Day 3--Donaueschingen to Sigmaringen, Germany

Oh shift!

Friday, Jun 27, 2008
Donaueschingen to Sigmaringen, Germany
Distance: 97 km (60.27 miles)

X+: The Danube has carved a sinuous valley through the Schwabian Alps, affording great bicycling in the valley bottom or short, steep climbs for those who wish. We're pedaling though the heartland of the Jurassic limestones of Central Europe. Castle ruins line the bluffs along the Danube, and Beuron Abbey, dating to the 11th century, is a major stop along our route.

We were all at the breakfast buffet early in anticipation of our first day of riding. It was a typical and good buffet of cold cuts, cheeses, delicious hard rolls and dark multi-grain breads, several types of cereal and granola, jams, honey, yogurt, coffee, juice . . . At this very first breakfast I started eating a bowl of granola with yogurt and did this every morning for the rest of the ride.

We started off together at 9 am for a photo session at the fountain/ stream that is purported to be the source of the Danube. Rick took several photos of our group of eleven.

Left, a very blurry pic of the group: Marion Shaw, Carolyn Martin, Fred Shaw, Bob Poelstra, me, Harold Martin, Judy Barrett, David Kahn, Steve Henderson, Barbara Kahn, Rod Ulrich

Judy's taking a photo of Barbara and me at ride start. I am holding Judy's bike.
Notice how small it is, though it was still big for petite Judy.

It was a beautiful day for scenery, temps, and route— breezy and cool in the low 80s. We followed the German Donau Bike Track, an alternately paved/pea gravel bike path for most of the length of the ride along the river. After Rick took his pix at the source of the Donau, we rode together to the confluence of the Breg and the Brigach Rivers which come together to form the Danube.

Harold and Judy riding through a tunnel cut in a medieval wall on the track

The Danube in its infancy

A building with interesting shutters and a shrine near the bike path

Harold, Rick, and Marion at the confluence of the Breg and Brigach rivers. Marion is wearing an ExperiencePlus jersey. I opted instead for an X+ carry bag.

Judy and a touring cyclist not with our group, climbing the hill to the cafe.

The buildings on the cliff across from the cafe.

Judy and I managed to get lost twice. We are getting used to X+’s arrow system. I am also still getting used to my bike and its reversed shifting. As with driving a shift car, you get so used to  it that you shift without thinking. So, when straining to climb a hill, for instance, I would shift up to a higher gear rather than down to a lower one, or when I wanted to shift up I'd shift down. This lapse caused precarious situations. Once when I was just at the top of a short, steep gravel hill, I shifted down to get over the top . . . but alas with the reversed gears, I mistakenly shifted up, so had to jump from the bike as I could not turn the pedal and was about to fall over. The bike crashed to the ground. I hoped that Rick, who was behind on the track, did not see. He had asked us to treat his bikes (Cannondale touring bikes) as though they were our own.

We had one long off-track (the trails are called tracks in Germany) road climb to the cliffs and a café above the river. I never got out of the middle ring because the bikes are geared so low. Opposite the café on other cliffs were interesting buildings.

The highlight of this first day’s ride was Beuron Abbey. We parked and locked our bikes, took our rack packs under arm, and explored the Abbey gardens, main church, and crypt. 

Internet photo showing  Beuron Abbey, the bike trail, and the river we crossed.

Judy crossing river; Beuron Abbey in background

After visiting the Abbey, we had a long sweeping downhill, and then came to a fantastic medieval walled town called Inzigkofen. Its farm and old nun’s cloister buildings were all contained within the medieval walls. It is now a volkshochschule.

Inzigkofen town walls

A yard stork heralding the arrival of a new family member; the plaque tells the baby's sex, name, birthdate, weight, etc. We saw others of these, some with a basket in the bill for gifting infant clothing

The real things in a rooftop nest; note how the rooftop has been made inviting for the nest. Storks are symbols of good luck in this county

Bridge into city (cannot now remember which) and the flowers and houses that line it; right, a group of cyclists (not ours) pause to take in the valley that we will ride across.

At one point, our chalk arrow read “FOOD” and pointed to a combination super market-bakery. We stopped there for lunch, buying meat and cheese and a bottle of cold water in the supermarket, and rolls in the bakery. We had the bakery slice the rolls, and then sat at high tables in the bakery and put together a sandwich. I couldn’t resist buying what appeared to be a delectable chocolate pastry but it was dry and tasteless. Rick, Harold, and Carolyn came in and joined us just as we were finishing.

Internet photo of our Sigmaringen hotel Gasthaus Traube (Hotel Grape). This photo was taken
by a group of tourists in winter, but I include it here to show that the hotel
was built in 1722 and renovated in 1983.

Dinner together this evening was veal cutlet in creamy gravy with mushrooms and spatzel (an egg-rich German pasta), FF, ice cream for desert. I lived in Germany in 1963 and am still not fond of German food.

Observations:

      - Today we crossed the Donau 10 times.

      - I didn’t know it at this first breakfast but learned later that cocoa puffs were to be a common buffet cereal regular. Odd sugary choice.

     - On the ride today I saw my first storks, a grey heron, magpies, two hawks, hooded crows and carrion crows, many black and white wagtails, and quite a few mute swans, several with downy gray cygnets. I also saw a red fox roadkill, a hedgehog roadkill, and some fish that were spawning.