Videos from the Alps!

 It's been awfully quiet here, and that's because I have poured most of my creative energy into video editing. With tons of footage from an eleven-day trip through the Alps, I'm slowly creating one episode after the other. So far I have a teaser and full episodes for days one and two. I hope you'll enjoy them! And if you'd rather read a written account of our trip, head over to Ben's blog. He has a great day-by-day account with lots of beautiful photos.

To the Alps! - Day 2

Day 2: Füramoos to Kleinwalsertal

It took me forever to write and publish this post. The reason: Sometime during day 1, I accidentally had changed the ISO settings on my camera – you may have noticed the graininess in some of the photos in the previous post. Having mediocre photos in a travelogue was really demoralizing, and so I couldn’t get myself to finish the post for a long time. But here we are! Day 2 of my trip to the Alps.

No Allgäu without brown cows and cowbells...

...and crucifixes along the way

Breakfast was served at 6:30. I had gotten a lot of sun the previous day, and today was forecast to be a little warmer still. So despite only having to go about 110 km today, I got an early start. Within the first hour of my departure, I got the first glimpse of the Alps in the hazy distance. Too far to capture by camera, but elating nonetheless.

The Alps are in this shot. I swear!

I'm a sucker for taking pics of these signs (even if the grades on there often seem exaggerated)

One of the nice things about using Komoot for route planning is that it shows “highlights” on the map. These are recommendations from other users. Recommendations include traditional attractions like castles or historic markers, but also scenic stretches of bike trail, a swimming spot, or a bench with a good view. The Wurzacher Ried, apparently Central Europe’s largest contiguous intact high moor, was one of the highlights that I had planned my route around. Maybe the number of qualifiers should have made me suspicious. The moor was meh. The route was on a bike path right next to a busy state highway and all you could see of the moor were the signs and some trailheads. Ah well.

The meh moor

At some point I passed the ill-defined boundary of the Allgäu region, a region renowned for its cow, cheese, alpine foothills—and best known to tourists from around the world: Neuschwanstein castle. After a minor construction detour, I reached Leutkirch im Allgäu. Two hours into the ride I was ready for a second breakfast. On the picturesque church square Bäckerei Schwarz provided me with coffee and pretzels. I quickly sent a Whatsapp message to my parents whom I was supposed to meet at the end of the day. They were somewhere on the Autobahn, and I still had a bit of a lead on them.

Pretzel time!

The view for my second breakfast

Past Leutkirch I encountered another detour. One of the small roads on my route was closed somewhere ahead. It wasn’t entirely clear where and the signed detour would have taken me on a road too busy for my liking. The map showed an alternative route that looked about right, and so I ignored Komoot’s constant audio reminders that I was of course. The detour turned out to be excellent choice. A beautiful tree-lined road, ending at a little palace, Schloss Rimpach.

On the way to Schloss Rimpach

.... - manor house - kitchen

The hills around me kept growing, and my route was definitely climbing, but at very gentle grades. It was another hot day and I started to feel a little dehydrated and bonky. The tiny villages along the way (among them: Kleinholzleute and Großholzleute – Little Wood People and Big Wood People) didn’t have much to offer and so I was glad to eventually get to a gas station. It didn’t just provide me with water and a Pepsi. Next door was a wood carving business; except that it wasn’t exactly “carving” but two people with chain saws creating oversized wood sculptures! Noisy but fun to watch. Another gas station attraction: A fully airbrushed tanker truck, theme: “The History of the Diesel Engine, from Rudolf Diesel to Euro 6 Emission Standards.” Or something like that.

The process...

...and the results

The hills around me became taller and I climbed the first “pass.” Not tall enough to warrant a name, but the first sustained, steeper climb today. And on the other side, a wonderful descent with a view of the Alpsee Lake. I restocked my pretzel stash in downtown Immenstadt but kept pushing on. Just outside of Immenstadt my route reached the bike path along the river Iller. Whereas I hadn’t seen a ton of people on bikes until now, the Iller-Radweg, connecting Ulm and Oberstdorf, was heavily trafficked. I sat down on a bench along the trail and enjoyed the view of people of all ages and on all types of bikes passing me by.

On the Iller bike trail

River bike paths have a reputation for being boring, but this stretch was very nice. The Iller is an alpine river, with a wide, rock filled bed, framed by beautiful mountains. The trail led me to the outskirts of Oberstdorf, with its iconic ski jumps. I have some distinctive childhood memories of visiting the top of the jump and being terrified by the view down the slope...

Oberstdorf panorama, with the ski jumps on the left

My final destination was near but up. My parents had texted me that they were awaiting me at their hotel, and all that stood in between was the final climb into the Kleinwalsertal. The trail and subsequent road were steep and the sun burned down on me. I passed the border into Austria and eventually arrived at my parents’ hotel. I probably looked pretty beat and sweat-encrusted, but I was almost there! Our own hotel was further up the valley, but with some rest, water, and coffee, this wasn’t a big deal any more.

Entering Austria

This had been a great trip, with pretty much everything going according to plan, no mechanical problems, and my not-quite-fit-for-purpose bike working well enough. Navigation by voice with Komoot worked really well overall, even though it would have been nice to have a GPS device on the handlebars to see a map.

I had had great plans of bike touring again in Germany or the Alps this year. Given the COVID situation, that's just not going to happen. I have no complaints about the biking here in Wisconsin, but I long for mountains, the pretzels, the bike trails. Hopefully next year...

2012 Montreal–Toronto Express

I just realized that I never blogged about my Montreal–Toronto tour in spring 2012. Probably a little late now to recall all the details, but I did want to share some pictures from the ride. This was the toughest tour I've ever done. Being by myself, I pushed hard and suffered from strong headwinds for most of the ride. On the upside, this was a great way of preparing myself for the 2012 season!

Day 1: Montreal to Cornwall

Old locks on the Soulanges Canal

Power station which used to power the canal's locks

I tried using my Carradice saddle bag as a handlebar bag—didn't work that well

Final stretch of the bike path

Goodbye Route Verte, goodbye Quebec...

...welcome Waterfront Trail, welcome Ontario!

These useful map displays were a regular occurrence along the route

The first kilometers of the Waterfront Trail were on the rumble-stripped shoulder of Highway 2

Stretches where you could see the St. Lawrence alternated with those further inland

Big boat (apparently freright ships on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence are called boats, not ships)

130 kilometers done, still a few more to go to the first overnight stop

Bunch of benches in Cornwall

Bridge to the US

Canadian border crossing at the end of the bridge ramp

 Day 2: Cornwall to Gananoque

Early morning start into the fog

I didn't get to see the Moses-Saunders Power Dam, but it was obvious that it was nearby

Back on the shores of the St. Lawrence

I had the beautiful Long Sault Parkway all to myself

Blurry deer

Too early in the year to actually see turtles

Memorial to the Battle of Crysler's Farm in the War of 1812

Upper Canada Village

Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge

The enormous Prescott grain elevator

No shoulder and rather heavy traffic

Vessel going downriver

On the rather disappointing Thousand Islands Parkway—the bike path is in horrible condition and on the wrong side of the highway

Yep, I'd move in there

Island living of the not so spacious kind

Two days of headwind have taken their toll

Bonky me.

 Day 3: Gananoque to Trenton

Large solar farm under construction

Glenora Ferry to Prince Edward County

Rouch waters and a big factory

 Day 4: Trenton to Whitby

Should've taken that sign as a warning...

...as the road was in truly horrible condition. Pictures can't do it justice.

But the scenery along the Trent-Severn Waterway was nice!

Rocky beach on Lake Ontario

This day had the best riding—quiet country road, just how I like them

Also the only day with any hills

Crossing the Windsor–Quebec City rail corridor

Riding through an eerily empty subdivision

A little bit of gravel

Approaching the Darlington nuclear power plant

Unfortunately, the entrance to the trail was open, but not the exit

Having a giant cement plant right next to the nuclear power station makes sense, I guess

Second section of the Darlington Nuclear trail

Despite the cold temperatures, bugs were out in force and hitched a ride

First glimpse of Downtown Toronto

 Day 4: Whitby to Toronto

Definitely more spring-like in Toronto than in Montreal 

Very nice section of the Waterfront Trail

Yeah, sure, let's place a single wind turbine right next to the Pickering nuclear power plant

Probably not "North America's Largest Wind Turbine" anymore

Beach with a view

Gotta love the scare quotes...

Oh yeah, spring!

Not so nice stretch of the trail

Scarborough Bluffs. I ended up down there by accident.

Beautiful beach in the city