Today started out in a truly rustic hotel, about 300 years old rustic, but kept up really well. The breakfast was the best yet, and the people were really nice. I'm almost thinking of telling Rick Steves about this one.
I figured out the phone problems. I manually selected a network a few days ago to connect with the internet, and then when there were new networks in range, it didn't jump to them. I should have no problem as long as I keep manually scanning for new networks. When EDGE shows up it's great since the google maps app zooms and scrolls smoothly and shows the blue spot where I am at the moment. Pretty slick stuff. I even impressed a few Germans with it.
I went over a hill today that I probably didn't need to. It was pretty challenging since I live in a city where the hills are called bridges. So today I found out what a German hill can do. I think if I lived around them and I rode the same hill regularly, it would be a really good measure of what kind of shape my bike and I was in. Fully loaded on a road touring bike with 70 psi in the tires isn't something I'll try regularly. I just think it would be more fun than having a different performance each time you ride solely because of the weather and traffic.
So the town I'm staying in tonight is called Meersburg, and they are actually quite fond of wine. So much so that people flock from throughout the country this time of year and pay twice as much as they should for everything. How that affects me is obviously the hotel room situation, but it was also very hard to find a restaurant that it seemed right to drink a hefeweisen at. I thought it was ironic that this trip is in search of good beer among other things, and then it takes me to a snooty wine town. Maureen did get a kick out of hearing about that though.
Tomorrow I have some pretty critical traverse-planning (to use a lunar exploration term) issues to deal with. I'm going to finally put some effort into seeing if the path from the Bodensee to Fussen is littered with climbs or not. If not it may be the best way to go, but I'm thinking a more direct route is better, since when I go to a popular town that everyone else wants to be in I always seem to have trouble finding a room. Hmm. I guess I should see what I can do about getting a room near Munich from the internet cafe too.
Wrapping it up now. Fell asleep the first time I tried entering it in.
Tschuss!
30 September 2007
29 September 2007
No Room at the Inn
Today started off in the late morning, but still the morning, which was gut. The first thing to do was to get out of the bind I had gotten into by getting to the most southwestern part of Germany I could. Trying to avoid going south I headed over my first big hill since it was a very direct route east. Fun stuff in the morning. Got to ride by grapes being harvested again, and see an incredible view of what was probably three countries at once. Then a downhill of my dreams. It must have been 2 miles long, and I hardly had to break once, going about 25 or more the whole time. I can't fib since the GPS won't lie, so those are my actual guesses. We'll see how they stack up to the data.
At first I thought it was a bad idea to go into Switzerland, but I found out later you can pretty much come and go as you please on a bike. Since I was caught in this valley with nowhere to go but up, or Switzerland. The same hill was over there just with dirt trails instead of pavement but I missed the factories I would have had to go around. When I got back to Germany it was much easier to get down the Rhine because of the paved roads. It was also pretty cool to go from one country to another without a soul in sight.
The evening was very straightforward, with these little signs telling me where to go. The bugs got a little annoying. Let's just say I'm glad I shaved yesterday. Now I know why the pros go all out. It's not wind resistance, it's bug resistance....
I suppose when you go to a small town in southern Germany on a Saturday, on the shores of the Rhine, it's best to call ahead, but as usual I was rolling in at a little before sunset hoping to find something frei. Since the woman at the "Bett und Bike" place felt bad, she called around and found a place not too far away. It was back the way I came, but that was better since I kind of knew where it was.
Apart from the last minute change of plans, the evening went well. I had my obligatory 'something I can't pronounce' for dinner, and a beer to wash it down. Gut stuff!
That will be alles. I'm getting texted - Gute nacht! Oh, and in case you're keeping track, the town I'm in is called Gugenmuhle, and I think it has about 17 residents.
At first I thought it was a bad idea to go into Switzerland, but I found out later you can pretty much come and go as you please on a bike. Since I was caught in this valley with nowhere to go but up, or Switzerland. The same hill was over there just with dirt trails instead of pavement but I missed the factories I would have had to go around. When I got back to Germany it was much easier to get down the Rhine because of the paved roads. It was also pretty cool to go from one country to another without a soul in sight.
The evening was very straightforward, with these little signs telling me where to go. The bugs got a little annoying. Let's just say I'm glad I shaved yesterday. Now I know why the pros go all out. It's not wind resistance, it's bug resistance....
I suppose when you go to a small town in southern Germany on a Saturday, on the shores of the Rhine, it's best to call ahead, but as usual I was rolling in at a little before sunset hoping to find something frei. Since the woman at the "Bett und Bike" place felt bad, she called around and found a place not too far away. It was back the way I came, but that was better since I kind of knew where it was.
Apart from the last minute change of plans, the evening went well. I had my obligatory 'something I can't pronounce' for dinner, and a beer to wash it down. Gut stuff!
That will be alles. I'm getting texted - Gute nacht! Oh, and in case you're keeping track, the town I'm in is called Gugenmuhle, and I think it has about 17 residents.
28 September 2007
Rain chances stay mainly on France's plains
Today was a long, great day. I started a little late again. After being wide awake at 5am I fell back asleep and woke to the hotel frau knocking on my door. Later she would tell me in broken English, "I don't know you dead". But breakfast was still waiting for me downstairs, a fine collection of breads, cheeses, and sliced meats - and kickass coffee!. I bet the french are rubbing off on them since they're so close to the border. Kind of like us and fajitas.
I got out of there at 11am or so, and made my way south to the Rhine. Once there I realized that there's a dirt trail down the entire length on the French and German sides. Sometimes it's interrupted by a factory or something, but they usually provide a way to get around. But it was dirt, and I wanted culture, so I tried to go from town to town and go south. Even tried going over to the french side again to see if it was easier. I will say that the French give more attention to bike trails, next to roads, etc. But as soon as I got over the bridge it started to rain. Really wasn't that bad, but somehow I associated it with France. I wanted to get back to Germany more than ever!
After finding the bridge in Chalampe I just wanted to cover as much ground as possible to make it even remotely possible to get to the Bodensee tomorrow. So after going through a few small towns and losing track a few times, a found the Rhine trail again by accident and just got on that dirt road. Cycling tip: your average speed drops to 11 or 12 miles per hour when you're on packed wet dirt, but you can cover more miles per hour when they're kilometers, so it kind of evens out when you're on the Rhine trail.
I was able to make it to Weil am Rhine, which is roughly as close as you can get to France and Switzerland without leaving Germany. Since I got here pretty late I didn't have a lot of time to look around and I'm basically staying in a German truck stop Gasthaus. Pretty shady outside, but standard German deal happening inside. Great food, better beer, and lots of people loud and boisterous at the dinner table. Next time someone calls me a loud American in Russia I'll remember this restaurant. I just hope my bike is still in the biergarten in the morghen!
I got out of there at 11am or so, and made my way south to the Rhine. Once there I realized that there's a dirt trail down the entire length on the French and German sides. Sometimes it's interrupted by a factory or something, but they usually provide a way to get around. But it was dirt, and I wanted culture, so I tried to go from town to town and go south. Even tried going over to the french side again to see if it was easier. I will say that the French give more attention to bike trails, next to roads, etc. But as soon as I got over the bridge it started to rain. Really wasn't that bad, but somehow I associated it with France. I wanted to get back to Germany more than ever!
After finding the bridge in Chalampe I just wanted to cover as much ground as possible to make it even remotely possible to get to the Bodensee tomorrow. So after going through a few small towns and losing track a few times, a found the Rhine trail again by accident and just got on that dirt road. Cycling tip: your average speed drops to 11 or 12 miles per hour when you're on packed wet dirt, but you can cover more miles per hour when they're kilometers, so it kind of evens out when you're on the Rhine trail.
I was able to make it to Weil am Rhine, which is roughly as close as you can get to France and Switzerland without leaving Germany. Since I got here pretty late I didn't have a lot of time to look around and I'm basically staying in a German truck stop Gasthaus. Pretty shady outside, but standard German deal happening inside. Great food, better beer, and lots of people loud and boisterous at the dinner table. Next time someone calls me a loud American in Russia I'll remember this restaurant. I just hope my bike is still in the biergarten in the morghen!
27 September 2007
Texan-style hospitality in Strasbourg
When I left off in the last entry I was enjoying a hefeweisen and a pretzel while on the train to my starting point - Strasbourg, France. This town is the home of the International Space University, and the temporary home of my friend Amanda, who just started her year-long masters program there.
I arrived at the train station in Strasbourg at 11:30pm with a large cardboard box with a bike in it, and three other bags, two of which I figured out how to strap to my back. I'll spare the details, but picture me with a decision to make between a 50 yard walk to the taxi stand and a mile walk to an apartment, holding a GPS device, a phone with Google Maps, a bad signal and low battery. Tough call, I know. But I hadn't walked anywhere in few days so I decided to find out how badly I need a lighter road bike and better battery life on my phone. I found Amanda's apartment fine, sorta, and after some Alsacian wine and a few hours of discussing the future of human spaceflight, I was ready for some real sleep.
When I woke from a very comfortable futon, I had a lot to do. Assemble my bike, pack for the road, eat lots of calories, and set off. After a nice breakfast at a french café, Amanda went to school and I started construction. I should have practiced at home just to cut down the amount of time it takes to do it, but everything went together fine. The guys at Webster Bicycle did a good job making sure that a drunk Bavarian couldn't break anything by sitting on the box.
After that I packed up my bags, Amanda came back and made us some pasta - the perfect food to prepare - and I was off! Ok, I still had to overcome the last minute scare of a flat front tire with no way to pump it up, but at 4:15 or so I was really off. Thanks to Amanda for some great Texan hospitality in Strasbourg! She says she wouldn't mind more visitors from the States, so if you're thinking about touring through, consider making the stop in this really neat little French/German town.
The 25 miles I got in today wasn't all in a straight line, but most of it was as I went mostly down a canal with a nice side road on it. A detour onto the dirt road side of the canal slowed me down a bit, and since I had a late start I didn't make it all the way to Freiburg like I wanted to. I got about halfway there to a town called Kappel - but at least I was in Germany and not France like I had been riding most of the day in - would have made for a more challenging exchange at the hotel I'm sure. It was just about sunset when I got here so when I found a place with a room frei, I jumped on it.
The food was great. I had a turkey schnitzel with a curry sauce and homemade pasta. Oh, and fresh Paulaner hefeweisen on draught. After that I went back to the room to wash some of the clothes I had worn and do some communicating with the outside world. My phone only works while I'm holing it high off the floor of my top-level hotel room, so this post and my texts may be a bit delayed. But for now, time to get some rest for a longer day of riding tomorrow!
I arrived at the train station in Strasbourg at 11:30pm with a large cardboard box with a bike in it, and three other bags, two of which I figured out how to strap to my back. I'll spare the details, but picture me with a decision to make between a 50 yard walk to the taxi stand and a mile walk to an apartment, holding a GPS device, a phone with Google Maps, a bad signal and low battery. Tough call, I know. But I hadn't walked anywhere in few days so I decided to find out how badly I need a lighter road bike and better battery life on my phone. I found Amanda's apartment fine, sorta, and after some Alsacian wine and a few hours of discussing the future of human spaceflight, I was ready for some real sleep.
When I woke from a very comfortable futon, I had a lot to do. Assemble my bike, pack for the road, eat lots of calories, and set off. After a nice breakfast at a french café, Amanda went to school and I started construction. I should have practiced at home just to cut down the amount of time it takes to do it, but everything went together fine. The guys at Webster Bicycle did a good job making sure that a drunk Bavarian couldn't break anything by sitting on the box.
After that I packed up my bags, Amanda came back and made us some pasta - the perfect food to prepare - and I was off! Ok, I still had to overcome the last minute scare of a flat front tire with no way to pump it up, but at 4:15 or so I was really off. Thanks to Amanda for some great Texan hospitality in Strasbourg! She says she wouldn't mind more visitors from the States, so if you're thinking about touring through, consider making the stop in this really neat little French/German town.
The 25 miles I got in today wasn't all in a straight line, but most of it was as I went mostly down a canal with a nice side road on it. A detour onto the dirt road side of the canal slowed me down a bit, and since I had a late start I didn't make it all the way to Freiburg like I wanted to. I got about halfway there to a town called Kappel - but at least I was in Germany and not France like I had been riding most of the day in - would have made for a more challenging exchange at the hotel I'm sure. It was just about sunset when I got here so when I found a place with a room frei, I jumped on it.
The food was great. I had a turkey schnitzel with a curry sauce and homemade pasta. Oh, and fresh Paulaner hefeweisen on draught. After that I went back to the room to wash some of the clothes I had worn and do some communicating with the outside world. My phone only works while I'm holing it high off the floor of my top-level hotel room, so this post and my texts may be a bit delayed. But for now, time to get some rest for a longer day of riding tomorrow!
26 September 2007
A glimpse of Munich
After a run through the Munich train station, I found the ticket counter for the trains, waited in line for 20 minutes, and bought a ticket for one that left in 8 minutes after that. I swear, this is some great, low-stress practice for The Amazing Race.
The train I did get on has two changes before strasbourg, so that means dragging my still-packed bike from platform to platform. The two weisbiers and the pretzel I had should help with some energy to do that though.
I got a little glimpse of the Oktoberfest as many revelers made their way back home after what must have been a long day. I put my bike box up against a long wall on the train and went to get my pretzel. 20 minutes later I had to step over the German kid that was passed out sitting on my bike box. He was entertaining to listen to before he lost consciousness so I didn't mind.
A few Americans around too. it gives a little sense of home - and confirmation that I'm not crazy for loving this place. Surprisingly I've been keeping my mouth shut and most people don't know that I can't understand 90% of what I'm hearing. Usually it's not long after I do open my mouth that they figure it out.
The train I did get on has two changes before strasbourg, so that means dragging my still-packed bike from platform to platform. The two weisbiers and the pretzel I had should help with some energy to do that though.
I got a little glimpse of the Oktoberfest as many revelers made their way back home after what must have been a long day. I put my bike box up against a long wall on the train and went to get my pretzel. 20 minutes later I had to step over the German kid that was passed out sitting on my bike box. He was entertaining to listen to before he lost consciousness so I didn't mind.
A few Americans around too. it gives a little sense of home - and confirmation that I'm not crazy for loving this place. Surprisingly I've been keeping my mouth shut and most people don't know that I can't understand 90% of what I'm hearing. Usually it's not long after I do open my mouth that they figure it out.
Dutch is messing with my German brain cells
The Amsterdam airport, besides being large enough to have several zip codes, is very clean and it's very easy to get around. At first I didn't realize that I was in a small segmented international part of the airport, but when I left passport control they made me finish the liter of water I had just bought at the duty free. I suppose I need to stay hydrated anyways.
So the plan as it stands now is to get into the Munich airport in Freising, jump on a train to Munich proper and then to Strasbourg to crash at a friend's apartment (thanks Amanda!). Then I'll leave from there Thursday morning, weather-permitting down the Rhine and to the Bodensee, and up to Munich. I still have to do some serious estimating about how much ground I can cover per day and when I might get to Munich. The original plan was to bike away and take a train back, so it matters a little more now if I want to fit in a few liters of beer before Rome.
So the plan as it stands now is to get into the Munich airport in Freising, jump on a train to Munich proper and then to Strasbourg to crash at a friend's apartment (thanks Amanda!). Then I'll leave from there Thursday morning, weather-permitting down the Rhine and to the Bodensee, and up to Munich. I still have to do some serious estimating about how much ground I can cover per day and when I might get to Munich. The original plan was to bike away and take a train back, so it matters a little more now if I want to fit in a few liters of beer before Rome.
25 September 2007
On board!
Smooth sailing at IAH on a Tuesday evening getting checked in and on the plane. Continental charged me 95 dollars to get my bike on the plane, but only one charge to go all the way through to Munich.
Looking at the weather for Munich during the last couple of days, I'm seriously considering taking a quick train ride to the west and starting the ride from the other end. I never got reservations in Munich for Wednesday night so I hope that works out. :)
The next test will be to see if I can blog from the Amsterdam airport.
Tschuss!
-CG
Looking at the weather for Munich during the last couple of days, I'm seriously considering taking a quick train ride to the west and starting the ride from the other end. I never got reservations in Munich for Wednesday night so I hope that works out. :)
The next test will be to see if I can blog from the Amsterdam airport.
Tschuss!
-CG
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