When we picked up our fresh bread from the campground reception in the morning, I asked them to phone a bike shop in Fussen for me. I am having trouble understanding the Bavarian dialect (and they don't understand me) so I am learning to stop trying and to take advantage of local help. The girl at reception told us that there is a bike shop in the village a km away, so, off Barry went. He was gone a long time which made me hopeful. But no, the bike shop was closed as the owner was at the Euro Bike Expo! But this was the least of his problems. First,when riding back, he heard a loud sound and discovered that the bolt which attaches the rear disc brake to the frame was hanging by a thread and this had caused the all important spacer to fall off. Next he discovered that the quick-release for the rear wheel was also not correct (which means that the wheel could could fall off. The next calamity was discovering that our new waterproof camera was missing. Could it be stolen, or did we throw it in somewhere odd in our haste to pack or did Barry leave it at the side of the road when he was fixing the bike? We gave up looking and headed out. Well, 100 metres later we were halted by a flat tire on our trailer. Expletives were uttered and we found ourselves longing for our Iceland rental car. So we phoned a bike shop in Fussen and they agreed to instal the chainring, if we got there soon. During our ride, we realized hat we had serious issues with our disc brakes. Oh dear, it is good that this is happening now and not in the mountains. We need the shop in Fussen to fix our brakes or we won't be able to continue. We phoned the bike shop when we finally got to the campground Magdalena on Forgensee. The bike shop thought it best if we came in the morning before they opened as they are very busy and Saturday is a short day ( businesses here close midday on Saturday). A mechanic agreed to work on our bike before opening time. That suited us as we had had a tough day. Our campsite is the busiest, most congested tenting we have ever seen, but it's setting is spectacular: the aquamarine lake edged by mountains and castles is breathtaking. We will enjoy staying put. Plus, we don't trust our bike and the brakes, so it will be good to get up early and ride in to Fussen without traffic. And yes, the camera was safely stowed in the trailer.
The Via Claudia campground was excellent. Joining us in our camping area was a group of British motorcyclists who were traveling to Austria to support a friend who was participating in the World Ironman Competitions taking place in Austria.While we were packing up we watched this hot air balloon fly over head.
People had to go around us as our two bikes took up the whole bike path. People were more surprised and curious than upset that they had to swerve off of the path.
