Berton Ride - Day 12

Day 12 was another enjoyable day with perfect weather again as you can see in some of the pictures, but before we proceed please allow me to relate an incident from Day 11 that I left out of yesterday's entry:

An older gentleman was riding past us as we were providing medical attention to our fallen biker. He suddenly turned around with a concerned look and asked Thomas, our host, if he could use his phone. Of course Thomas let him use his phone so that the older gentleman could call his wife to let her know that he was running 25 minutes late. When he hung up, he asked Thomas if he would accept some money for letting him use his phone, and held up 40 Euros! I guess it goes to show how valuable it is for us to keep our spouses happy no matter what part of the world you live in!

We began our trek from Fischbachau to a small town called Unrathshausen. It was only a 36-mile ride between the two villages, but an afternoon excursion added another twelve miles to bring our total to 48. All day the weather was clear and bright but never too hot as we road over some higher farm roads down into a very large valley where farmers were working their fields. We saw children walking through the fields on the way to school and we also saw corn fields for the first time on this trip. We crossed the beautiful clay-blue waters of the Inn River and proceeded through the valley to an interesting town on a little hill above the valley called Neubeuern. We had coffee and some snacks there and proceeded along the easy path to our destination. Today we saw a fair number of cyclists riding the same trail we are on, including two ladies from northern Germany that we saw three or four times yesterday and today.

Unlike yesterday, the roads today were predominately paved, so it made pedaling and navigating much easier than yesterday. However, we made some substantial elevation gains, not the least of which was during our afternoon outing for lunch and a swim at Chiemsee Lake, the second largest lake in all Bavaria. The ride to the lake offered a fantastic panoramic vista complete with views of sailboats as well as a view of the island and the backside of the famous palace. Lunch was delicious and a short bike ride put us in the shade of a large oak tree right on the banks of the lake. Some swimming, some resting, then a couple hours later a strenuous climb back to our lodging for a wonderful dinner - probably the first dinner where most of the dishes we ordered were fresh salads! Just so you won't worry that we are turning into vegans, please note that today all five of us ordered something that had the word "schnitzel" in it. You know you are in southern Germany when schnitzel is even served at breakfast

Not sure if we are becoming more accustomed to the riding or if the terrain was a bit easier making for a more relaxing day today.

Cheers - Rob