Day 82: Offenburg to Schiltach

July 20, 2014

The night was hot and there was no air movement inside or outside the building. The only way to survive was to stay perfectly still. You would think this would be easy for tired cyclists, but actually it's not. By morning, the weather was beginning to change, and it was a little cooler. This was helpful in having an appetite, and that was needed when we reported to the breakfast buffet.

The buffet turned out to be the no holds barred type, with absolutely all categories of possible foods covered. Looking at the large sections of soft cheeses, fruits, pastries, etc. I felt sure that we would find this was really a 100 euro and not a 50 euro experience. The buffet was set out and replenished by three dirndl wearing ladies, who bustled around most effectively. We at first chose to sit outside, and we had all our stuff set out when it began to sprinkle. The ladies sprung into action and whisked all our table contents inside.

When it came time to pay, the amount was a simple, no deliberation, 50 euros. We figured out while pedalling later how this happened: The hotel must have had more and less expensive rooms, with higher cost ones being larger and with in room showers. Our single, facilities down the hall, rooms must have been the cheapest ones, and then for some reason we got a deal on them. But, both high and low rent guests get the same breakfast buffet. So here were the deadbeat cyclists, eating bacon and eggs, nectarines, cherries, and plums, muesli and yogurt!

The rain that the ladies rescued our breakfast from continued, so we had to set off wearing rain gear. From then on, it played cat and mouse with us, forcing the gear on and off repeatedly. It was still quite warm, so rain gear was a bug. It also hinders taking pictures, since the camera is buried, protected from the wet.

A last look at Hotel Sonne in Offenburg- best breakfast yet!

The Kinzig. This river seems much like an English fly fishing stream. However its history is all about rafters bringing logs downstream to the Rhine

The Bkack Forest - looking suitably black

We had chosen the route hoping to evade some of the Black Forest hills, which we had had a taste of in the car with Didier and Brigitte. But we found that we had stumbled not onto a makeshift way to the Neckar, but a stellar radweg that we could recommend to anybody!

The greatness started early, as before we reached Gegenbach we came to the visitor centre/ cafe/ local products store for this central portion of the Schwartzwald Naturpark. Here were some maps one could buy, and the free one we rather like - the Panorama map, showing the hills in relief. The cafe was full of people of all sorts, not just, and not even mainly outdoor types. They were enjoying a great selection of cakes and tortes. The thing is (like most things in Europe) the Black Forest is not a trackless black Canadian style wilderness. It is a gourmet and outdoor pleasures experience.

We had pretty much just eaten our huge breakfast, and could not sample the treats at the Naturpark centre. Pity!

A map in the centre showed the apparently brooding mountainous forest, and our current position as a small flashing blue light, just on the edge of the action. Scary.

At the Schwartzwald visitor centre, some powerful two wheel vehicles, only some of which are made by BMW.

Many local food products were on offer at the centre

The jewel like towns strung along the Kinzig

But, that is not how it turned out. It turned out that our route started where the Kinzig River enters the Rhine, and would follow it to its source - except that we will peel off and jump to the Neckar, just as the going gets rough, nearer the source. The Kinzig route, not surprisingly called the Kinzigtal Radweg, is just another perfectly paved, profusely signed, river route. (Actually the signs are so darn profuse, they were confusing. Only the .gpx, which I managed to download from the Naturpark site, saved us from lots of fruitless circling.)

What's more, it has strung along it at least four knockout towns. The first is Gegenbach, the second Haslach, then Wolfach and finally, Shiltach. When you see the photos, you will see generally the beauty of the first towns, though I myself have not yet tried to figure out what it was that made them so. Shiltach is another matter. It is fachwerk (half timber) houses, set on a hill. I hope my photos worked out, because if you can not make an attractive photo out of this, you really have a problem.

We came to Shiltach just as the rain was ending (for a while). There is camping near here, but the wet grass and line of trailers did not look at all appealing. So we knocked on the door of yet another Hotel Sonne. The fachwerk building from the 1600's is old, not too square, and creaky. We stashed our bikes in a garage that formerly housed horses, and our stuff in a small room, one of only perhaps a dozen. Each room is named. Ours is the Ritter Zimmer - the Knight's Room.

We went out to check out the few streets, but first, a cafe to try the Black Forest Cake. Too much whipped cream not enough kirsch, was the verdict.

So we made lots of photos of this unique place.

Of course, you will see from these photos that the place is all about fachwerk. So what about the "Black Forest" houses, the ones my cuckoo clock is based on? The answer is, they are around, but to be fair the most common type of house we have seen is a rather plain form of chalet, without much decoration. I have some photos from today of Black Forest houses, but it is not like in Bavaria - where everything is a gorgeous chalet with rich wood balconies and overflowing flower boxes, or where every farm house is jumbo size and many with fresco or other decoration. Even on our car excursion with Didier, we did not see a truly consistent and extensive architectural style.

Still, have a look at the photos. There should be at least one "cuckoo clock" in there.

In our former horse stall where we left our "steeds" there were two electric bikes already parked. We looked at these with some curiosity, particularly at how large they were. We wondered to what large people they belonged.

We found out while we were sitting at a table in the hotel restaurant - the people came over and introduced themselves. They were Dutch, from near Rotterdam, and had been using the electric to move around the hilly country here. Last night, they said, they slept in a hotel at 1000 meters. That is not high as hills go, until you try to cycle a loaded bike up it.

What followed was a much too long but really fun exchange about mapping programs, SIMS, and a dozen other cycling topics. Meanwhile, at the next table were two young women from Halifax - one studying engineering and one nuclear medicine. Lots of chatting possible there too!

So that is why it is 10 p.m. and I am just trying to type this now. It will not change the time of the alarm we set for tomorrow - we still think we have hills to climb. The forecast calls for rain, rain, rain. At least we may be cool doing it.

Plain chalet houses are the most typical style in this area

Black forest house II. Dodie thinks the witch might live here

Here is even a route based on the strange traditional women's hats made from large balls of wool

Black forest house V - I thik th ewitch really lives here

So many fachwerk houses clustered together

Black forest cakes - too much whipped cream?

The Kinzig, getting closer to the source - a few more towns up, at Lossburg

There is still one tannery at the river here - see hides in the attic?

The tanner also sells dirndls - like this vampy one

The tall attics of the fachwerk houses held hay and grain. In our guest house, I found an unlocked staircase and ascended rickety stairs through two levels of attic. No hay or grain!

Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 4,078 km (2,532 miles)

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