September 10, 2021
Celebrating in Starnberg
Before moving on to today’s festivities let’s pause to pick up some missing content from yesterday. We’ll call it Janos’ Corner, since the content is all his. First, his videos, from our meeting on the trail yesterday and then from today’s outing.
Then, his book. Suzanne was sharing the story of their first meeting, walking on the route to Compostela - surely one of the best origin stories we’ve heard. Suzanne then sent Janos off to find his journal, which we assumed was his original document from his five month long walk from his home at the time in Kassel to Santiago - but no, it’s a published work, available on Amazon. And, this is just one of Janos’s published works. Sixteen titles are available, many coauthored by Suzanne, on their Amazon author’s page. You’ll recognize many of the titles from their English version posted on this site.
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Today is a day for celebration. First, for the all-important milestone accomplishment - we passed our thousandth mile of the tour today, in the middle of our 11 mile outing. Mainly though we celebrate the fact that we have friends to share it with, with a toast at a traditional biergarten.
We had brief discussions yesterday about how to spend today, but Suzanne provided the winning idea. From her email last night:
What do you think about a short ride to a very simple traditional Bavarian beer garden and a visit to the place where Ludwig II drowned/committed suicide/was murdered? You know the Visconti film Ludwig? Janos thought that might be an interesting place to visit. Less riding would mean more time to talk. Cycling is rather uncommunicative.
It was the perfect program for the day. Janos and Suzanne biked the six miles down to the lake this morning, with us meeting them partway - we biked a whole mile, at least - and then biking back so that Rachael could shoot a better video this time - she was very disappointed yesterday when her camera battery died just after we met up with them.
Video sound track: Suzanne, by Leonard Cohen
After our two mile round trip to meet them and then back to the lake again, Janos was kind enough to suggest that we stop for a coffee by the lake and regain strength before the 9 mile death march that lay ahead. We settled in at a waterfront cafe, one of their favorite local spots to sit and watch the world go by, and picked up with our visit where we had left off yesterday sharing our personal histories and finding a surprising number of things we have in common. As we talked we were startled by a loud, repetitive slapping sound as a swan was running along the surface of the lake just offshore from us, slapping his wings against the water.
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3 years ago
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Finally we all felt rested up enough for the main work of the day - the ride to the chapel beside the point where Ludwig II was found drowned in the lake. After about four miles of mixed riding conditions - biking through crowds alongside the lake, and up and down gravel paths through the woods, we arrived at the chapel. While Janos was kind enough to stand guard over our bikes Suzanne gave us a tour of the grounds and provided historical context.
Then, we backtracked to a delightful biergarden where we sat in the shade, continued our visit, enjoyed our meals, and watched free range chickens wandering about. After that they led us back to the hotel where we finally said our farewells (for now - I’ll be surprised if we don’t make it back this way again some year), and they biked the six miles back up the hill to their home in Gauting. An unequal outing - about 21 miles for them and only 11 for us.
Thank you so much, Suzanne and Janos. The last two days are a memory we’ll cherish. I’ve little doubt that years from now this will be the first memory that comes to mind when we reflect back on this tour.
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Back in the room, we settled in briefly and then Rachael took off on an energetic 7.7 mile hike along the lake; and I didn’t. I did get out for a very nice but much less energetic walk of my own, but with at least eight days ahead before our next layover day this seemed like the right time to take it easy and give the knees a break while I have the opportunity.
For dinner we walked back to the same cafe where we had stopped for coffee this morning and had a light meal, watched the weather develop and the sun go down, and imagined what it would be like to live in a place like this where you could just bike down to this spot whenever the spirit moved you. It sounds very nice.
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Ride stats today: 11 miles, 200’; for the tour: 1,006 miles, 84,100’
Today's ride: 11 miles (18 km)
Total: 1,006 miles (1,619 km)
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3 years ago
I hope the day stays dry for you, not raining at the moment!
3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
And who would have known Janos was such an accomplished journal writer? On Cycle 365 he always seems to be happily in the background.
3 years ago
3 years ago