17 Aug 2011

Tengen to Unteruhldingen (80 km)

I have spent most of our cycling days on this trip so far in my little ring up front (translation: Granny Gear). Until today. Finally, long downhill stretches out of the hill towns toward the flat cycling along the Bodensee. Finally, we cycled with the river flow rather than against it. And as an extra finally, not a cloud in the sky. A well earned day of pedaling in the big gears after the hills we’ve been inching our way up and over.

This is not to say that cycling along the Bodensee has not already had its challenges. Mainly, that it is like cycling Seattle’s Burke-Gilman trail on a sunny Memorial Day weekend. There are people of all sizes and bicycles of all varieties everywhere. Which is also to say, we fit right in. To add to the scenic lake and mountainous beauty around us are the people littered along the lakeside like petals in a field of roses. Rainbow-colored umbrellas, speedos, bug-eye sunglasses, water wings, and skin, lots of skin. It’s definitely summer here on the Bodensee. I think this might be a good place for us to keep working on our biker’s tans; I don’t think we have yet hit the peak of two-toned-ness that looks healthy in bike shorts and absolutely ridiculous in a bathing suit. But given the number of speedos on display, I’m not sure we need worry about the latter.