Im Herzen Europas
It sounds almost incredible, but we have already arrived at our last riding day. Yet, there was still a lot to see and enjoy. We headed down from Warth into the valley and stopped at Neuschwanstein-castle for a picture and coffee. Beatiful scenery and nice curves were our companions towards Plansee, where Jonas had prepared a picnic for us. The next highlight was waiting just round the corner: Linderhof-castle, which we visited. More Bavarian backcountry roads took us back to the starting point of our tour: Erding. Everybody was happy and safe. Overall it took the 18 participants of this tour minutes to become a group and only hours to become friends, and they stayed it. Hence, the last evening was really nice but sad at the same time, since we had to say goodbye. Thank you to everybody for a great tour, Jonas & Albert
It became true: The big big riding day trough the Alps. After we have ridden up the Rhein river we have passed a part of Lake Constance. From there we turded to south into the Eastern Swiss alps. The mountains became higer and always more impressive. We have had our coffee stop at Schwägalp, the valley station of Säntis Mountain. Most of us has decided to take the cableway up to the top. And this was absolutely the right desicion and for some of us the higlight of the tour! We had a gorgeous wiew to the high alpine environment whilst pieces of clouds where flowing around of our heads. After lunch we have passed Liechtenstein and finally we have enjoyed real austrian pass riding. While the Ducatis have just rushed up the narrow roads of Furkajoch and Hochtannberg like wild horses, the Harley have done it more relaxed. After a quick coffee stop at a trout lake we have atrived the Hotel Jägeralpe in Warth. There we could enjoy a could beer at the sound of Alphorns, traditional brass instruments made of wood.
It was time to leave France, what a pity, but a beautiful ride was wating for us, taking us through three countries in a day. We made our first stop at Maginot Line Memorial in Marckolsheim, a museum about the French efforts to prevent Germans from invading their country. Our ride would continue back into the black forrest, beautiful views, nice landscape and a lot of curves accompanied us on the way to our lunch stop at Hexenloch Mill (whitch-hole mill), situated in a ravine-like valley. More good landscape and many more curves down the road, we made it to our next overnight location, Schaffhausen in Switzerland, where we got to see the impressive Rhine falls. In the evening we celebrated another birthday - Carolina's, feliz cumpleanos!
Our rest day in Ribeauvillé gave everybody options as to what to do. Whereas a good part of the group decided to go riding on amazing roads in the Vogese mountains with Jonas & Albert, others enjoyed local food and wine. Holly and Colin walked up to a beautiful castle. In the afternoon some of us enjoyed a wine tasting and learnt about the excellent local wines. It was a great day for everybody.
It is a new day and a great ride is waiting for us. It took us into the black forrest where we enjoyed beautiful views, good food and above all: hundreds of curves. In the afternoon we arrived in Ribeauvillé in Alsace, which welcomed us with its unique medieval flair. What a superb day again!
At the second riding day we were following the rivers Jagst and Neckar whith its typical romantic river countrysides surrounded by wine fields. We had a look to the art of the old monastery Schönberg. Then we have enjoyed a delicious picknick that has prepared Albert. In the afternoon we have ridden up to two Neckar-castles with a breathtaking view to the smooth turns of the Neckar and its river road. At the evening we had a nice dinner in the old center of heidlberg with a lot of beer and local wine and a phantastic firework over the river.
Riding day #1 and everybody wants to get on their bikes. A very colourful mix of people from the US, Australia, Guatemala and Northern Ireland makes up the group for this tour. We started relaxed and cruised through Bavaria's hops region, before heading to the Altmühltal. We enjoyed beautiful sceneries on our way to the old towns of Eichstätt, Dinkelsbrühl and eventually Rothenburg, where we were able to have two more highlights in the evening: Andres' birthday and the truly amazing night watchman tour through the city. What a great start for a tour!