September 12, 2021
To Hittenkirchen
First day of cycling!
And I have both chain rings and all my gears!!
Yippee!!!
I was up early and by 6:45 headed out for breakfast at the neighborhood bakery, the only nearby establishment where I could get coffee before ten a.m. on a Sunday morning – or so Google said. Alas, the place was closed. Determined to avoid the 25€ breakfast charged by the hotel, I resorted to MacDonald’s - where I’m told the coffee is good. The place was full of young people on the tail end of their Saturday night – no doubt craving salt and fat after a hard night partying. I ordered a latte (okay) and muesli with yogurt (regrettable) and headed back to the hotel for the usual morning pre-departure chores. Despite my best intentions, it was almost 8:30 before we rolled into the streets of Munich on a picture perfect blue sky day. I happily discovered that my amateur mechanic skills had done the trick and that the electronic shifters were correctly signaling my intent to their respective derailleur - in short, I had all my gears. Thankfully so, as I never would have survived the day without the small chain ring.
It took about 10 miles to get through the greater Munich environs, but the route out was on dedicated bike lanes or small, low-traffic roads. I stopped in Hohenkirchen and enjoyed a coffee and pastry at one of their outdoor tables. I neglected to translate the notice on the table indicating that persons eating at the outside tables must fill out a contact tracing form. No proof of vaccine needed, but paperwork was a necessity.
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The next 30 miles reminded me of the joy of touring, especially in almost perfect weather conditions. Rural landscapes became the norm as I approached Ayling, and the next 10 miles passed through farmland, woods and small towns on small paved roads or gravel paths. It was Sunday morning and everyone seemed to be at church or off for an outing at the BergTier Park, a large nature park for wildlife and endangered farm animals.
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Beyond the park, there was a nice descent to Feldkirchen-Westerham where I picked up Mangfall River, which I followed on a gentle downhill to Rosenheim. There was lots of activity along the river - cyclists and walkers on paths flanking each bank, kayakers, and scores and scores sunbathers. The distant peaks of the Alps were starting to appear and became more defined after crossing the Inn River, just east of Rosenheim. Clearing skies also helped improve the views.
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The last ten miles were a series of steep ups and downs on both paved and gravel, with grades of 12-16%. All the while I imagined with horror what it would have been like with only my large chain ring. There were one or two ascents approaching 16% on loose rocks and sand- impossible to climb without a electric mountain bike. At one particularly bad stretch heading up through a field, I couldn’t even push the bike in the gravel - it kept slipping and falling away from me. I finally moved off the road and pushed up through the grass. Telltale tire depressions told me I wasn’t the first to have chosen this route of least resistance.
A final climb brought me to the small village of Hittenkirchen and the small guesthouse that was my lodging for the night. I had a room with a terrace that looked out over Chiemsee and a three-course farm-to-table dinner that rivaled those I’ve had at Michelin restaurants. The one downside was that dinner took two and a half hours. I was quite tired after a long and challenging first day and my efforts to keep up with the journal were not successful – I can’t believe I’d fallen behind before I even started cycling!
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Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 56 miles (90 km)
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