Bach am der Isar – Munich Thalkirchen
129.5km, 8hr 27 mins, 907m total climb
Woke up to a brilliant clear sky
outside the tent and around 16 degrees already. Had a couple of
Nescafe coffee's and some biscuits, and spent 15 mins cleaning the
bird shit off our tent form the tree above (first camping lesson),
then set off with strong legs still.
Today was going to be a long day, but
almost totally flat whilst we followed the river Isar all the way to
Munich. It wouldn’t be completely plain sailing because the route
was a bit of an estimate from google maps, and you don't have the
luxury of street view in Germany to check the road condition. We
almost immediately found the route for the Isarradweg (Isar cycle
path). The route was a bit confusing though as the river splits into
two (Kleine und Grosse Isar), and there is a path on each side of
each river for most of the way, giving 4 options! Which one you chose
was a lottery to decide if you had smooth tarmac or arse-pounding
potholes. Anyway, for the most part the route was unpaved, ranging
from smooth packed sand/mud to rainwashed gravel pothole nightmare.
We also had a couple of sojourns alongside the road and on tarmac.
Again we managed a good average speed for the day due to the low
gradients.
We passed Landau, a nice old town that
was about to host a big Festival with a theme of the Medieval ages.
Huge wooden constructions and massive beer tents. Would have been
nice to stop for a beer and a sausage but we had already eaten at a
bakery for breakfast not long before. Would have also been nice to
stop for a swim at one of the flatter sections of river, with little
islands in the middle, but we were conscious of arriving too late at
the destination so motored on regardless.
The cycle road into Munich was great,
following the Isar right through the city. We met the Munich
rush-hour cyclists on the mini-road system that is their cycle
routes. Rat race! Got belled a few times by over-zealous cyclists who
were doing 30mph on their way home. Felt like shouting “You haven’t
just done 120 kilometers you angry $*@!” as they passed, but
didn't.
The banks or the river were lined with
people all out to enjoy the blazing Bavarian sun (some enjoying it in
the buff, true German style in the middle of a 95% clothed public).
It was a scorcher. We passed the Englischer Garten area of parkland,
dropped through he city and carried on out to Thalkirchen achieving
our first ton plus ride!
Was pleased to see a proper camp-site
this time, with quite a few tents already out in the middle of normal
looking motor-homes and caravans. We set up a bit further away from
drop zone under the trees this time. Had some schnitzel and a beer
later with an English kid who was camping beside us on his way to
Nepal hopefully. Good luck Sam!
No comments:
Post a Comment