It was one of those days. Gore Tex was the name of the day. You put your head down and ride. There is no beautiful scenery, no trees, only the rain. We had an hour of sun, just enough to take off the rain kit, then the dark skies closed in again. Reached Ulm in time to climb the largest church steeple in the world.
Beautiful town. Seems to get a good chunk of its revenue from cyclists. We are everywhere in town. I am starting to recognize different groups of cyclists and see them in town.
The morning started off very foggy and slowly turned into a wonderfully sunny day. The first half stayed in a very tight valley with limestone cliffs on both sides. Hard to describe the beauty of this ride. The path finally opened up to wide, flat corn fields as we came into Riedlingen. On the approach into town, an elderly couple asked us where we were going and if we needed a place to stay. She suggested two hotels that were nice but not expensive. They also suggested the other side of the river as it was wider. The people we meet are very friendly.
We are now on the main section of the ride, and with it's popularity, a good set of cycle specific maps are available. Very good detail, as well as a graphical description of the road surfaces. Dashed red means hard packed dirt. The rain started in the afternoon and was off and on, enough for a very dirty ride. The reward today was a section of the river that is in a tight valley with no trains or paved roads. Outstanding.
We are now on a main route that follows the Donau. There are many routes that come and go along the way. The route is very easy to follow with several groups of touring cyclists along the way.
The builders of the trail system are very serious about what they do. Pictured is a healthy bridge over a set of railroad tracks.
It was one of those days that went between horrible and beautiful. The rain and mist let up late but left us in a muddy mess. Part of our way was freshly graded and muddy. I would rather ride uphill and against the wind than pull a trailer in the mud. We found a fountain in the fields above Futzen and cleaned up the built up mud.
The climbs had some outstanding sections in the black forest that made it all worthwhile.
