September 8, 2022
Day 4: A birthday day
Freudenstadt - Biberach
Today is Susan's birthday! I was hoping we would have a good route for the occasion. As you can read in her journal, although today's ride was worthy of her birthday, she was saddened to receive distressing news from her sister.
Leaving the hotel, again those darned stairs, but easier to go down than up, I even managed my bike by myself.
It had rained during the night and it was cool in the morning, the forest paths were wet. First we had a little climb out of Freudenstadt to the beginning of the forest part of our ride. The sun flashed on and off through the branches, droplets of water glistened in the morning light.
There aren't too many ways to travel south from Freudenstadt and when planning the tour, I had to choose between what looked like a rough forest trail or a road that might have more traffic than would be comfortable. I chose the road and had every intention of reviewing the route with Susan before we left. I made those plans a couple of months ago and no longer remembered my uncertainty concerning the route. Now we were at the end of our forest trail and confronted with the road, there was no turning back. The first few kilometers on the road saw a bevy of cars and trucks and no shoulder. I thought this is going to be a white knuckle ride, be brave. But then the traffic disappeared and we had a fantastic run, sailing down a curvy road to the valley of the Kinzig river, which we followed for the rest of the day.
There was also flora and fauna to entertain us. I had been on the lookout for mushrooms in the forest, but didn't spy any which surprised me. It looked like a good mushroom breeding place. Later on we did get to see cows, goats and sheep.
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After the unexpected excellent road, came another surprise. We entered Schiltach which didn't look like much from the bike path, but we thought it was time for a cuppa. Then as we turned left into the pedestrian zone, rows and rows of half-timbered houses layered up the hill came into sight. I had to take many pictures. There was also a good cafe with fine patisseries. We both had little lemon tarts which were excellent. The cafe also had an interesting cellar which I got a glimpse of when I was looking for the WC. It looked like something from the Middle Ages with a floor of big stone slabs and a low vaulted roof supported by massive stone columns.
We carried on in the Kinzig Valley with a moderate headwind which picked up in the course of the afternoon.
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The Kinzig valley is flat with scenic views to the forested hills to either side of our bike path. As the wind picked up and the kilometers accumulated, my thoughts turned to our evening meal. I then noticed on the map that our guest house was in the middle of nowhere, no town far and wide. I wondered if I had booked us into another dump. The previous two nights weren't exactly dumps, but they weren't very fancy either, no frills. Will Susan be sharing an energy bar with me for her birthday dinner?
To my - and Susan's - relief the guest house was very nice and had a good restaurant, too. We had fresh trout from the region and festive desserts. Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte/Black Forest cake would have been an even more perfect birthday cake dessert, too bad they didn't have any.
Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 195 km (121 miles)
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