onto a field with a faint track. Hmm, should we take it? We were both game and fortunately it wasn't too long, and it afforded us nice views.
From Ettlingen we more or less followed the River Alb, although it wasn't visible most of the time from our path higher up in the forest. Our route then took us to Neuenbürg and we followed the Enz to our destination.
The rest of our ride followed the Enz to Bad Wildbad, a spa town and I'll refrain from making bad puns.
And now it has stopped raining, better not waste any more time journaling. I'm trying to catch up but priorities are priorities.
Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 91 km (57 miles)
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Looking forward to more and more.
Best! Rich
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