To Füssen.

August 5, 2024

A dragon's back of a ride today. Lot's of ups and down and climbing into the Allgäu.

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Our hotel last night was a first for us. The Bollwerk Hotel in Immenstadt was a fully automated hotel. If you've never been to one, there was no check in desk and no employees (except the housekeeping and breakfast staff which you never saw anyways). To access all doors including, the entrance of the hotel, your room, and the bike locker required us to download an app, and everything was unlocked via the app virtually. It was quiet surreal, and we felt we were the only people there. But, it was a new and well appointed hotel with nice furnishings, nice sheets and bedding, and it had a great breakfast. If you're ever in Immenstadt, and not a staunch Luddite, then it's a great place to stay.

I have to thank Steve (Grampies) Millar for his suggestion that we take a look at the Bodensee-Königssee cycle route. For some reason, during my trip planning research this route had somehow eluded me, and if I had known that it existed yesterday, it would have saved Susanna and I the crazy gravel adventure that we had yesterday from Lindau. Live and learn. This is why the CycleBlaze community is so valuable! So, thanks Steve Grampies!

When we pulled back the curtains of our room this morning, the day looked grey and overcast, and we doubted the forecast for a rain free day. But, all the weather apps seemed to predict a dry day. Up in Immenstadt at around 800 meters above sea level, the morning temperatures were cool and my phone indicated that it was around 17 degrees when we set off this morning. Great cycling temperatures. We've been lucky to escape the scathing hot weather that we've experienced in previous trips, and this has been such a gift!

Our mistake this morning was to strictly follow the cycle route south along the Iller River towards Sonthofen, which added some unnecessary miles in a U-shape only to have to turn back north along the other side of the Iller and basically head back to our beginning. In hindsight, we should have run a direct route east from Immenstadt to Rettenburg, and pick up the cycle route there. But, riding along the river this morning was pleasant along nice gravel, but it did add 15 or so kilometers to our day. Oh well. Thank goodness one part of our team is so easy going when it comes to things like this.

Our route turned away from the valley of the Iller River and we steadily gained elevation throughout the day in a series of steep punchy climbs through the same incredible scenery as yesterday. The open landscape of pasture lands and forests, and the expansive views of the surrounding hills and valleys make this a very special place to ride a bike. Today's route was a mixture of gravel, separated cycle paths, quiet farm lanes, and some riding on roads with a tolerable amount of traffic, and the signage for the Bodensee-Königssee cycle route was easy to follow.

Just an incredible place to ride a bike. A look back a Rettenberg.

Our first test of the day was a good climb up to Rettenburg, famous for it's local Engelbrau brewery. As I write this, I'm having one of their delicious and crispy Engel Hells beers now!

Today was a day of rolling terrain and we continued to climb towards and skirt the eastern shore of the beautiful alpine lake of the Rottachsee. Out of this basin, we began a long climb up to the high point of our day at almost 1000 meters above sea level before dropping down to Mittelberg where we had our first break of the day.

Riding quiet farm lanes with the odd tractor that we always pulled over for.

Incredible scenery like this all day at around 800 meters above sea level.

After climbing to our high point of the day, then descending to Mittelberg, we were both ready to get off of the bikes and have a coffee. Most things in town were closed up and it looked like we were out of luck for a coffee until Sue acutely spotted a bakery up a side street. When we walked in, the owner explained that they were closing in ten minutes. I asked if we could still have a coffee and a pastry, and he replied only if you sit inside because the tables are going to be cleared off and cleaned. As we sat and slurped at our coffees, we understood why he asked us to sit inside. Within moments the owner's three year old grandchild began to bus tables, collect menus, and gather the cushions from the outdoor seating. He flitted back and forth like this for some time as he carefully placed each item meticulously in their places one at a time. And, each time he came in with another item he'd look at us with a proud grin on his face.

Susanna stayed back for this shot of me.

The bakery that felt we were in someone's living room. I wish we'd taken a shot of the busboy!

Descending into Fussen. The Bavarian Alps in the distance and the lake of Forggensee. No longer are we in tributaries of the Rhine. Now, it's the Danube.

Finally arriving into the Altstadt of Fussen.

Fussen. Us, the Lech River and the Bavarian Alps.

The sun came out and the clouds parted to allow a good view of the mountains. The Lech River.

Even though our route after Mittelberg generally descended to Fussen, it was still punctuated by a serious of steep short climbs. So, today felt like a challenging enough day and when we saw the the 5km to Fussen sign, we sped along the gravel paths towards the Altstadt, sat and had our ritual end of ride beer in the town center.

While writing the journal, the hotel's fire alarm went off. Here we are waiting for the fire department to give us the okay to get back in.

Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 1,128 km (700 miles)

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