McCafe & Lots Of Hills

49 miles, 7.6 mph, 2730' elevation gain
(Schechen, Germany to Gstad on Lake Chiemsee)


View 2008-05-11 Schechen to Gstad, Germany in a larger map

Highlights: more good weather, rolling hills, riding with Welf & family for 10 km, Wasserburg ("most picturesque city on the river Inn"), problems finding a place to sleep


Easy morning riding along the River Inn (northeast of Schechen)

My first McCafe experience (McDonalds, south of Wasserburg)

With Welf & adventurous kids (south of Wasserburg)

Entering old-town Wasserburg

Another rolling hill (near Gammersham)

Lake Chiemsee & Alps (near Gstadt)
Journal: Got another late start (10:45 am) today despite waking up shortly after 7. Each day it seems to take me about an hour to write my journal entry for the prior day, and another one to pack up all my camping gear. I may try switching the journal writing to the evening, but usually I am pretty tired & not in the mood for anything involving thought. This morning I also ended up chit-chatting with an English couple from Ottawa, Canada who are riding around Europe for the umpteenth time (5000 miles in 10 years). They highly recommend bike touring in France in addition to Germany. Also learned from them that today & tomorrow are holidays in Germany, so most of the markets & stores will be closed. Guess I will have to get food & water from the restaurants or cafes.

After starting the day riding about 10 km along the flat banks of the river Inn, the bike route shifted inland and the terrain turned into rolling hills from there on. While taking a rest break from the first short climb of the day I met Welf & his three kids (ages 9,8,6) from Munich who are riding the river Inn trail for a week. Welf & his wife take turns riding with the children (while the other drives the family vehicle), so the kids are the only ones riding the entire route. Hard to imagine many families with small kids in the U.S. taking a vacation like this! As we were riding along, Welf explained to me that many of the "farm roads" I have been riding on are only for farm vehicles (& local residents, I presume). In the U.S. these roads would be dirt or gravel & privately owned, but in Germany they are all paved and owned by the federal government. As such, the government permits bicyclists & pedestrians to use these roads too - without them the inter-connection of bike routes across the country would not be possible. For lunch we stopped at McDonalds in Wasserburg. I was surprised to find a "McCafe" inside serving typical Starbucks fare. Shortly thereafter we said our goodbyes. Welf expressed an interest riding his bike across the U.S. (in about 20 years) & promised to contact me when he needs advice.

The old town of Wasserburg is quite charming. Located on a small peninsula formed by a tight loop of the river Inn, the town center is densely built with an 18th-century feel to it. When ready to leave town, I decided to improvise and seek out a different exit from town than shown on my map. However, I couldn't find the bike path I was looking for and soon after I was riding on the side of a high-speed road (with barely any shoulder). Fortunately this sketchy situation only lasted a mile or so before the bike path magically appeared out of nowhere. From here, it was generally quiet country roads (& lots of rolling hills) all the way to the Chiemsee Lake.

Around 7:00pm (and without any food or water left) I rode the final stretch from Breitbrunn down to Muhln at the base of the lake, then around to Gstadt where I was looking forward to camping for the night. This is where things got interesting. I discovered the camping place in town is closed, but there may be another one in Muhln. So back to Muhln I go, but there is no camping place and the local guesthouse is full for the holiday. They tell me to try Breitbrunn, so back to Breittbrunn I go. No rooms here either and they tell me to go to Gstadt! I briefly consider "stealth" camping in the forest next to the lake, but decide to give Gstadt one more try. This time I am fortunate to find a nice pension guesthouse with breakfast included for only 30 Euros (I was fearing 100+ Euro prices given the holiday) and finally check into my room around 8:45pm, exhausted but content.