Murnau to Stuttgart: Lakeside riding

October 19, 2017

We loved the Hotel Post in Murnau. We also really liked the location of our room. We were just off the lobby which sounds goofy but was wonderfully convenient.

Pictures are taking ages to load so I will add in the morning. It is bedtime here! So a sketch of a fantastic day below:

There was some route planning over breakfast. We are so reluctant to stop biking but the reality is we cannot get to Frankfurt on two wheels. We also discussed extending the trip so we could, but the logistics of that are a bit daunting and this weather can't last forever. We decided to do a lakes ride to Starnberg and then see about a train to Stuttgart.

We started the day by riding down to the lake in Murnau. What a great spot. Keith spent some time bothering a sleeping duck who refused to cooperate for a picture. He finally briefly lifted his head out from under his wing. He was funny to watch...Keith I mean. We do have ducks at home! Then we went to the art museum and enjoyed the architecture of the town before heading out.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a beautiful lake in the middle of town? I know we have the ocean, but lakes are pretty special too.

I had to put a duck picture in. I like to think he is glaring at Keith 😜

The fall colours are everywhere and beautiful around the lake.

We had several encounters with King Ludwig today.

Looking back down the main street. This is a beautiful community.

Another amazing ride. We could hardly believe it. Beautiful scenery, rolling hills at the beginning and almost all off road and paved. There were a few gravel sections through the forest but they were generally good.

Wow. The ride came in three sections. Through the hills, through the forest track and the lake.

What can we say? We love fall riding. Isn't it just gorgeous?

This picture almost caused another rear end collision. When the photographer sees a photo opportunity he stops on a dime. Thank goodness his brakes are squeaking. I can hear him stopping before I can see it.

Our unusual and unexpected sight of the day came when we rounded a corner and there were ostriches. A surprise enough, but there were also parrots and budgies. Then the one that really surprised us? A wallaby. What was a wallaby doing in rural Germany??

What is an ostrich and several ostrich buddies doing here?

Then there were all sorts of colourful parakeets and assorted birds.

See, I really didn't make him up, here he is enjoying the German sunshine. A wallaby, I think. Kelly, you can help me out on this one.

We stopped for lunch overlooking one of a series of small lakes before coming to Seeshaupt. We met a fellow Salsa rider there, Alex, with fat tires which I would love to have on the gravel. We weren't sure which of two routes to take and the one he recommended, down the east side of the lake, was stellar.

Still in the beautiful rolling farm land here.

Then it was a fall forest track. Gorgeous.

Off we went, just loving the ride. We rode beside the lake, almost always on a bike path. There were people out walking, riding bikes, sunbathing on the beaches and just generally having fun. We met Gisela, out with her husband on their bikes for a few days. They had seen us in Murnau. We had a great visit. Such a lovely person.

Sorry, but this really appealed to our inner six year olds. We laughed and laughed.

This King Ludwig's chapel. His body was found in the lake.

Then came this hill. Doesn't look like much but we both had to push the bikes...me at the back, Keith at the front, to get them up. Steep and slippery.

We arrived in Starnberg and the train adventures started. We were having trouble because it was a small regional S-Barn station. Keith asked for help from a young woman and that was the unexpected event of the day. Sana asked where we were from. We told her Canada. Imagine what a surprise it was for us when she told us she spent 6 months in Victoria this year doing a study abroad. The three of us were delighted. She got us sorted with tickets to Munich and we were on our way. We shared a train for the first few stations. Such a coincidence and such fun. She has an open invitation to come back anytime.

Sana and I. Two excited people. It was so great to meet her. She had a great experience in Victoria and that makes us happy because we want her to come back.

Munich is a big train station and we received excellent help. Unfortunately there were bike spaces on the high speed train to Stuttgart, but only one seat. So the regional train it was. From ticket purchase to train departure was 9 minutes and a bit of a drama. Once on the train we sat down and heaved a sigh of relief as we had two hours before Ulm and a change of trains. It was short lived. In one of those we will laugh about it later scenarios they announced (in German and English thank goodness) that the train was splitting in Augsburg and if you' were going to Ulm you needed to be at the front of the train. We were at the back. Of course. Wouldn't you think that would be something the ticket agent could have told the poor unsuspecting tourist?

Back on went the panniers, we leapt off the back of the train in Augsburg and literally sprinted to the front to find half of the bike space occupied by baby and stroller. Poor Keith spent this part of the trip standing holding his bike.

Ulm was a little more straightforward as we had twenty minutes, but Keith still had to lug the bikes down one set of stairs and up another. We often wonder what people in wheelchairs do in these train stations with no lifts. It is crazy.

After that it was easy. We arrived in Stuttgart and despite the fact that the entire train station and surrounding area is a construction zone (they are expanding the station) Keith led me straight to our hotel.

We are off to ride the Neckar. More pictures when I can...

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 2,612 km (1,622 miles)

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