A big climb was expected today to get away from Lake Constance, but it turned out to be relatively gentle. At least until we had to cross the Allgäu Alps after turning onto a fairly busy highway after entering Germany. I thought our switchback days were over, but not quite. Eight or nine, depending on how you count them!
But first, we had to get out of Bregenz. And that was a fairly easy endeavor and mostly along the lake, Lake Constance, or Bodensee Obersee to the Swiss (and Germans). The Bodensee-Radweg (Lake Constance Cycle Path) allows you to completely circumnavigate the lake . . . and I imagine that is the path we were on as we headed north for Fronhofen and the start of our climb!
Leaving Lake Constance, owned by three countries in part: Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. As you can see, it was very overcast. As we climbed away, very dark clouds rolled in and the lake waters churned a bit as the wind picked up, but no rain, not on us at least.
At first, the day did not look promising, especially down near the waterfront. But once we turned and headed inland, the weather improved. Maybe the mountain range stalled the weather front. Hard to say, as I'm no meteorologist. I was just happy it was not coming at or on us so early!
I, of course, got separated from Happy and Jerry pretty early on. There are a couple of ways out of town, and I decided to stay on the lakeside of the railroad and follow the bike path, whereas they took an earlier passage over the tracks to stay true(er) to the course. But that put them on the main road . . . and meant I had to find my way through Fronhofen, a smallish suburb of Bregenz. No problem for me, as I enjoy wayfinding, but it did mean a separation, if only for a short while. It also gave me the opportunity to stop for euros at a local bank. Our Swiss francs would be useless from here on!
The climb away from the lake was more gentle than I thought it would be. After clearing more "suburbs" (which became thinner the further we went), we entered some very lush countryside, and that is about where I overtook Happy and Jerry. Partly because they had stopped to chat with a local they had met along the bike trail we were now following.
It was a gentle climb, mostly through small villages and residential areas outside of Bregenz. But this is a nicely wooded section further out.
And finally, we were at the top, which was relatively flat! We actually had been following a river, so the climbing we had done was more due to the valley we were headed up than crossing a mountain range. That effort was still yet to come. And come it did, shortly after crossing into Germany.
And finally at the top, where we started seeing cows. Officially we were now in the country!
It was great to be back in rolling countryside after all those steep passes in Switzerland! In Switzerland, you're either climbing or riding flats in the valleys! Well, that's not quite true, but it's how I felt. So after crossing the River Leiblach, we climbed a short distance to the ridge line and Route 308, Alpenstrasse. Not a pleasant road to cycle, but our only path through this very tough mountain range, the Allgäu Alps!
The start of the climb. Traffic was a bit busy, but they respected us.
I have to say, that was exhilarating! And, of course, it was followed by an equally exciting descent into Scheidegg before making our way onto Lindenberg im Allgäu, which is where I stopped again for money (my earlier endeavor being a failure for some reason). We continued on to Rothenbach, where we stopped for lunch.
After Lindenberg im Allgäu, back to quieter roads and beautiful countryside. Lush and green all around.
Happy and I got separated from Jerry over lunch. He went off to look for a (closed) boulangerie (Jerry, we are in Germany!) with no success (no surprise there), while Happy and I enjoyed the biergarten (sans bier). After lunch, we were back on the road with a switchback climb over a small hill and then onto more rolling terrain.
A look back on Rothenbach as we climbed a small switchback over the next hill.
At this point, we were mostly following a valley, so the going was fairly easy, with one detour.
Negotiating the detour in Kleinweiler. They did not speak English, nor did we German, but they knew how to point the way! And, of course, we knew how to find it.
That last climb was quite nice, as was the descent into Kempten. Kempten was a bigger city than I expected. And mostly modern except for the small historic core. Our hotel, the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, was across the river from the modern town, but I'm sure it was the focus of the town in days gone by. Unfortunately . . . or maybe fortunately, the skies opened up later in the early evening, which pretty much killed any ideas about a walk about town to explore things.
So we ate in the hotel's restaurant. And it was excellent AND crowded. Always a good sign! And free beer while we waited for our table. All in all, a great day!
It was a long descent, maybe five miles, into Kempten. Our hotel, Hotel Bayerischer Hof, fit the bill!
