I love this picture and the next one. Sausage is good. These are the white veal ones ubiquitous in Bavaria, and this was a) our first foray into Bavaria and b) Kevin's first white sausage experience.
Though we don't need to mention the part where I navigated like a chump that day, and even though we cycled most of the day, we ended up back where we started. Shortcuts on hiking trails? Not advised.
Waiting out the hailstorm with crappy coffee in Immenstadt on our first day of successful navigation.
Germany takes cycling seriously. You don't just get your own lane, you get your own bike road next to the main road. And this makes perfect sense.
We stopped at many breweries for breaks. I stuck to the low alcohol or nonalcoholic stuff, because I am a wimp who can't climb if I have booze in my system. My motivation goes poof.
I took this about five minutes after I fell over in a parking lot (clipless pedal incident). The regulars sitting on the porch of the restaurant saw the whole thing, and assured me that they definitely saw Kevin push me, it was not my fault. Since Kevin had no idea what they were saying, I happily agreed with them and then ordered my beer.
Our view from our first night's accommodation.
Finally, the haziness faded, and we saw the pretty we were cycling along a bit better.
Some beer brewing monastery above Oberammergau. At this point, I was all for ditching the marked bike route and heading into the mountains, but saner heads prevailed.
Except, after another day, even the saner heads concluded that heading into the mountains might be more interesting. Perhaps it was concern for my potentially lacking leg strength and stamina, or anticipation of my whining? Regardless, a day of much uphill had us cycling along this pretty pretty alpine lake.
Chocolate breaks were the best.
Heading to the southernmost point of Germany, in the Karwendel.
Austria, the first time we crossed in, near one of the Portas Claudia.
Austria has farm-fresh milk dispensing machines. I had a roll of cookies. Kevin had a fascination with raw milk (indulged many many times on this trip. Even I drink milk when it's this fresh and tastes like the milk I drank as a little kid.)
We went up up up up up, up to where the avalanches hadn't melted and there was snow and cars couldn't go. I am *still* proud that I cycled that without having to push. It was hard. It was so worth it.
At the almost highest point. I didn't really have much of a map for Austria, so were were going a bit by gut feel. At some point, you wonder if the pass to Ehrwald ever comes. It came after about 1 km (for the record, my navigation strategy was to follow the signposts to the Ehrwalder Alm. As luck would have it, it was on a paved road to Ehrwald.)
And then a totally different day. This is on the ferry to Konstanz to visit Susanne.
And fast forward some more days, now we're heading south to Oberstdorf. We were heading back to Austria, in hopes of a repeat of that cool trip over the pass.
Cows, which give milk, which turns into cheese, which I eat. Another one of those instances where everything is as it should be.
It wasn't as hard as the last one, but still plenty up.
Different scenery, equally impressive.
And back to Austria.
Probably our high point on that trip, elevation wise.
My pretty pretty bike friday.
And yet another totally different trip. We slogged our way from Wangen to Sulzberg.
Where we ate apple strudel, because that is what you do in Sulzberg. From there, it is almost all downhill. Well, at least via Bregenz to Lindau. And in Lindau, we climbed into a train. I was tired, y'know.
