Update Ulm
Ulm is not only the birthplace of Albert Einstein but it also home to the largest steeple in Europe. Not sure if anyone took the opportunity to climb the stairs to the top as it has been raining all day. But we’re better to get the bad weather while resting rather than while cycling. For the last two days we’ve been riding the Donauradweg, a bike path following the Danube River. This path makes up 1400km of our tour from Donaueshingen, Germany to Budapest,  Hungary. We're going downstream so it should all be downhill… yeah right! You would think that following a bike path would be simple, but it is a fairly convoluted route. It loops through each village and intersects with several other local trails which can present some navigational challenges. Also riding 100km and riding 100km of bike path is very different. It makes for long days when you loose your momentum slowing for a village every 5 km. We had a big climbing day when we left Frieburg, 800m elevation over 12 km, and that was a detour. Our intended route was much steeper but closed for construction. Germany is much different than France. Obviously the food and language have changed but this area of the Black Forest is quite mountainous with huge stands of pine. The villages all have streams and canals with waterwheels and bright coloured buildings with ornamental minarets. Donaueshingen was our first destination on this stretch. Its actually the source of the Danube. When we departed, many of us toured back into the city to visit the spring. There is an incredible monument with the water bubbling up from the ground, which I completely missed years ago. We stopped for a photo shoot but left quickly as the tour busses pulled in. The beginning on the Danube is one of my favorite parts of the tour. The river is paralleled by huge limestone cliffs with water eroded formations hundreds of feet above the river, giving an eerie sense for the magnitude of what the river once was. Near the headwaters, the river is still small with occasional sets of rapids and the trail winds through beautiful forests.
Our second stop was Sigmaringen and the Schloss there has the largest collection of armour of any castle in Europe. It was a long day of riding so only a few of the cyclists did the tour but we got some great pictures. That day I tried to coordinate a pot luck social hour at our camp where everyone could bring some snacks, pastries, chocolates, wine etc., so we could experience some of the local flavours but most people just brought booze so it actually ended up being more like "Happy Hour". I must admit, this group of clients is a lot of fun.
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Posted June 15, 2007 by Randy Pielsticker
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