Downhill and on the flats

August 18, 2019

Downhill spin from St. Gallen to Konstanz

Down from the mountains, very quickly Lake Constance came into view

The forecast for today was rain and thunderstorms most of the week. I woke to sunny skies and temps in the 8os by noon. The cycling Gods must have been with me. The ride out of St Gallen was pretty simple.

I decided to give Komoot, a bicycle touring app, a try. I was going to use it for this tour. I decided that the tour provider's maps would be sufficient. It took me many bad turns to figure out that I needed to map the tour in a touring app. My ride into St Gallen was the tipping point. Our group was hopelessly lost in hilly terrain. I was not going to repeat that again. Komoot worked like a gem. I rolled into Constance with no problems and missed steps.

The view of the Arbon Marina was perfect on my break

The ride from St Gallen was a very quick downhill 9 miles to Arbon on Lake Constance. It was another one of the typical Lake Constance small towns with a beautiful marina. After a short break, I pedaled northwest on the Lake Constance cycle path.

Check out these paddle boats with lounge chairs in the front and slides off the back.

Back on the Swiss side of the lake, the amount of tourists and bicycles is much lower than in Germany. With it being Sunday, there was a pretty good mix of people on the cycle path. I arrived in Munsterlingen on a fast and scenic ride.

Apple and pear Orchards were common sights today

There appeared to be a festival taking place. It was a good time to take a break and walk around. It turned out to be a school festival. The best thing about this stop was that they were serving food. It was lunchtime and the opportunity presented itself. I must say that the school put on quite a spread in the cafeteria. The salad bar was quite impressive with many things many of which I had never seen on a salad bar. A large salad was the perfect lunch.

I was less than 6 miles out of Constance. I opted to follow the lakeside cycle path. Komoot insisted that I get on the road. It was very simple and soon I found myself in familiar territory cycling through Konstanz to the ABC Hotel.

Farewell pic of my Lake Constance tour crew

Two of my friends were off to the train station heading to Zurich Airport for a flight early in the morning. My friends Sue and Mike are staying with me. We are heading to Zurich tomorrow morning and playing tourists for a couple days on our feet and not bikes.

Wednesday I start a more personal tour of Switzerland. I will be heading west from Zurich through Aarau to Solothurn. My final destination is a small village by the name of Pieterlen. I will explain in a future post why I am completing my tour in western Switzerland.

This crazy statue in Konstanz makes me laugh

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 250 miles (402 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0