August 17, 2014
To Nordlingen: Only 39km but a hard ride
It was great to wake up to a fairly clear sky this morning. If it hadn't been clear our trip would have been considerably more difficult that it was. The Romantische Strasse is basically an artificial route that has been designed to encourage tourists - it takes you through lots of beautiful little towns and villages and has all sorts of infra structure including bicycle transport, package deals for cyclists, hikers and motorists. As far as the bike route is concerned I do not think that many are doing the whole thing as described in the book. Lots of people I think are going to one place and doing day rides then often taking the Romantic Road Coach (complete with bikes) to the next place. Although we only did 39km today it really was very hard in particular the middle section. Much of it was up and down really rough tracks through forests. The only other cyclists we saw in this section were a couple of unladden mountain bikers. It would have been very much easier to follow the road but we had no suitable map. Having said this there were some great parts. One of the highlights was when we emerged from the forest and rough tracks at Maihingen went through the monastery gates and there was a place selling coffee beer etc. It was the first service we had seen all along the way. We had a most needed coffee and a pleasant time with two germans who were on a day ride from Nordlingen.
From there it was a very easy ride to Nordlingen. This is a wonderful little place and my favourite so far. It is completely walled and circular sitting in the the huge crater that is a result of a meteor hitting it fourteen and a half million years ago. What I like particularly about Nordlingen is that unlike some of the pretty little towns it does not seem forced or artificially tarted up. For example in the undeniably lovely town of Dinkelsbuhl I found the fact that all the buildings were labelled in the identical Old German Script all a bit much (I am getting picky). We have had a lovely time walking around the walls and marvelling at what defensive strength this place had had. The real houses that people live in as you walk around the walls are substantial and beautiful with the usual neat german gardens.
Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 807 km (501 miles)
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