Kyle and I rolled into Munich Thursday afternoon, and are heading out Monday mornin – enjoying the holiday weekend exploring the city and resting our legs. But as usual, we’re not too good at resting and started off the weekend by going on a bike tour around the city (only 5 miles though!). Our tour guide Scott took us around old Munich, stopping every couple blocks to explain the history and architecture with a strong New York accent and some good jokes.

We were shown centuries old buildings once belonging to the royal family, a gorgeous church that took 105 years to build, and a number of old Nazi owned buildings that have been repurposed into museums and memorials.

The tour even included lunch at a Biergarten. We of course did not miss this opportunity to get a picture with our giant beers.

Scott made sure to include a fun surprise in the educational tour: canal surfing! Within the English Gardens park lies a man made canal whose currents were strengthened in order to clear out the algae prior to the Munich Olympics. Sometime in 1969, some brave soul decided to surf the little wake, and the practice has lived on ever since. A line of men and women in wetsuits all gave their best shot on the solitary wave.

After our bike tour, we met up with a fellow cyclist who had just completed a run from Istanbul to Munich. We got some comically large beers in Olympic park and had a great time chatting… and having him assure us we won’t freeze going over the Alps.

On Saturday, we took a train over to the Dachau Memorial Center. The lovely spring weather was quite a contrast to the sobering experience of walking around the camp. We didn’t get any pictures, but it was an amazing memorial site and museum. Definitely a must see if you’re visiting Munich.

We celebrated Easter by attempting to actually rest and not walk 10 miles around the city. Despite the holiday, the Biergartens were still open. We spent today drinking some Radlers, snacking on pretzels, and playing 20 questions with each other in the sunshine.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll take off on our way to Venice.

Happy Easter!

Just outside Tuttlingen and now on the Danube River we looked forward to the warm Spring weather that- oh what’s that? It’s snowing?

We awoke to a scene of snow covered cliffs and countryside. Lesser cyclists would have been dismayed to cycle in the frosty weather but we were merely disheartened. We soldiered on, distracted by the beautiful cliffs along the valley while our cycling warmed us up.

This was our favorite stretch of trail to date. Almost like a German version of Yosemite Park. If you can arrange to visit the area between Tuttlingen and Riedlingen, we highly recommend it. Throughout the valley were cute cafe’s and restaurants that catered to tourists passing though. Most were closed until the busy season but Kat and I eventually found one open and ran inside for a reprieve from the cold with some coffee and hot snitzel. The best perk of biking everywhere is we can eat whatever we want and it always tastes good.

The landscape began to flatten as we eventually exited the valley. We rolled into a small town and set up camp in some woods just off the trail.

Today we’re in Ulm and have a day off to explore the city. We just finished climbing (and descending) the world’s largest church steeple, making us rethink what quantifies as a rest day. We’re going to relax for real this evening (with some Game of Thrones if we’re being honest) and prepare for the next two days of biking before we hit Munich.

We’re getting closer and closer to Munich despite the chilly weather and headwinds. We’re hitting some bigger hills than in France, but I suppose they’re just training for the Alps.

Early into Switzerland we stopped by Rhein falls, the biggest waterfall in Europe! It was gorgeous, and not too crowded due to the chilly weather.

That night we stealth camped; pulling off the trail and heading into the woods once it was getting close to nightfall. We cooked up some mac n’ cheese and listened to some podcasts in the tent. I woke up around 1 AM to shrieking in the distance. I’m glad I knew foxes made those noises or else I would’ve been more startled than I already was.

The next day, we continued along the Rhein, dipping in and out of Switzerland and passing by Lake Zeller.

We biked another 40 miles to the German town of Singen, where we made camp in an old farming field. As Kyle scouted out a place to put out the tent, I noticed the ground seemed to be dug up in random patches across the field. Kyle then called me over to the perfect place to put the tent, a couple yards from a badger den (or “sett”). I advised we move a little further away, and I’m glad I did! At sundown we heard the loud barks of a whole badger family leaving their dens and getting ready to dig for grubs.

Today we only biked 20 miles, but those miles were hard! We crossed the watershed between the Rhine and the Danube. Most of the day was spent climbing uphill through the snow, before finally reaching the top and bombing down the last 5 miles in about 5 minutes. We got some great schnitzel and coffee at the bottom in Tuttlingen to warm us up. Now on the Danube, the path is finally flat and Munich only half a week away.

We spent our day off in Basel checking out the old town and visiting a small zoo that was free to the public. We enjoyed the sunny weather while we could, knowing that the next day’s forecast was rain.

We woke up to an overcast (but dry) sky and so set off early to make as much distance as possible before we got too soaked. A few miles out of Basel we crossed unceremoniously into Germany (only an old border check point building to hint at the transition). If we can continue our pace of one country every two days, we should be in China by next week.

The German and Swiss town feel very modern and active compared the French villages. Lots of school kids running around, shops that are actually open throughout the day, and well-maintained homes laden with solar panels. However, the French pastries were better so we’ll call it a wash.

The Rhine valley was eerie: surrounded by large evergreens with large mountains looming in the distance, only somewhat visible through the stormy clouds and rain ahead of us. After a couple hours, the drizzle picked up and Kat and I begrudgingly donned our rain attire. The roads became slick and Kat unfortunately fell at one point when negotiating a hop onto a curb. She gathered herself quickly but got left with a bruised and cut knee for her trouble. Kat’s spirits improved as we made our way onto a quiet dirt trail absolutely covered with giant snails. She found these really interesting for some reason and we routinely stopped to check them out. She paid close attention not to accidentally run one over like she did the other day, which she claims was quite traumatic.

We finished our roughly 40 miles to Waldshut Germany and settled into a small AirBnb above a bakery overlooking the old town of the village. Tomorrow we continue East with better weather and should be passing by the Rhine falls, the largest waterfall in Europe.

 

 

 

 

Au revoir France, hallo Switzerland!

We really put in the miles the last two days, biking 50 miles from Bescanon to Montbéliard and then 60 miles today to the border city of Basal Switzerland. Granted, some killer tail winds help those miles go by pretty quick.

Along the way, we could tell we were getting close to the border as the gently rolling hills grew steeper and higher. We even got an occasional glimpse of some snow capped mountains in the distance.

We got some great sights in those 110 miles – a canal that cut through the mountain, a surprisingly deep little cave, a very chill rodent called a “coypu”, and a couple of skink BFFs. Unfortunately not pictured is a fellow tourer we ran into while camping in Bescanon. In front of her bike she pushed a trailer carrying an incredibly sweet dog and a feisty kitten named “Canabis” 😂.

Along with the wild life and landscape, we also got to see a yellow vest protest up and personal. While munching on some croissants on the streets of Bescanon, we started to hear chanting further down the road. Before we knew it, a large crowd donned in yellow vests turned the corner and filled the small street. I’m not sure what they were chanting but we were given a flyer! Kyle was cheered as he biked by in his fluorescent yellow rain jacket.

Now that we’ve reached Switzerland, we’re taking tomorrow off to explore Basel and rest our legs.

We took a day off in Chalon-sur-Saône to rest our legs and stay out of the rain.

Chalon is known as the birthplace of photography, home to Nicephore Niepce from 1765-1833. We spent part of the day visiting the museum which was filled with antique cameras, very early photography, and some newer art pieces as well.

Yesterday, we rode a strong tail wind into Seurre, staying the night in a nice family’s bedroom to avoid the below freezing temps. We got to spend some time with their goat and their sweet but weird cat who had a habit of sucking fingers…

We’ll be taking off shortly to Dole, where we’ll camp for the night. Can’t believe in about 5 says we’ll be in Germany! 😀

Yesterday Kyle and I completed a 45 mile ride to Digoin. The day started as another day of hilly farmland but thankfully turned into a nice flat canal trail.

The day wasn’t without its adventures though. Mainly me getting lost and separated from Kyle. About 25 miles into the ride, I was trailing behind Kyle when my chain fell off. This lead to me walking the bike for a bit before struggling to put it back on when I still couldn’t catch up. I got the bike going, but managed to miss the trail head Kyle had taken. I got a bit lost but eventually found another entrance later on. I ended up doing the remaining 20 miles solo in a rush panic that lead me to beat kyle to the air b&b. I greeted him from the upstairs window when I heard him opening the gate, where I heard him let out a giant sigh of relief, glad to know I hadn’t been managed to fall into the canal.

We finished off that eventful ride by each of using eating a whole pizza and ice cream sundae.

Today we did a lighter 30 miles into Montceau-les-Mines, passing by plenty of curious cows and one very angry turkey. The Tom threateningly waddling after me as we went by.

We finished the day cooking gnocchi with pesto in the park and resting our quads from all the hills. A very nice local man came over to us and explained that the large park we were relaxing in used to be two large coal mines up until 1926 which the town was built around. Perhaps we should’ve figured that from the town’s name (Montceau-les-Mines).

Here’s hoping tomorrow’s headwind isn’t too strong!

Kat and I continued on to Decize. A small town where the several canals meet the Loire creating a “point” much like Pittsburgh.

We departed from the river a bit, going through hilly farmland. The hills and headwind proved to be a good workout, but we still made it to Decize in good time.

At one point, we rounded a large hill only to stumble upon an ongoing Formula 1 race. The entire area was filled with tracks and garages filled with race cars.

Further along was a WWI memorial of an old French-American field hospital. Of course the only time the wind wasn’t blowing was when I tried to snap a pic of the American flag…

We swung by a supermarket and grabbed our usual food of pasta, dried meat, and mushrooms (plus some French beers to try out) before rolling by a little hotel by the pier. We were planning to camp but the place looked so cute. Now we’re about to join the many people hanging out on the grass and cook us up some grub.

We left early from Saint-Satur and continued South. Kat had complained that her new cranks weren’t working quite right and were somewhat loose. These require a special tool to tighten so we sought out the next big town of Nevers to find a bike store.

The temps finally climbed into the 60s for the first time and we found ourselves quickly trading our fleeces for sunscreen. The scenery was lovely: large farms, baby animals, and canals greet us for most of the day’s ride. Despite some killer headwinds, we made good time travelling the 40 miles to Nevers and found a Decathlon sport store. The bike repair guy fixed and tuned up the bike in record time for a pittance. We think he did it out of principle when he learned their rival chain (Intersport) originally installed the cranks.

Afterwards, we grabbed groceries and retired to a tiny hotel for the night and made sandwiches for dinner (Kat’s favorite: sausage, mushroom, pickle, and mustard). We did some laundry and then went to bed. Around 9pm, an elderly lady mistakenly barged into our room. In a panic, Kat and I reverted to our most common French phrase “I’m sorry, I don’t speak French”, repeating this until the woman got the hint and left the doorway. Then we actually went to bed.

We said goodbye to Gien with some creme brûlée and enjoying the night time view. Apparently Gien was almost entirely destroyed during World War II, and most of the town was constructed during the 1950s. Going around France has definitely reminded me how young America is as a country. Riding along the Loire River, we’ve passed walls with markings of how high floods have reached in years past. I passed several marked 1785! We got back into the trail this morning and were greeted with great weather and a strong tail wind. We enjoyed a breezy 35 miles to Saint-Satur, riding along the Loire.

Maybe I’m just a little dorky, but by far my favorite thing we passed was this awesome little duck pond. It was just someone’s private back yard, but they had made a little duck heaven with a ton of exotic breeds. They even lined the fence with little signs talking about the species. I would’ve been content watching the ducks for quite a while if Kyle had let me…

We plan to bike another 35 miles tomorrow and see if we can find a good camp site!