Ciao Alps, hello Bodensee

We’ve had a series of hot days since arriving back in Switzerland from Malta. Today it seems the weather is going to turn, so we make an early start after one of the world’s most expensive breakfasts. Travelling in Switzerland is expensive, we all know that. But paying >CHF50 for breakfast (most of it for me as Neil’s egg and bacon only costs about CHF5) is a bit hard to swallow. But remember, don’t convert, don’t convert, don’t convert …

There’s going to be rain, so we don’t dally this morning. We are out of town, and within the first hour have pushed out a quick 20 kilometres along a flat, easy to ride levee bank. It looks like the locals are out beating the weather as well, with heaps of cyclists out enjoying the morning sun – many are recreational cyclists on road bikes, with way too many riders dressed disconcertingly alike. Teams or clubs dressed the same, I get that – but couples? Spare me!

Somehow we cross into Austria without realising it. When we stop for a drink at a little sporting club cafe, not only do we have to pay cash, but we have to pay in Euro. It seems we left Liechtenstein behind many kilometres ago, just as we are leaving the Alps behind us.

There are a lot of bridges across the river, and each bridge marks a place where you can travel between Switzerland and Liechtenstein or Austria. Each one of these bridges in the past would have had Zoll (customs) points at each end. You can only imagine the bottlenecks at bridges, before Schengen, when passport and customs checks were still in place. There are a number of old Zoll station buildings still standing, abandoned, relics of a not that distant past.

Our path changes and we are no longer on top of a levee, but riding between two levees. The Swiss Alps recede behind us as we pass by small vegetable gardens (the solil must be very fertile here), and ride along a grassy flat where kids are out playing soccer – excuse me, football. The villages are double-protected by two levees banks here. It would take one heck of a flood to get to the houses.

We are finally in the area where the Rhein empties into Lake Constance, or, as the German speakers here call it, Bodensee. (Or, should I correct myself and say where the Rhein empties into the Bodensee, or, as we English speakers call it, Lake Constance?) We turn right and curve around the bottom of lake to Bregenz which lies at the easternmost point of the Bodensee, easily beating the weather.

The sky is grey, but not threateningly so as we head out to explore Bregenz. We have an ice cream, miss the last Panorama Fahrt (scenic boat road) for the day and, after consulting the heavy grey clouds, eschew the Pfänderbahn (an aerial tram up the local Mt Pfänder). Within a short time the wind is blowing and cafés start packing up outdoor areas, but we manage a quick end of day beer before the heavens open and we scurry back to the hotel.

The rain continues throughout most of the evening, so after a Mexican dinner (yes! Beans!!) we plant ourselves in the hotel lounge with a couple of digestifs.

Stats for today:

• Distance: 58.93km
• Climb: 112m
• Average speed: 18.7km/h
• Average temperature: 33C
• Moving time: 3:08:50
• See our ride on Strava

The beer picture

At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken at a lakeside bar in Bregenz, just before the heavens opened, leaving people scurrying away and cafes/bars frantically packing up their outside spaces.

Along the way today:

Click on an image to scroll through the gallery at full size.