September 6, 2022
To Bad Wildbad
Today’s destination was the spa town of Bad Wildbad, but before leaving Rastatt we paid a visit to Schloss Rastatt, a baroque Presidential Palace modeled after Versailles. Then we were off – two CycleBlazers on a four-day trip through the Black Forest.
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The route out of Rastatt followed the same path Suzanne took yesterday on the way into town - on a bike path alongside a busy highway. After two mile, we turned off onto dedicated cycle paths and small roads that took us through a series of small towns and parks as we made our way northwest across the upper Rhine plain towards the Black Forest. We found a bakery in the small village of Ettlingenweier and enjoyed our elevenses sitting in the sun at the bus stop beneath the pastel-hued town church. Then it was on to Ettlingen where the bike route directed us right through the courtyard of Schloss Ettlingen.
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2 years ago
Beyond Ettlingen, we curved south along the Alb River and the route steepened as we entered the hills of Black Forest. A wonderful ten mile stretch through the forrest on a paved track ended suddenly at a large sport park near the town of Marxzell. We found a curb in the shade for lunch and then went searching for a water refill, figuring there must be a drinking fountain at an athletic field. Better yet, we found an open bathroom - multitasking!
After lunch, we set on a paved path that curved up through an open meadow, but Suzanne quickly realized our route was not along the path but up through the meadow – on grass! Vivien George handled it quite nicely, but I did have to power through some steep rises toward the top. Once on top, there was a nice five mile stretch rolling through varied landscape along small roads and cycle paths. After a very steep descent into Neuenbürg, we crossed the Enz River and enjoyed an easy climb up the narrow Enz valley into Bad Wildbad.
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Checking into our guesthouse in Bad Wildbad was a bit complicated, with one coded lock boxes for the room keys and another code and lockbox for the bike storage room key. We’d not received the codes in advance, so I was very glad to have Suzanne there to get instructions by phone to access the room keys. Even that wasn't clear enough, and we had to wait for the proprietor to come over to unlock the bike storage room.
We enjoyed an early dinner at an Asian restaurant around the corner where we shared a trio of Korean plates, settling in to an easy patter and sharing more of our storied lives. It had been a great first day - we were both a bit tired but eager for more – more forest, more climbing, more cycling.
Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 2,588 miles (4,165 km)
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