September 4, 2011
From the source of the Danube: We reach the very holy village of Beuron
It was going to be a later start this morning as breakfast wasn't until 8am seeing it was Sunday but it was all a bit stranger than that. Ken woke me and said its after 7 we had better start getting organized (it always seem a miracle that everything gets into the bags onto the bikes). Up I got and started stuffing everything in. I looked out to see what the weather was like and it seemed awfully dark. Ken said 'yeas the days are be drawing in, hurry up we need to get down to breakfast' I went to clean my teeth and there was a loud expletive, he had looked at hais watch and it was ten to six not ten to eight. But what a bonus, back to bed, turned off the lights and another two hours sleep.
At breakfast there was a small group of cyclists. Much to my delight they were French so we were able to talk. Keen cyclists the four of them do a trip each year, they had started in Bescancon and followed a route similar to ours but had gone on as far as Lake Constance and therefore avoided the horrors of our trip yesterday
Today it was easy, the Radweg is well marked and in most parts paved though suprisingly steep in parts (good for us I suppose). A bar was opening up when we got to Mohringen so the bikes wouldn't let us pass. Then along came a German couple we had seen earlier. They were intrigued by us (I think we look like Aliens) and stopped and asked if they could share our table. What a delightful time we had, they had no English or French and Ken and I have virtually no German (I know we went to classes but we were the dunces). It is amazing how you can communicate with no language. They were about our age, from a Northern German town we had never heard of and doing a supported trip for a week in this German part of the Danube. The fact that we were really from New Zealand, as Ken's cycle shirt says, confirmed the fact that we were indeed Aliens, what a long way to come and why? How did the bikes get here? To Paris, wild flapping of arms, I think that suggests a bird rather than a plane. What about from Paris to here, a Zug ? No, wild leg movements to suggest riding a bike. It was confirmed we were indeed Aliens and crazy ones at that. Lovely people and these are the sort of things I so enjoy about cycle touring. And the coffee was good, came with a chocolate biscuit and cost 1.80Euros
I was amazed at the variety of countryside we passed through. There are fertile plains and steep gorges with rocky formations with only room on the valley floor for a simple track and a railway, this part was crowded with walkers all dressed in the appropriate German way for such an expedition. At one point before the gorge the Radweg took us up, up, up into a village and we were getting pretty grumpy about what seened like an unnecessary climb. Then we burst upon it, all the streets had been closed off, everyone, even babies were dressed in national costume and what a wonderful and loud time they were all having. There was a fantastic band and they all sang, the long tables were laden with food and theSteins of beer were going down well. We pushed our bikes through looking more like Aliens than usual, stopped to listen to the band for a while and soak it all in then on we went.
We are in Beuron in a house all to our selves. When I used my almost only German expression 'Haben zie eine zimmer frie' this is where we were lead.
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 1,608 km (999 miles)
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