Day 10: the ride to Konstanz
What a difference a day makes. I woke up with the knowledge that a very good friend of mine was coincidentally in the neighborhood and that we‘d meet up quickly and that I would soon have a nice long weekend with my girlfriend (have received approval to call her that). And I woke up feeling physically pretty good. So despite the rain, I set off in good spirits. And what a difference a day makes, because I also had really good legs. Didn‘t have so many opportunities to push myself because it was so flat and full of short stretches followed by tight turns, but my legs felt great all ride.
The previous evening treated me to a stunning sunset…
…which had to hold me over, because the morning was gray and drizzly. So it goes. The lake itself is huge, over 60km long, and I got views from all 60km of one side. Cute, though touristy lake-side towns, vineyards, orchards, and above all, obviously, lake. Quite a nice ride.
The route around the entire lake is 260km, a not insignificant portion of which is dedicated bike line. The infrastructure here is crazy good. I‘ve gotten so spoiled that I almost feel bad riding on roads, even though that‘s all I‘d ridden until about a month ago. Crazy.
Anyway, the ride was great and went fairly quickly, so I could get my weekend started just a few minutes earlier.
The weekend
Konstanz, and in general the entire lake area, is beautiful. Just really, really nice. We spent the weekend lounging, drinking coffee, eating, swimming, and were even so lucky as to be invited by the family of a colleague of my girlfriend to go sailing one day. Life is hard I tell you.
We also visited Europe‘s biggest waterfall, the Rheinfall, which couldn‘t have been more than a 30 foot drop. Scratch that, a quick search shows 75 feet. Anyway, not huge. Being fairly wide (500ft or so) and with a pretty solid flow, we figured it must be the biggest by water volume. Regardless, it was pretty, and the water was crystal clear, so it was worth visiting, even if it wasn‘t as impressive as Iguacu or Niagara or Livingstone or whatever. Comparison is the thief of joy, according to Teddy Roosevelt. I concur. Enjoy things for what they are. And we did.
Okay, she’s officially titled as your girlfriend. Cindi asks, “Does she have a name?” Rob wonders why no pictures other than the sailboat shot…is Jesse looking at her or is he just looking off in the distance.
We are really enjoying your trip! Thanks!!
RBCB
Haha. She does have a name and there were more photos, but for the sake of her privacy, keeping those to myself for now :) Glad you‘re enjoying following along!