the 3 nation tour
I just got back from my tour around Bodensee (Lake of Konstanz), and it was a great trip. I left on Thursday after my finance class, and was underway at around 2pm. Bodil came over and took pictures of my departure, and I was off! 
Here's my setup, I have my Ortlieb back roller classic panniers on the rear rack, and Carradice Super C front panniers. My tent is in one of the rear panniers, along with my sleeping bag and pad, clothes, inflatable pillow, and extra water. The front panniers have food, cooking equipment, camera, locks and tools.
And I'm off! Musa knickers, ultralight merino wool top, and a sweet wool tweed cycling cap that Emily gave me for Xmas.
I underestimated how long it would take to get to Bodensee on the first day. It was around 120km(75ish miles) from Reutlingen to Überlingen, and I didn't get there until 10:30pm. I have to say that the ride on that first day was beautiful. I got lost a couple of times, but I got to ride through unpaved forest roads, perfectly smooth streets, and there was hardly any traffic the whole way. I felt completely safe even when cars came by me at high speed. The drivers in Germany are so cautious, they always give a wide berth. As I rode into dusk, I was very happy to have my Schmidt generator light. It was extremely bright, especially since there were no streetlights where I was riding. I was really reminded how liberating it is to travel large distances under one's own power and carrying everything with one's self.
Once I got to Überlingen, I rode around for about 45 minutes looking for a campsite, but I couldn't find any. I was exhausted from riding over 8 hours straight, and I found a public beach area with a grassy spot for my tent. There was a gate around this area that wasn't locked, so I let myself in for the night. I didn't want to get caught in the morning, so I set my alarm for 6:30am to make an early escape.
The next day I rode from Überlingen halfway around Bodensee clockwise to Bregenz, which is in Austria. I found a sweet campground with a brand new shower facility, and I was in heaven! The Hilleberg Akto tent was great, and kept my dry through a rain shower early Saturday morning. I'm 6'4", and I have just enough room inside. If I'm not sitting on my sleeping pad, I can sit up straight and just barely touch the ceiling in the middle. The vestibule is big enough to hold all of my panniers, and the ventilation was sufficient that I didn't have any condensation in the morning.
After a long hot shower, I made a feast of tuna with pesto on rice, and also some instant potato soup. Titanium cookware worked great. This little stove works great, but I think for a longer trip where I couldn't find butane canisters, I would get a multi-fuel stove.
The next day I rode through Austria and Switzerland and back to Germany. This is what a lot of the roads were like.
Riding around the lake afforded some beautiful views. That's Switzerland in the far background.
Much of the ride was through vineyards, and meadows with grazing animals.
I'm not sure what the lone donkey was doing amongst all the cows, but when I stopped to take this picture, it came up to greet me.
This is the border from Austria to Switzerland. Switzerland doesn't use Euros as the currency, so I bought a bunch of food before crossing over.
Back in Germany, to the city of Konstanz. It's a gorgeous city with well signed bicycle routes, entire bicycle streets, beautiful shorelines and beaches, and many public parks. I could live here long term if that ever became a possibility.
I had planned to take the ferry back across Bodensee to Meersburg and ride back to Reutlingen from there, but there was a group from school that had chartered a bus to Konstanz, and they happened to be there at the same time as me, so I was able to load my bike and bags into the storage compartment underneath, and enjoy a nice air-conditioned ride back home.
I didn't have any problems with my knees on this trip, which I was very grateful for. I was very careful not to push too hard of a gear with the loaded bike, and I think my saddle height is just about perfect. I want to do more of these 3.5 day tours soon, since I have 3.5 days free every week from school. I know, I have a hard life!
Here's my setup, I have my Ortlieb back roller classic panniers on the rear rack, and Carradice Super C front panniers. My tent is in one of the rear panniers, along with my sleeping bag and pad, clothes, inflatable pillow, and extra water. The front panniers have food, cooking equipment, camera, locks and tools.
And I'm off! Musa knickers, ultralight merino wool top, and a sweet wool tweed cycling cap that Emily gave me for Xmas.I underestimated how long it would take to get to Bodensee on the first day. It was around 120km(75ish miles) from Reutlingen to Überlingen, and I didn't get there until 10:30pm. I have to say that the ride on that first day was beautiful. I got lost a couple of times, but I got to ride through unpaved forest roads, perfectly smooth streets, and there was hardly any traffic the whole way. I felt completely safe even when cars came by me at high speed. The drivers in Germany are so cautious, they always give a wide berth. As I rode into dusk, I was very happy to have my Schmidt generator light. It was extremely bright, especially since there were no streetlights where I was riding. I was really reminded how liberating it is to travel large distances under one's own power and carrying everything with one's self.
Once I got to Überlingen, I rode around for about 45 minutes looking for a campsite, but I couldn't find any. I was exhausted from riding over 8 hours straight, and I found a public beach area with a grassy spot for my tent. There was a gate around this area that wasn't locked, so I let myself in for the night. I didn't want to get caught in the morning, so I set my alarm for 6:30am to make an early escape.
The next day I rode from Überlingen halfway around Bodensee clockwise to Bregenz, which is in Austria. I found a sweet campground with a brand new shower facility, and I was in heaven! The Hilleberg Akto tent was great, and kept my dry through a rain shower early Saturday morning. I'm 6'4", and I have just enough room inside. If I'm not sitting on my sleeping pad, I can sit up straight and just barely touch the ceiling in the middle. The vestibule is big enough to hold all of my panniers, and the ventilation was sufficient that I didn't have any condensation in the morning.
After a long hot shower, I made a feast of tuna with pesto on rice, and also some instant potato soup. Titanium cookware worked great. This little stove works great, but I think for a longer trip where I couldn't find butane canisters, I would get a multi-fuel stove.
The next day I rode through Austria and Switzerland and back to Germany. This is what a lot of the roads were like.
Riding around the lake afforded some beautiful views. That's Switzerland in the far background.
Much of the ride was through vineyards, and meadows with grazing animals.
I'm not sure what the lone donkey was doing amongst all the cows, but when I stopped to take this picture, it came up to greet me.
This is the border from Austria to Switzerland. Switzerland doesn't use Euros as the currency, so I bought a bunch of food before crossing over.
Back in Germany, to the city of Konstanz. It's a gorgeous city with well signed bicycle routes, entire bicycle streets, beautiful shorelines and beaches, and many public parks. I could live here long term if that ever became a possibility.
I had planned to take the ferry back across Bodensee to Meersburg and ride back to Reutlingen from there, but there was a group from school that had chartered a bus to Konstanz, and they happened to be there at the same time as me, so I was able to load my bike and bags into the storage compartment underneath, and enjoy a nice air-conditioned ride back home.
I didn't have any problems with my knees on this trip, which I was very grateful for. I was very careful not to push too hard of a gear with the loaded bike, and I think my saddle height is just about perfect. I want to do more of these 3.5 day tours soon, since I have 3.5 days free every week from school. I know, I have a hard life!
posted by Fahrräder at 8:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home