October 1st
A new month, a new us. Up early and got the tent down, before enjoying some oats in the forest. We then had a gravel climb out of said forest before joining the roads again.
Louis had pinpointed some public toilets in Aulendorf, a mere 18 miles away. With smooth rolling hills and some motivation we ticked off these rather quickly. We then found a bakery in the town and got side tracked for a little while in its cosy warmth. I tried a piece of some unknown Zwiebelkuchen Stück, which turned out to be fantastic. Louis had a strange fried fish sandwich, before we shared his new favoriete, a butter bretzel. It was then onto the second course for something sweet. Louis opting for a pasty the size of his head, which he rather enjoyed. He then accidentally filled two of our water bottles up with sparkling water from a tap, and got charged a large amount for this. With another treat bought and wrapped for later, we set off again. A little loop of the town, into Lidl for the days provisions, and we were off again.
There was some decent climbing that we got through, then back to our old favorite, the rolling hills. We ticked off the little towns and villages before hitting Ellwagon, where we stopped to refuel by the church. We had a real banana each and then, a Shokobananen each that we’d got from earlier. Wow, what a treat that was. A banana, on a biscuit base, with cream, and then covered in melted chocolate. Say no more. With those finished and no more suddenly appearing despite our wishes, we were back on the trike and pedalling again. The pace was a little slower now, but with 20 miles in the bank before our morning stop, we were still well on the way to a good day.
We passed through Rot an der Rot (a real name, I haven’t made that up) which had some gated district we cycled into with fancy looking churches and other huge buildings. Probably some history or something there, but none that we know of.
Then came our first real hurdle of the day. The route required we cross a river on a bridge that is also a railway bridge. However, it had many stairs up to it, and was rather narrow. We carried it up the stairs, then got to the corner and were stuck for a bit. While we were figuring out the spatial puzzle, a woman with a bike was behind us and told us she had to get to work. Strange time to start work at 4pm. Nonetheless we picked up her bike for her and lifted it over the trike and she squeezed past. We then got the trike around the corner and had to wheelie it the length of the bridge because of the handlebars. Not the easiest river crossing of the trip.
We were then very quickly into the bustling city of Memmingen, which we mostly skirted around the outsides of. But, being a city, and it being rush hour (as it always seems to be when we pass a major city) we were held up by many a traffic light, traffic jam and dodgy tarmac.
The rain had been on and off drizzling for a while and seemed set to stay now. We cruised past Memmingen airport into corn fields. 80 km had already ticked by and, it was probably the earliest time of day we’d reached this all trip. But the farm tracks were muddy and with the rain we didn’t want to get covered, so took them at a leisurely Sunday afternoon pace. We cruised through a few more villages before hitting another gravel section or too.
We then passed into Sontheim, and as it was after 5 we looked for a night place once we’d left the town.
Luckily the path meandered into another gravel section into a forest.
During cooking, and despite 16 days of practice, I forgot to drain the pasta before adding the sauce. Somehow it didn’t make too much difference. I blame it on being tired from the big day tricycling and the wasp sting that’s made my ankle the size of the hulk’s. Louis opted for capellini, which may rival macaroni for most pasta bang for your 500g.
The rain has only kept getting heavier as the day has gone on. And it’s meant to get worse through the night. So we were quickly into the hastily pitched tent.
The new wheel came into its own for a big day in the books. I think maybe our longest of the trip? We are now 105 km from Munich. We are going to see what the weather is like tomorrow, and if it’s favourable, make a push to make it there in one day. Just in time for Oktoberfest and a German bank holiday. But that would require some stars to align. If they don’t, we’ll get wherever we get to, and enjoy it all the same.
Daily stats
103 km. 838 m elevation gain. 5 hr 58 moving time.
Cumulative trip stats
1,391 km. 11,584 m elevation gain. 83 hrs 28 mins moving time
