Day 102: Kirnbergsee to Kirchzarten

May 28, 2023

Riding with Maren and Chris

“That looks like two cyclists with loaded bikes coming in,” Patrick says as we are packing up. It’s Maren and Chris. They took a train from their village into the Schwarzwald and then cycled into the forest to camp overnight. It’s a fun reunion and they have the route mapped out to their house in Kirchzarten (near Freiburg). After we all finish up breakfast, we set off. As they have lighter loads, Chris is taking the front panniers and black bag with the sleeping bags from Rachel, and Maren is carrying the tent in the blue bag from Patrick.

We start with a long gradual climb on a dirt road through a forest. Maren explains how most of the Black Forest is a managed forest with trees planted and cut down for lumber. Some people don’t like it because of that, but the area is beautiful. We climb up to a ridge, find a short section of paved road then see a restaurant that is open and stop for coffee.

“Now we go on an adventure,” Maren says checking the route and looking at the road in the forest. We all look at the road, it’s been torn up by heavy equipment during the rain. The track dives steeply down a hill side, reaches another paved road and we climb again. One more summit at a small touristy looking village, then a very nice long downhill pretty much all the way on bikepath to Maren’s home village. We look out over the Rhine Valley with the Vosges Mountains behind in the haze.

A vending machine with sausages and drinks! All in Maren's family are vegetarians, (Chris does eat meat occasionally)

Buh-lo-mat

Maren and Chris stayed with us September 2022 through WS. They met up with us in Kirnbergsee and showed us the back roads to their home in Kirchzarten (near Freiberg).

Maren wants to show us a place that could be their wedding venue

There is quite a gathering at the Hagel’s place. Maren and Chris share a three story house, plus basement, with Maren’s mother and her husband. There are some house mates on the third floor and an aunt and her partner are passing through in their campervan. Maren’s mother despite working a nightshift has fixed a great dinner for all of us. Traditional German food, be it vegetarian. We have a great time catching up with Maren and Chris and meeting new people. They make a very good effort conducting the conversations in English so Rachel can follow along.

Later in the evening we have a campfire in the backyard and enjoy some German beer, wine and schnapps.

First, we have coffee and rhubarb cake with strawberries and whipped cream

Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 4,064 km (2,524 miles)

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Rachael AndersonHow nice to have help carrying your bags!
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1 year ago

Rachel and Patrick HugensTo Rachael AndersonTotally agree, thanks. It made the ride so much more "balanced" and I didn't need to worry about keeping up. R
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1 year ago