A water theme for the day - 16th September 2013
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| At Bodensee - the shore of Lake Constance on a wet day |
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| Romanshorn to Rothenbach (timer reset after Lindau) |
I sat at the wrong table at Breakfast at the Anker Hotel in Romanshorn. My table was apparently set for a couple of elderly ladies. The waitress/boss ignored me after that. No offer of extra coffee, or whatever.
Took the 9:36 Ferry to Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppelin. It takes about 45 minutes to cross Lake Constance/Bodensee at this point. It is a car/lorry ferry but with only two cars on this particular crossing plus, of course, one bicycle.
It was raining when I set foot on German soil and started to cycle to Lindau, about 28km to the South. Quite a nice route along the Lakeside but a bit busy in the towns. Lots of tourists wandering about with their umbrellas up looking lost. Cycling around Lake Constance is a popular holiday pursuit and I suffered the ignominy of being passed by a large group on e-bikes. Oh well, found a convenient Bakerei in Langenargen and picked up lunch. Very heavy rain so I found a nice bus shelter to eat my roll and slice of plum pie whilst hoping for better weather. The rain eased for a while and I set off through Lindau but the deluge quickly resumed. I considered stopping, rain stop play, but decided to carry on. Carmen the Garmin did not like the water very much, particularly the river running off my helmet. I put a plastic bag over her and must have turned off the timer. That means my track was not recorded.
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| Typical Bavarian Cow |
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| The road is long |
I headed further South, almost to the Austrian border, where I turned away from the Lake on the Bodensee to Konigsee Bike Route. I was well prepared for this section of the ride. I had the course on Carmen, a waterproof map and the route was also well sign-posted. It was fantastic, well marked and through lovely scenery, even in the pouring rain. Happily, the rain eventually eased but I was well soaked. I decided it was sensible to finish early and spotted a tempting Gasthof in a small village of Rothenbach.
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| My Gasthof home from home |
Checked in, had a shower, washed and hung out my clothes and headed for a beer in the bar downstairs. A male group sat playing cards at one table and at another large table people were chatting. Very much like an Austrian Bar. The Dinner Menu also looked very familiar. I asked the owner if there was a drying room, perhaps a boiler room or something. He said no, just turn up the heat in your room. Back at the room, the radiator was cold. My only option was to use the bathroom electric heater.I turned this on and found it was on a timer. Every 15 minutes I had to reset it. This I did until dinner time. Things did not seem to be getting dry so I turned the heater to maximum, gave it 15 minutes and went downstairs to dinner. After a very good dinner I opened the bathroom door and was hit by the blast from a furnace. The timer had stuck in the on position and I had been pumping 3 kw into a small bathroom. The soap dispenser had fallen off the wall and the shower enclosure was white hot. Quickly turned off the heater and put the extractor on. By morning my clothes were dry and the dispenser was back on the wall.
I am careful to put all my clothes in plastic bags but the rain had been so heavy and prolonged that everything was wet. Water always finds a way! Enjoyed my Night in the Gasthof. Mind you, could have done without the Church Bells ringing every 15mins.
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