Danube Cycle Tour Day 1

September 20, 2017
Donaueschingen to Fridingen
55 km
Cloudy and cool

September 19, 2017 was a rather big day...

This was the day we rendezvoused with Lynne (sister) and Clint (brother in law) for our third European bike tour together.  Two years ago we all cycled 360 km over seven days from Passau to Vienna along the Danube (Donau) river.  This is a quintessential European bike tour and we all enjoyed it very much.  This year we planned to do the upper Danube from its source in Donaueschingen to Passau which is about 600 km and gave ourselves eleven days.

September 19th is also the date of my 25th wedding anniversary to the love of my life and partner in adventure, Lisa.   

September 19th is also our mother Shirley's birthday.  She was born in 1925 and would have been thrilled to know that Lynne and I are following our dreams.  She is consistent source of inspiration and warm memories.  Deeply missed. 

As we travel along day after day I find there is so much stimulation and imagery that is is easy to forget or misplace events.  Over dinner a couple of times our team put our collective memories together to highlight things and I have recorded these (as best I could) in this blog.

September 20th - off we go!

• Hotel Sonnes, Fridingen - newly renovated, large rooms, good dinner and breakfast (weak coffee) and nice folks.  Recommended.
• Edi's Fahrrad-shop (bike shop) in Donaueschingen received and prepared the rental bike for us. Very accommodating and they also rent bikes themselves.
• Weather cooler than I envisioned.  Wishing I brought along my cozy Patagonia fleece zip neck....
• Lunch at little family run Brewerhof Inn in Immendingen.  Had the 'taglich menu' which consisted of salad and huge slab of delish lasagna. 
• Coke Radler - Lynne and I tried this with lunch.  500 ml, half beer, half Coke.  Not a bad as it sounds.
• Several bridge crossing of the Danube some on covered bridges.
• Visited the "Donau sink" where the river disappears underground before surfacing 12 km downstream.  The sink, at the time of our visit, looks like a meadow with a few puddles.
• Lovely ride through a nature reserve just before Fridingen.  Lynne fell over with the beauty of it.
• Enjoyed a Hirsch (deer) beer in the little beer garden of our hotel at end of day.
• Dinner at Sonnes Hotel - Randy stretches and goes for liverwurst and sauerkraut platter which maybe was too bold too early. Lynne and Lisa's "Grandpa's platter" was awesome.

    

Picking up our rental bikes which had been shipped here from Passau

Sort of looks like the last two teams from Amazing Race Germany

Donau Quelle - the spring which is the official start of the river

Covered bicycle bridge

Nature reserve

Lunch stop at Immendingen (note the Coke radlers)

Covered bridges

Clowning around at Hotel Sonnes, our stop for the night in Fridingen