Day 32- Stuttgart to Karlsruhe
We agreed last night that we should try for an early start for a change…. Yes it was 5.30 am wake up after my turn at sleeping on the floor on the blow up mattress… I did manage a good night of sleep really!
So after a breakfast of muesli and yogurt….there was milk but there were not enough bowls!…. It was pack up the bikes and get on our way.
The weather today was almost perfect for riding with cool temperatures and partly cloudy skies and no wind. For most of the day it was in the low 20’s.
The ride today included 3 Garmin classified climbs which were quite manageable by is all. The fitness we have gained on the trip is quite amazing really. At the start of the trip I was walking up hills with gradients of more than 10%. Now I can manage them with a lot more comfort.
The first stop was for coffee after about 15 kms at Leonburg. I had a cousin’s croissant which was great. The lady serving me was delighted to see us as she has a Greek heritage and has family living in Melbourne.. smal world.
Then we had a couple of climbs as we made our way along the ravines… the climbs were essentially to the villages which were at the top of the hills…
The country we travelled through was again intensely cultivated land with vegetables such as cabbage growing in the fields. There was barely and wheat in some of the fields but a lot of it had been knocked down with rain which occurred in the past couple of nights.
The next stop was lunch at Pforzheim at a bakery which was once again at a bakery. The fare for me was apple juice and a slice of raspberry cake. Good lunch for riding I am sure???
At lunch I spoke with my wife Robyn and she had some bad news regarding her uncle who died overnight. Ian was a local doctor in Kooweerup for many years and was in his late 90’s. He was a lovely man and I know he will be missed by many including Robyn!
After lunch we had the final climb of about 1.5 kms which we handled with ease after fuelling up at lunch…. Then it was on to a lovely downhill and long decent into Karlsruhe. It was a fantastic run of about 30 kms through lovely forests and small villages. As it was Saturday we saw families out riding bikes, taking walks and relaxing in the wonderful weather.
Our access tonight is in a hostel which is very comfortable with community bathrooms and showers.
Arriving a little before the 3.00 pm check in time was ideal but getting in the hostel lobby was a bit more challenging as the lift doors had a mind of their own. With bikes and all our gear it took some time to get sorted!
After settling into our room we had some time clean and service our bikes. Steve also had the opportunity to get his bike rear bike cluster inspected at a bike shop. It seems that the Decathlon guys who replaced the rear wheel had not properly put together his cluster!! Now Decathlon are off the list!
Over today we rode 83 kms and climbed nearly 580 metres… a good day of riding. The only issue we had was a lot of car traffic in one section of the ride which I guess was due to the weekend.
Today’s pictures are:
The route
A couple of photos of the river we followed and a lovely house on the trail
A photo of the sign of our accommodation! We are in the establishment with the sign at the top… not sure about the other!
Family at Mt Buller celebrating the win by the Dees … seems a much quieter celebration here as I have been essentially off the grog for over a month!!! The exception was a beer in Munich.
