Day 43: Bad Tolz to Neuhaus

May 25, 2022

Heart

Comment

Our room was large and consequently had a lot of windows. So this morning when we peered out to see what the weather was like we were each looking in a different direction. I determined that it was pouring rain, and here is my evidence:

Dodie on the other hand saw little or no rain. She has no evidence, because I have the camera. lol. But Dodie is usually right, so clearly it was not raining at all points of the compass. Despite this, we geared up with all our warm and waterproof stuff.

Out in front of the building we loaded our bikes in the company of two others, also made by German company Victoria. So while the photo below may just look like a gaggle of bikes to some, to others it will be all Victoria's. Those would be normal reactions, but I saw some things differently. For example, three bikes had stock seat posts, while Dodie's post (and seat) I threw under a train at Leipzig three years ago. The two that were not ours had more powerful motors than us, and lower, derailleur gears. That is something that would come into play a lot today. The other two had disc brakes, while we have hydraulic rim models. And we had the superior North American Myrrcycle rear view mirrors. All four had mid range Bosch Intuvia displays. etc, etc.

I had time to note these distinctions, because we always have Dodie load the bikes. That way she is happy with how it has been done, and I get to daydream, like this.

By the way, have you ever noticed that upon encountering a stranger - such as on the street or passing each other on cycles, that you brain makes an instant assessment of at least 5 key variables: age, sex, weight, general physical condition, and what they are currently trying to achieve. Gathering these takes just a fraction of a second, and you really can't help doing it. That's the first fraction of a second. On the bike, if it's a cycle encounter, in the next fraction I will know bicycle type and general configuration, and if it's an ebike, approximate cost. So standing around waiting for Dodie to load the bags - like two available minutes - there was nothing about those other bikes that I didn't notice!

Our hotel was a little out of Bad Tolz, on the other side of the Isar from the Altstadt. But we quickly hopped over and made a whirlwind tour in the rain. I could only take the camera out while sheltering in a doorway, and so did not take many pictures. So here you only have to look at five. What they clearly show is that Bad Tolz style is for 3-4 story buildings that are chalet type while not free standing, and their smooth stucco walls are frequently decorated with frescoes, which are also used to adorn windows.

The main street is called Marktstrasse, so it figures that it had market vendors. There were several cheese vendors, but I shied away after the last experience. When I mentioned that I had spotted the vendors, Dodie confirmed "Yes, I could smell them". Oh well, the cheese that has been at the breakfasts has been really great.

We had a little trouble leaving town, because the bicycle and radweg direction signs did not quite agree with the track in our GPS. Dodie decided to trust the GPS, and it did work out. As we worked our way along, Dodie pointed out that though we will be back in this town (in about three weeks), we would not be passing this way again. That's because we were leaving on the Bodensee-Konigsee radweg, but will return on the Venedig-Munchen. One is west-east and the other is south-north. They cross at Bad Tolz.

Dodie said to take any desired photos, because of that last chance factor. But frankly, the outskirts of Bad Tolz were fairly boring. During the day, attractive chalet style houses did continually run by. These are the ones with the overhanging balconies and red geraniums in boxes, like this:

Not quite a typical Bavarian chalet, but I had to keep my camera from the rain.

Around now began what would be the dominant theme for our day: steep climbs and descents on wet gravel. We had set a relatively short day, which was fortunate because progress in such conditions is slow. Ebikes notwithstanding, we had to push up quite a few sections. And not wanting to wipe out, we walked down some too.

This caused me to reflect on ebike types a bit. Over here, our bikes are called "citi bikes". They are meant for oma to tootle over to the bakery or grocery. The seven or eight internal gears are not particularly low, or high, and the rim brakes are not too fond of flying wet grit. The tires are not light and skinny as for road bikes, but neither are they fat and resilient, as for gravel. Yeah, "citi" bikes. Normally they work fine for us, but today - not so much!

Not sure if Dodie is pushing up or down here.

Here it was down. The footpath seemed better than the roadway.

If this shot seems repetitive, that's because almost the whole day was like this!

The radweg people seems to recognize that the path is not the greatest. Here they advise to walk the next three km!

This is not to say there was no beauty and joy in the day. For example, we spotted some additional Irises, and Bluebells (?)

Again, having not studied the route particularly well, the halfway town of Gmund sounded like it could be pretty nice. But no, uncharacteristically for Germany, the place made little or no accommodation for bicycles, and it had a continuous flow of cars and heavy trucks trundling through the centre of town. We gave ourselves a tour of what is no doubt the main raison d'etre of the place, a paper mill, by taking a wrong turn. A highlight of the wrong turn was that we waved to an oma on an upper balcony heading one way, and 5 minutes later waved again, heading the other way. We considered one more pass, to further enliven her day.

Gmund is at the north end of a large lake called the Tegernsee. It looks like a great vacation spot, but the spirit of Gmund did not seem to recognize this position. The next lake along is called the Schliersee, and it has a town of that name, also at its north end. We did not get to see or assess this, because we hung a right and headed down to the south end. There, our guest house is called the Maria Theresia. It's another large but family run affair, and again we are in a dead quiet, large room. Outside our window is a not huge but still pointy mountain. We think this is a big ski area, but also the lake has great beaches that would be swell in a little warmer weather.

The view from our window. That yellow disc is the room light behind the camera - the window did not open - not a flying saucer!

What gave Meaning to Life, today? Making it up (and down) those hills!

Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 2,491 km (1,547 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	10
Comment on this entry	Comment	0