June 2, 2014

There were not so many campers last night, so a more peaceful experience was had by all.  One of the cycle tourists that did arrive was a ‘weight weeney’ – these are people who keep the weight of gear carried on the bike to an absolute minimum.  It gets to be extreme with some of them drilling holes in the handles of their spoons and chopping off their toothbrush handles to cut down on a few grams.  This guy had such a lightweight tent that it was transparent, it didn’t look like it would withstand any bad weather.   I also discovered another strategy that they employ is not to carry half the stuff they need and just borrow it from us packhorses that bring everything it is possible to load on a bike.

The stage today should bring us to the shores of Bodensee (Lake Constance).  Many cyclists end their tour at the lake.  The maps we have also finish at the lake and so beyond there is a bit into the unknown.  We’ve lost a little bit of time on the trip down so far due to having to fight a headwind every day except one – probably a couple of days lost in total.  We’ve definitely got enough time to reach the source of the Rhine at the Oberalppass but after that we may need to catch a train to reach Geneva in time for our flight.  We’ll see how it goes.

The route today is nicely varied again, starting with lanes through agricultural fields, with little villages of cuckoo clock style houses here and there.  The path eventually leads us back to the river and the spectacular Rheinfall, Europe’s largest waterfall (by volume).  We spend half-an-hour with a cup of coffee and a doughnut watching little boats full of tourists make spray-drenched excursions beneath the falls.

During the course of the day, we cross the border from Germany to Switzerland and back again twice, before our final crossing over the Rhine into Switzerland.  I did actually manage to have a complete conversation in German, with no English words thrown in and no sign-language, before we finally said goodbye to Germany.  It was only in the bakery, so no great achievement really, but it was an improvement on my initial attempts.

As early evening comes we see our first glimpse of Lake Constance – we aim for a camp-site on the shore.  A pitch for our little tent costs us €30 and a small bottle of beer, two bread rolls and a packet of cheese slices another €13 – yikes! It is now a race to see which runs out first – time or money.