Gotte

Off on my first tour in 4 hours - friend and I are going to the Black Forest for 9 days.

I'll let you know how it went when I get back.

Wiedersehen.

mkauffman

Wooo enjoy!

Lolly Pop

Have fun!

Shiznaz

Try the ham!

Lolly Pop

. . .and the gateau!

Gotte

weee-heee, what a hoot. I'll give you the details later but suffice it to say, the black forest, and Freiburg especially, gets a big thumbs up from me.

ephemeralskin

hey i live here!

ephemeralskin

i went out riding in the schwarzwald a couple days ago.. coming around this ridge we saw cows lying down, which is an old farmers sign it will rain soon, and an hour later we descended into the valley and into one of the most amazing springtime thunderstorms. it lasted a couple hours and totally drenched us. then we climbed out and around the bend and its all blue skies again. so fun.

Gotte

Wow, I envy you. Are you German? Your English is good, if you are. If not, where are you from, originally, and how come you're in Freiburg?

ephemeralskin

not german, im here on exchange from the university of oregon. ill be here till the end of the semester (late july), then a couple weeks touring around europe, then its back to eugene.

so tell us about your trip!

Gotte

It was great. Really great. The weather, as you will know, was hot. We went from Stuttgart to Turbingen, then Turbingen to Sulz, then caught the train to Friburg, where we stayed a couple of days (I'd picked up an infection in my toe, and wantedto rest it up. We still cycled out into the black forest, though, and of course around Friburg. We were originally going to go upto Baden Baden, but then realised we quite like the idea of following the Rhine down to Bad Sackingen and laufenburg. We then caught the train back up to Turbingen, and cycled back into Stuttgart.
We never did less than 30 miles a day, and on three consecutive days did 50 miles. I loved all of it, even Weil, which was a bit, well, shall we say "hesslich"? And the Black Forest, which was new to me, was beautiful.
But Freiburg was the best. All those bikes, all those cyclists, that mad river run at rush hour.

On a dark note, we saw an ambulance during a steep decent in the south of the Black Forest, and slowed to see a lot of blood and a bike by the roadside. looked like some poor sod had got pretty mangled. Hope he was okay. but it was a lot of blood...

About the roughest day we had as the last, when we had to get to the airport from the centre of Stuttgart. Followed the Neckar up for a way, then headed off onto surface roads, which pretty soon stopped resembling the map. We got back on route with a bit of help from strangers, but had to climb a massive hill in the blazing sun, all the time getting more panicky that time was running out before our flight left. We then realised that the route we'd thought easy was really difficult, and decided to simply head south till we hit the autobahn. We saw a trail that lead to a town really close to the airport, but that just looped round and took us away. None of the road signs seemed to tell us anything, and when we could actually see the airport, we still needed help by locals to get half a mile to the door. And then only with an hour to spare to break the bikes down and chec k them in.

But other than that. A great, great trip. 275 miles in 8 days.

About the only thing I'd do differently is take a lightweight tent, sleepingbag and bedroll, so we coud just camp should we need to, and not have to rely on towns being within striking distance.

Oh, and I'd have more cake.

Lolly Pop

Sounds wonderful! Glad you had such a great time.

becnal

Great weather for it too. It didn't rain the entire month of April in Germany. Weird stuff.

Gotte

They must have known we were coming .

East Hill

Congratulations Gotte! I'm glad to see that you exceeded your target, too.

East Hill

Gotte

Thanks for that, and once again for your contribution. It got the ball rolling and was very much appreciated.

I just noticed your sig. Is your family from Lancashire? That's close to where I live.

East Hill

I was born in Swinton. My father was born in Barton upon Irwell, my mother in Moss Side (before it went bad, mind you). My family have been in Lancashire since before 1841 . Mostly lived in the area around Salford/Pendleton/Irlam/Eccles. Yes, I've still got many relatives in the area . I visit every chance I get, or about every three years.

East Hill