Posted from Venice, Veneto, Italy.
Today we entered the second part of our trip, where the remaining days to ride are fewer than the ones that are already part of our memory.
We spent this particular day moving in and out the Swiss and German borders, in our ride from Kostanz to Blumberg.
But we experimented also a day “from snow to snow” sometimes in the rain, sometimes only with cold temperatures.
When we left our hotel in the morning the snow was very intense and thick, but for the following 20 km it was even worse.
The snow only stopped in the last km before we arrived in Stein am Rhein, a beautiful village with a bicycle mechanic in the main square.
We needed to fix a spoke of Roberto’s bicycle, to adjust the gear of Daniele’s bike and to fix a part of the fasten system in Roberta ‘s bike. That meant more then one hour for us to enjoy a hot chocolate, some food and rest.
Then we rode all the time along the Rhein as far as Schaffausen. From there our soft uphill to Bergen started and after that a very strong uphill at 18%, as carefully signalled before the beginning of it.
The total length was probably between 600-700 m, but with the weight of our luggage it became a very challenging experience.
But after that, when the snow started again a beautiful landscape appeared in front of our eyes, with soft hills first and the Black Forest later.
We rode the last 5 km along an unpaved track in the forest, covered in snow and ice. Our downhill in this path required a lot of attention but at the end we arrived in Blumberg, where a hot shower and a good dinner were our reward after 76 km on our bikes.
