It’s amazing how restorative one night under a roof can be. Whilst we’ve not been sleeping poorly in our little tent, being a little vagabond-ish and chancing your luck can put you on a slight edge. As we woke fully rested in the shadows of the Black Forest, we were ready for the not unsubstantial challenges ahead.
We dropped into a bike shop to replenish our reserve on inner tubes, and got ourselves a new pump in the process, making sure that we could take on the forest in full confidence. Visiting Tref 3000 – the only German supermarket that could also have been an 80s arcade game, we restocked on pastas, bread and water. All food groups covered, we pushed on.
Tipped to head in the direction of Schauinsland, we pointed our wheels uphill in vengeance for the first time. A real mountain, Schauinsland peaks at 1248 meters above sea level, and involves a 17km climb at gradients averaging 11%. It’s name literally translating as ‘See the Land’ the summit promised views of the Alps as well as the Vosges, and this was the chief carrot of motivation as we clunked up, laden with a full touring set-up.
It was around 2 kilometres in that the first van driver stopped for us. Pulling up, a smiley chap warned us forebodingly that we’d be going up all day – that we must be lost – that we were making a mistake. Buoyed by a good night’s rest, we turned down his offer of a lift and carried on. Not more than 500 meters later – a lorry stopped, and made the same pleas as the van driver. Clearly, we were in for a challenge.
As we sloped upwards slowly at first, we were settling in for a steady pace. Rounding one bend however, we were hit with what would be a 3km stretch of 14%. A not un-daunting task on a normal road bike, when laden with luggage, even stopping was hard. Getting going requiring expert rhythm and timing, the struggle uphill was to be drawn out. Pushing up the winding roads, each meander taunted us by revealing a taller peak. Unperturbed, we pushed on, completing our final section on steep gravel roads out of a tiny village, just under the mountain’s crest.
Taking lunch at the view point, we marvelled as the Vosges all hazy and blue sat squat on the horizon, whilst glare obscured the peaks of the soaring Alpine mass.
Sweaty, sticky, but happy, we had to stop for photos.
Having made our altitude up to this point, we set out finding a way by which we could keep it and push on to Feldberg. As our contemplation proved protracted, we soon found ourselves pitching our tent in a small wooded camp. Firing up the stove we prepared and devoured pasta – our second meal in about as many hours. As we patted our stomachs and reflected on the climb, we decided to indulge ourselves with a luxury. Leaving the panniers in our camping spot, we decided to follow the ridge road and check out the sunset. Dropping over one side of the summit, we encountered a stunning view.
Whisking into another patch of scrubland, Stef returned declaring that she had found another camp site. With the view quite so tempting as it was, I gave in my reserves about the tediousness of repacking and moving all our gear, but certainly, it was worth it.
Waking high on our mosquito-free mountain top, we steadily packed up. Taking care not to loose too much altitude, we found ourselves back at Nordic-Ski centre height, and from there, tackled the paths that rose in lumps towards the Black Forest’s highest point – Feldburg.
Although an apogee of the entire mountain range, the Feldburg at 1450 meters lacked in dramatic views. It surrounded by similarly tall relatives, it struggled to peep much beyond the dusty blue treetops. An achievement though, we celebrated with a pils the closest bar to the top.
Having planned another weekend meet up with Maria and her VW camper, we wound down the Feldburg and stopped for lunch on the terrace of a ‘closed for the season’ ski bar. Surrounded by the paraphernalia of ski culture, our surroundings seemed quite at odds with what had been a fairly tough couple of days on the bike. Still, we planned to keep on the road, and coasted the luxurious 15 kilometre downhill from Feldburg to the tranquillity of Schluchsee. Green and watery, this lake boasts a historic railway, and in it’s shadow, we made camp for the night.
Steadily, more campers filled the space, and soon enough, we had a little campfire and fledgling camper community formed. A couple of drinks and some grilled food later, we settled down and took rest for the night. Waking fairly lazily but to the puff and whizz of steam engines marching by the tent, we got coffee on the stove.
As we all rubbed the sleep from our eyes, we eventually parted ways once more, leaving us with the prospect of making landfall in our 5th country; Switzerland.
Heading south west, we first made the slight incline to Bonndorf, passing on the way the iconically German Rothaus brewery. After a Belgian waffle in Bonndorf Zentrum, we plummeted for something to the tune of 25 kilometres – a fact that our sore legs thanked us for. Finally though, on an inconspicuous river crossing, we were confronted with the word Zoll – we’d made it to Switzerland.
We continued onwards, making our day’s goal Schauffhausen. Sweeping down again to the Rhine’s upper course, we stumbled into Neuhausen, home to Europe’s largest waterfall – the Rhinefall.
Having been told that it wasn’t all that impressive, we had been tempted to skip this attraction – but we were so glad to have made it a waypoint on our route. As we explored the town, we flitted from scenic view point to stunning vista, stopping of course, only for lunch.
Getting down and closer to the water, we were astounded by the number of Indian tourists taking in the falls. With one group even engaging in an impromptu rave to the latest Bollywood tunes, we were quite taken with the idiosyncrasy of this awe inspiring place. As the sun was fading though, we still found ourselves distinctly in Switzerland, and with a pitiful lack of Swiss Francs and a strong intent to avoid unnecessary expense, we needed to push on. With small German enclaves along the river, we carried on in the hope of a campsite, but eventually, fate played a better hand.
After grazing into town on gravel paths we met the most spectacular 11th century wooden bridge spanning the immaculately emerald Rhine. Astounded, we spotted from one of it’s spans a little man made beach and it was here that we made camp. With toilets, showers, and even a playpark, it had everything we needed. We sprung up the tent and made a modest meal which we consumed away from the midges and gnats that hounded any light that shone.
Waking on a sedate Monday morning by the banks of a crystalline clear Rhine, we took a cold plunge to wash away the last four days of dirt.
After clearing up our stuff, we went into the Swiss side of town, exploring the medieval lanes and spending €7.40 on 0.4L of orange juice. Truly – this was Switzerland. We pushed on, and followed the river to Stein Am Rhien. A stunningly beautiful town, we had lunch by the banks before making ground towards Konstanz, some 30 kilometres ahead. Snaking along the river in the full heat of day, this was a rather exhausting stretch, but littered with sublime scenery. A real swimming culture engulfing communities along the river, the laid back, float-along lifestyle seemed one more attune to our own nomadic sensibility.
As we made it into Konstanz without much fanfare, we took to the harbour, seizing the opportunity to mark the moment with some postcard writing and paddling. All stamped and franked, we bought tickets for the boat across the lake, assuring ourselves of covering good ground the next day. Next, we moved on to the home of Sara – a fantastic Warm Showers host who kindly offered us a space to sleep. Talking for hours about art and regional differences in her airy and warm lit apartment, we watched storms roll in across the lake,and thunder erupt in bolts through the skylights of this city centre spot.
Waking early, after sharing a coffee with Sara, we said our farewells and made the 15 minute dash to the port of Konstanz and set out into the glare, ready to make landfall in Bregenz, Austria.
