10th May (sunny and warm 23C) 82km

I had another great night’s sleep in our little tent but Pete kept waking up, and not just solely due to the trains.  We were both awake by 6am so did our usual morning rituals and had our breakfast before Markus and Esther emerged from their tent.  

Markus and Esther ready to hit the road on their ten week
tour to Sweden and back.

They had eaten breakfast in bed which in a tent is not quite as glamorous as it sounds, and had most of their gear packed up in no time.  In our little area of the campground there were a number of other cycle tourers – a single man, a young couple and a German girl in about her mid-twenties we think.  Her name was Steph and last year she cycled around Australia and NZ on her own.  By 8.30am everyone else had departed and Markus and Esther were also ready to hit the road.  So we bid our friends goodbye – it had been so lovely to spend the day with them yesterday and just catch up on the last fifteen years.

We were ready to leave at 9am and decided to cycle down to Bregenz so we could use the free wifi.  It was a lovely morning and even though we had a bit of rain overnight, it had now stopped.  There was still plenty of cloud about but the lake was perfectly still and picturesque.  

On the way out of camp we met Alan and his two lurcher dogs who I had met the night before and had a quick look at his camper van.  Finally we were off and it was a delightful 6km ride to Bregenz.  Unfortunately the wifi was a bit slow and it took longer than anticipated to load the blog.  We cycled back to the campground to use the toilet before starting on our bike route today.

Markus and Esther had recommended that we cycle the Bodensee (which is what the Swiss call Lake Constance) to Konigsee bike trail and this conveniently started right by the campground.  However, we started heading back to Bregenz on this and were worried we had missed a sign, so started using the compass and came across bike route 6 which was taking us in the direction we wanted to go.  The compass is proving a great aid in stopping us from getting too lost.

This bike path took us through all the country lanes and we hardly ever had to go on a road – it was lovely.  We stopped for a ham bun and a cup of coffee from our camp stove at midday before continuing on our merry way.  Unfortunately it was here Pete noticed that he had left his gloves on the back of his pannier and while one had miraculously stayed there, the other one had dropped off.  So a new pair is on the cards for him!

As we approached one village, we noticed a clergyman dressed in his black robes with white collar.  I said “Looks like they’ve sent the troops out looking for you Pete” as no sooner had we passed this one than we saw another one.  Having just escaped his detection, we came across a pair of robe clad clergy and Pete was starting to sweat.  They had obviously pulled out all the stops in their search for him.  We noticed several churches and something that looked like it might have been a bible school.  These poor young interns probably thought Pete was the new messiah and wanted to follow him, alas we were too quick for them as pedal power rules!

As we cycled further northwards, we came across the original bike trail we had been looking for and began to follow this.  It didn’t seem the most direct route but it was very scenic.  Each little village had a map board so we would check we were not going too far out of our way as sometimes it seemed like it.  

As you can see, Pete is never one to stray too far from
the path of Jesus.

For hilly countryside though, we definitely had a lot of lovely riding through valleys and alongside streams and rivers.  But we also did have a number of hills and it did get pretty tiring.  So we decided we needed a second lunch and had another ham bun and a cup of tea at 2.30pm.  Was it coincidence that our seat was right next to a shrine…..I think not.

The day got hotter and hotter as the afternoon wore on and the hills got longer and longer.  We were getting pretty tired but the thought that spurred us on was Katja and Stefan who had said they would meet us by Alpsee and cook us dinner.  

the picturesque village of Oberstaufen

I had emailed them this morning saying we hoped to be there by 4pm but it would probably be 5pm.  By 5pm we thought we must be getting pretty close as a headwind had sprung up as we passed through the tourist town of Oberstaufen and we surmised this was probably from the lake.  We picked up the pace thinking Katja and Stefan weren’t too far away but this lake just took forever to appear.  We were worried they would get sick of waiting and leave, so even though we were getting pretty tired as by now we’d done over 70km, we just kept pushing on as fast as we could.

Finally we spotted the lake and cycled round the northern side until Pete spotted their blue Volkswagen van.  What a wonderful sight – they were like a beacon of light, the relief at seeing them lightening the load immediately. 

They informed us the campground was 500m down the road and said if we wanted to pitch tent and shower, they would start cooking.  So we checked into what appears to be a brand new, very swish campground on the lake edge, set up the tent, got showers and cycled back to our heroes.  We had timed it perfectly and dinner was ready.  They said “We hope you’re hungry”.  No worries there – we were starving!  

Notice the godly light coming from above Katja's head as she
prepares our dinner!

So we tucked into a delicious dinner of grilled chicken and lamb, pasta salad, scones and tomato salad – it was delicious!  So we had seconds!  Then Katja brought out a bowl of strawberries and stevia and we polished that off too!

THANK YOU !!!!!

It was very nice of them to drive the 45 mins from their home to Alpsee and cook us dinner and we thoroughly appreciated it.  About 8.45pm it started to get cold and we helped them pack up and they headed home.  We cycled back to the campground where we wrote up the blog in the laundry so we could charge the computer at the same time.  It was also nice and warm in there!