Last night we found a cycle path that does a circuit of the southern Black Forest. It has the catchy title of Sudschwarzwald-Radweg (Southern Black Forest Cycle Route). Does what it says on the tin! We decided we could follow it from our campsite to the village of Kirschzarten, a bit northeast of here. That would give us a good start for getting into the middle of the forest.

We left the campsite and got to the river ok, but after a couple of kilometres we lost the trail. We knew which towns the trail went through, so we just muddled our way through them for the morning hoping to pick it up, but no luck. When we got into Freiberg we were in need of lunch, and we still hadn’t could the trail. We were hunched over the map when a chap pulled up and said in German “do you need help”, then in a strange German / American accent “Where ya’ goin’?” We said we were looking for Kirschgarten. “Perfect, that’s a really great place. There’s an awesome bike shop there. You go this way then that way then…….why don’t I just take you to the path?”. Anna asked if he was going that way and he immediately said yes, which was a total lie because when we set off it was in the opposite direction to the one he’d been heading in before. We had to forgive him though because he showed us to a lovely bike path next to a river that would take us all the way into Kirschzarten. With a cheery wave our benefactor was off, cranking up the gears and disappearing into the distance (still in the opposite direction to the one he’d been going in before). What a nice man!

Tour guide

We stopped by the river for lunch and Anna took the opportunity to wash her feet, then we were off. The path was much better than the ones we’d been following all morning; it was quiet, off the road and just what we wanted.

Brr!

When we got to the campsite we got a bit of a shock. €32 for a night! We thought we might have wandered back into Switzerland by mistake. The campsite did have a mini disco, bingo and a swimming pool, but since we’re not five, not bingo fans and not in possesion of swimming costumes we weren’t really interested in any of that stuff. It also came with two free passes on public transport within the Black Forest, which is pretty good, but since we have the bikes we weren’t too bothered about that either!

We headed into town; first stop, the cake shop for some black forest gateau (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte), then all the other, less important food. After that we headed back to cook dinner. I ate my Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte straight away because I was scared for its fate in the hot sun. And because I’m a greedy swine.

BFG (Black Forest Gateaux / Big, Fat & Greedy)

We found that our €32 hadn’t bought us access to a table to cook on. We tried to annex one from the restaurant, but were soon repelled by two waiters. Anna went to complain to the receptionist (so bold!) and she promised she would sort it out. We went back to our tent and ten minutes later a man turned up and beckoned us to follow him. We went with him to the secret table and bench store where we were furnished with a fine bench and a lovely table. We carried our trophies proudly back to our tent where we sat and prepared dinner in civilised fashion, presumably to the envy of all our neighbours. Except they were all in caravans so probably brought tables with them.

After dinner it was internet time. Anna found out that I drained the Mac battery yesterday and didn’t charge it up. I then discovered that to get to Gutach, our desired destination tomorrow, we either have to go back to Freiberg, or take a massive diversion to the East. I don’t know how I didn’t realise that last night, but anyway it wasn’t welcome news after MacGate. After an argument we decided we would use our free train tickets to get the train to the top of the Gutach valley tomorrow, and then cycle down through it. Sounds like a plan!

– Dave

Last night we decided to spend some time in the Schwarzwald whilst we’re here, even if it means getting a train when we get out.  It was a bit cool this morning and we enjoyed sitting inside for breakfast without melting.  It even rained a bit, which was nice.

Once we’d packed up, we headed for the information centre across the road to see where we could go to do some water sports or hikes.  The guy recommended we head to a campsite 30km north and rent kayaks there.  That meant we had a nice short day’s ride, then some planning to do.

We set off around 10am and it was still a little cool (around 20 degrees).  I think I even got a few goosebumps on the big downhill into town!  We rode on a cycle path by a main road for a bit before leaving it in favour of a small country lane, which was lovely.  The sun came out and we were riding in the dappled light under the trees.  Not too warm, not too cool, perfect riding weather. When we had to leave the valley to head towards the campsite, we were suddenly going straight uphill!  Is it just me or is it getting hotter? After 1km of climbing we came out onto a country road that ran along the top of a rounded ridge.  Cherry farms either side of the road, then valleys, then mountains.  On the right, the Black Forest in Germany.  On the left beyond the Rhein, France.  We tried to pick a few cherries from road-side trees that weren’t farmed, but they were too high up!  So we had to buy a punnet of them from an honesty box.  We sat on a bench with a view of the French valley and mountains and munched our way through the cherries.  They’re fat and very dark red, intensely sweet and didn’t last very long!

Then we zoomed down a hill and arrived at the campsite to check in around 2pm.  After setting up, we went into town to find the kayak hire place and make enquiries for tomorrow.  But there wasn’t anyone around!  A phonecall to their office confirmed that they don’t do whitewater kayaking.  Bummer.  Maybe we will just look for a nice cycle route through the forest instead!

Camp

Stop off at the supermarket then back to camp for dinner and bed. Ahhh, it’s cool enough to wear pjs and contemplate the sleeping bag. Yesss.

– Anna

We woke up in the cycle tourist encampment at the ungodly hour of 6 am this morning. Barbara, our friend from last night got up after us, but she was the first one rolling out of the gate. So efficient! We did ok ourselves though and were on the road by 7.

100% tourers!

Nice looking town we passed

We crossed back to the Swiss side to get back on the route, but this subsequently turned out to be unnecessary. Then we crossed back to the German side and went to the shops, which took ages. After these delays we finally got moving, and we were heading along a gravel track when someone wheeling a bike along started shouting to us in German. Anna used her special translation abilities to discern that the lady wanted a bike pump. Her name turned out to be Rosa, she was 76 years old, and she was riding a bike with a tyre way too big for the wheel. The tyre had popped of the wheel and she was stuck. She said she only had four kilometres to go, so we checked the inner tube for punctures, replaced the tyre and pumped it up. Rosa went off happy while we were packing the pump away, but we soon caught up with her in an even worse mess. This time the tyre had popped off the wheel and the inner tube had got tangled through the brake blocks and around the mudguard. We sorted it out and persuaded her that she should really walk the rest of the way to avoid terminally injuring herself the next time the wheel dismantled itself. She agreed and we left her to it.

How does this even happen?

We were very late for our food break at this point, and very delayed in our projected progress, so tempers were frayed to say the least. We had a good sulk and argument over lunch and cleared the air a bit. Just after that we saw the longest wooden bridge in Europe, which was nice.

Longest wooden bridge in Europe

We set off again hoping to make it to a campsite on the river near Basel. When we finally arrived hot, tired and thirsty we found that the campsite was shut and entry was “verboten”. We went for a swim in the river anyway to cool off, which was just what we needed!

Secret swimming spot

Swans chilling in the river

Refreshed, we decided we would go to a hostel that was about 12 km away. We stopped in a little village on the way to stock up on food, cash and painkillers. Then we started to tackle the hill that lay between us and the hostel. About half a kilometre up a guy stopped his car, got out and started chatting German to us. It turned out he was telling us that we really, really shouldn’t try to go over the hill. Part of me wanted to say “we’ve been over the Albulapass don’t you know”, but just then a second chap came over and started agreeing fervently with the first. So either there’s a top secret nuclear bunker somewhere around Basel, or it’s a really steep hill. We’ll never know, because we were eventually persuaded to go around on a detour which proved to be ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE. It went back into Switzerland and everything! We were so hot and thirsty that we had to interrupt three kids who were playing in a public fountain in order to fill up our water bottles. About a kilometre out from the hostel the road started rising ominously, and we found ourselves going up an unwanted steep hill. We comforted ourselves that the two guys who’d advised us to take this route had said that it went up “a bit” at the end, and our original route must therefore have been much worse, and well avoided.

The hostel is ok, it’s basically a massive castle except built from chipboard. We found out today that hostels in Germany aren’t allowed to have kitchens for people to cook their own food unless they are completely separate from the main building. So most of them, including this one, just don’t bother. This meant we had to cook on a bench outside. We agreed we don’t really see the point of hostels without kitchens, as Anna said, “it’s basically a rubbish hotel”. Quite.

After following the Rhein for a few days we’ve decided that it’s going to be a bit boring to just follow it all the way to the Netherlands. We’re thinking about a detour through the Black Forest to change the record a bit.

– Dave

I managed to convince Dave that we should stay for hostel breakfast this morning, even though it meant a late start. Luckily breakfast was worth waiting for! And we got a lie in, which I needed. We feasted on everything that was on offer then got ready to set off around 9am. Dave has had a sore back the last few days. He got a bit of relief last night thanks to some postoperative drugs I’d had since having my wisdom teeth out 6 years ago! But this morning he was back to hobbling around and wincing when he mounted his bike. I feel bad that I can’t do anything to help, so I mock him occasionally for being old and crippled. I’m sure that helps a bit.

Crippled Dave

It was overcast all morning so not as hot as it has been, but still hot enough to get a serious sweat on riding on the flat. The guide said that today’s section was flatter than what we’d been doing, but that’s not the experience we had! We rode along the river for a while then through Schaffhausen, where we stocked up on lunch. The guide told us that after this town, we’d see the Rhein Falls, the biggest waterfall in continental Europe (we assume by volume, since it’s only 25m high!). But that’s also not the experience we had. We rode up a crazy steep hill on the gravel trail and were met with a ticket office. Hey, who wants to pay to look at the river? Not us. I wasn’t that bothered about making an effort to see the falls, but Dave was adamant that he was going. So we rode downstream, crossed a bridge, climbed up to join the road, found a car park and stopped there. I waited with the bikes and made sandwiches whilst Dave walked down to a little viewpoint. Then he came back, swapped lenses and I went off with his camera to see the falls whilst he ate his lunch. From the far side, we got a distant view of the powerful falls and all the people on viewing platforms and boats who’d paid to look at them.

Rhein Falls from a distance

They’ve got a good view!

Then we were allowed to carry on downstream again and rejoin our route. Up another hill, across the river, around the inside of a tight meander and we found the marked way again.

We spent most of the day in farmland or forest, sometimes on a path along the river, sometimes along a road, track or cycle path in the trees or fields. It was a nice route. Definitely not flat though. One hill even had a sign at the bottom warning us that we were about to gain 100m in 3km. On that hill, we passed two Italian ladies (for the third time that day), one of whom had decided that it was too much and she was pushing her bike. It was hot, I didn’t blame her. The only reason I don’t get off and push more often is that pushing our bikes is way harder than riding them because they’re so heavy!

At the top of the hill, we sat for a lunch break with a view of the river below and chatted to a fellow tourer. She’s 50 years old and touring alone for the first time, although she’s done way more extreme trips that this one! She’s crossed several deserts and toured in Syria, among other places. We shared stories, exchanged tips and waved each other off.

Me looking less than impressed at having to climb 100m above the river

From then on, we were getting tired and hot and ready to stop, but wanted to make some distance first. So on we rode the last bit towards Waldshut, up and down past factories and farms until we reached the town. We crossed over to the German side for a cheaper campsite and rolled in with 80km done for the day.

It’s a nice site by the river and there are 10 tents set up, all occupied by touring cyclists! The crazy bastards don’t know they should be doing their short touring holidays in spring. And Spain for that matter!

Campsite

Dave enjoying the Rhein

Today was (only) 32 degrees. Tomorrow the forecast is for 38. So I think we’d better get to bed in order to get up before the sun!

– Anna

Our goal today was the Bodensee, and we made it in style (mostly).

The alarm went off at 5.45 and we got up straight away 45 minutes later. Setting off at 7.30, the sun was already busy making the air warmer and muggier. We headed out the campsite and straight up a few little hills to get up the side of the valley. This gave us a great view of the straight, flat road we could have been riding on. But at least the cycle path was largely car-free.

Bridge over the Rhein

Morning sun over the river

Lovely vineyard views

We wound our way through little villages and vineyards, then lost the route for a bit but headed for the Rhein and found it again there. At the Rhein, we were greeted by a long, straight river-side cycle path that went slightly downhill with a tailwind. Now that’s what I’ve been waiting for!

That’s more like it!

Yesss

We sailed along at 25kph for about two minutes before Dave decided he was going to take the lead and do some serious pedalling. Okay, if you must! Off he went and I just concentrated on sticking on his back wheel. We we doing about 35kph on average, including a short burst of 40 (the average speed on the Tour de France!). It was great fun, especially for me, sailing along at the back!

Soon we’d done 20km and it was time for a break by the river. Then back to it for another 10km that flew by in no time before we had to leave the speedy river-side way and the route took us through some more towns. We stopped in a shop and bought 2kg of fruit that was on offer, scoffed some, packed the rest and carried on. We zoomed through agricultural land in the wide, flat valley floor and stopped again by a canal for more peaches and some of last night’s leftovers.

Next, the path took us back to the Rhein and we zoomed along it some more, just stopping to look at a tributary joining the river that was a completely different colour.

Rainwater tributary meets meltwater river

With 70km done, we stopped in the shade and finished off our bread, cheese and chocolate biscuits – it’s hard work, all this drafting!

Then our beautifully smooth, paved cycle way turned into a gravel track. We lost a lot of speed compared to before but still kept up a respectable pace. We stopped at a water fountain for a few minutes and chatted with other cyclists. One kiwi guy seemed to be leading a small group of seasoned riders and we headed the same way for a bit before we took a turning and they carried on.

Come on Switzerland, we know you have enough money to pave all your cycle routes!

We ran out of signs, so must have lost the route, but we found the Bodensee! There was a campsite that was packed with weekenders and a path along the lake full of walkers and cyclists. Along we went, wondering what we were getting ourselves into. It’s not exactly the scenic wonder and peaceful idyll of the Swiss National Park.

“Dave, how’s my back tyre looking?”… “Hmm, not great.” Damn, another slow puncture maybe. We pulled over and I pumped up my tyre. We knew it was hot, but without the riding-induced breeze, it was sweltering.

Squashy back tyre

Then on we went to find a campsite. And we found one by the lake, with 90km done. But it was only 1.45pm, there was no shade for the tent pitches, and if you’re going to be hot and sweaty, you may as well be getting somewhere.

So we set off again, stopping for more peaches and tyre pumping by the lake. Perhaps not such a slow puncture after all. Whilst we were sweating with our bikes, there were a lot of people playing in the water or sunbathing on the shore. We watched enviously as one family got sandwiches out of a cool box and tucked in. We need to find a supermarket!

But before we could make it to the shop, my tyre went flat again and really needed sorting. We pulled over at the entrance to a park and set about fixing it. Dave checked the puncture repair I’d done at Zernez and it had a fresh hole right through the patch! He checked the tyre but there was nothing stuck in it. Then he found a spiky piece of metal in the inner tube! Guess that’s it then. New tube, tyre back on and we’re away. That 5km was significantly longer than the ones along the river.

Pumping up after the puncture repair

The supermarket had a few discount treats in store for us and we found a suitably busy section of shore on which to enjoy them. We enjoyed a spot of tourist-watching, particularly when one man tried to feed his ice cream cone to an angry swan that was protecting five signets. Unfortunately the swan decided he wasn’t worth attacking.

Now it was coming up for 4pm (how did that happen?) and it really was time to get to the campsite. The thought of a cold shower helped us along the last few kilometres and we arrived at a site with 110km done. We checked in and went to find a pitch. Usually when we turn up at a campsite, the tent section is almost empty, we choose a shady spot and spread our stuff out. But this was something else – a large grassy area by the lake with tents and people everywhere! The tents were all crammed into a few sections, the rest reserved as play areas with kids running around, parents sunbathing, people barbecuing and swimmers in the lake. Everywhere to pitch up was in the sun.

We found a spot that we suspected would get some evening shade and I went for a shower whilst Dave set up the tent. After cold showers, we were pretty much immediately hot and sticky again, and sat about feeling clammy for a few hours, watching the family dramas unfold around us.

Not exactly what we had in mind when we planned the trip

At 8pm we made dinner and by 9pm it was just getting to a temperature where we could stay still in t-shirts and shorts without sweating. I’m not sure how we’re going to sleep! There are too many mozzies for an open tent tonight. Keep riding north!

– Anna