OTR

August 12 Route Map

I left Martin Lang’s house in Munich today and headed for Martin Kendler’s house in Ranggen, Austria, which is about 20 kilometers west of Innsbruck. As usual for riding, it was raining when I started. Martin rode with me for the first 15 kilometers, as his normal route to work matched the route that I was taking out of Munich.

I wasn’t sure if I’d make it all the way to Ranggen in one day or not, as this was the first day that I would be in the mountains, and didn’t know how easy or difficult the mountain roads and passes would be. I got to the base of the mountains – and the first climb – at Kochelsee, Germany at 12:30 pm. Forty minutes later I was at the top of the pass and had a nice multi-switchback descent to Walchensee. Further down the road I took a small, local road to the village of Mittenwald – a neat little Bavarian town set in the middle of a valley with huge mountains in all directions. Spectacular.

I crossed into Austria at 3:40 pm and decided to take the most direct route to Ranggen, which was the main highway with not much of a shoulder to it. On approach to the Inn River valley and Innsbruck the road made a very steep descent and I noticed signs along the road with a picture of a bicycle and some German text that I didn’t understand. But since the picture of the bicycle didn’t have a red slash through it, I figured bikes were allowed so I continued on. As usual, it started raining on the approach to my destination so I was descending the steep road in a heavy rainstorm, which was probably beneficial because the rain helped to cool my brakes. As it was I had to stop three times at the runaway truck ramps to let the brakes cool down. It was only after I arrived at Martin Kendler’s house that I learned that bicycles were not allowed on the stretch of road that I took. But on my way down, two police cars had passed me going up, so naturally I figured it was ok.

I arrived in Ranggen at 6:00 pm after a nine and a half hour ride and Martin’s Mom prepared a very nice dinner. On the schedule for tomorrow is some sightseeing around Innsbruck.

I didn’t do anything special today – just took the train and subway around Munich to see the sights. Saw parts of the old town center, and then went back out to the Olympic center and BMW World to see more of those that I didn’t see a couple days ago. I’ll depart Munich tomorrow morning and head south for Innsbruck, Austria.

August 10 Route Map

This morning I got to take a close look at Martin’s computerized van. He owns a company that surveys, photographs, and documents roadways. In order to do this, he and his partners have spent the last 10 years building an integrated system of video cameras, GPS receivers, 3-d laser scanners, inertial navigation systems, computers, and related software. It’s all mounted on top of, and inside, a standard panel van. It’s basically a Google Street Car on massive doses of steroids. The idea is that while they drive along roads, the system is scanning the roadway and creating a georeferenced digital elevation model of it, while at the same time recording georeferenced video and still photos. It’s a pretty amazing looking system.

After looking at Martin’s van I went by train to visit Klaus Blachnitzky’s family in Kaufering, which is about 55 kilometers west of Munich. I arrived there around 2:00 pm and was met by Tim Blachnitzky, Klaus’ grandson. After a short walk from the train station to his house, I met his wife and three kids. We all then took a drive to the nearby town of Landsberg, where went on a walking tour of the old part of town. Tim and his wife Britta pointed out all the interesting sights such as the town wall, guard towers, the old – but incredibly ornate – churches, and so on. Interesting stuff. After that we went to Tim’s Dad’s house. His Dad, Horst, is Klaus’ son. We had a good time reminiscing about Klaus and afterward went via autobahn to a nearby biergarten for dinner, where Tim’s brother Ben met us. I took the train back to Munich and arrived at Martin’s house around 11:30 pm.

I spent all day today touring around Munich. Walter had to go to his university in the morning, so I went to the Munich zoo, which was only a few kilometers from Walter’s house. In the afternoon Walter and I took the subway to Olympic Park and BMW World. BMW World is really just a very large, very expensive showroom for BMWs. They have all the various models of new BMWs that you can sit in, as well as various displays that showcase BMW technology. The feeling you get when going in is that it’s an ultra-modern museum type place, but everything inside is designed to get you interested enough in BMWs in order to buy one. Walter said that when someone buys a BMW at any dealership in Munich, they have to pick it up at a special place on the second floor of BMW World. Next to BMW World is the BMW Museum, the main headquarters building that is referred to as the 4-cylinder (because it has four cylindrical-shaped towers connected together), and the BMW factory, where all BMWs in Germany are made. In all, it was quite an impressive area, all devoted to BMW. After BMW World, we took a trip up the Olympiaturm, which is a 300-meter tall tower. From the observation deck it was possible to see to the north and to the mountains to the south.

After leaving the tower, Walter took me to one of his favorite outdoor cafes for ice cream and coffee, after which we went back to his house where I packed my gear, said farewell to Walter, and rode 15 kilometers to Martin Lang’s house on the southeast side of Munich. As soon as I rode up on my bike I was met outside by Martin’s wife, Ulrike, and then in quick succession by the rest of the Lang family – Lothar, Jonathan, Leo, and Moritz.

The plan for the next few days is to visit with Martin and family, and then spend some time visiting Klaus Blachnitzky’s family in nearby Kaufering.

August 8 Route Map

There was heavy fog in Regensburg this morning when I woke up, and it didn’t look good weather-wise. The forecast for Munich for today was for sun and a 20% chance of rain. Good deal. Walter Welsch’s house in Munich was about 134 kilometers away and I was hopeful that I’d be able to make it there today, but of course it depended on how hilly the route would be. I got lucky and didn’t have too many hills today, but I’ve learned that going into a village is always downhill and there’s a climb up out of each village. The downhill run into a village is great, but climbing up out is a grind.

I got to Walter’s house in Munich at 5:30 pm. Once again, my trusty GPS led me right to his mailbox. Walter called Martin Lang, who had just arrived home in Munich yesterday from the Juneau Icefield. We made arrangements to meet with him at a local restaurant, where we had dinner and some great German beer.

One interesting thing I’ve seen along the way is a lot of cigarette vending machines, mostly along the roads in the villages and at bus stops. It’s interesting to see them here because we don’t have them in the U.S. anymore – I think the last one I saw was in the 70’s or so. And I’ve noticed that there seem to be more smokers in Europe than in the States.

I’ll be in Munich for the next few days visiting with friends, then it’s southward again to Innsbruck, Austria.

August 7 Route Map

The rain from yesterday continued unabated all night long and into this morning. The clouds were still low and the sky was a dark grey color in all directions – it didn’t look good. I was seriously considering riding the 13 miles back to Wernberg in order to catch a train all the way to Munich today. But at 8:30 am it stopped raining and I could see some definition in the clouds, so it looked like it could at least stop raining for most of the day. I packed up my wet gear and headed off toward Munich. Fortunately, about an hour into my ride, the clouds lifted higher into the brightening sky and all chance of further rain for the day disappeared.

I called Walter Welsch on the phone when I got to the town of Amberg to let him know that I would arrive in Munich soon. Leaving Amberg on the south side of town I had the great fortune to ride a wide, smooth, mostly flat road that followed a river valley downhill, with a bit of a tailwind, and no rain! Talk about all the elements finally coming together in my favor. I was able to average 25 km/h on this section of road for about 50 kilometers, making it the most enjoyable ride so far. At one point however, my GPS wanted to route me on the shortest distance to Munich, which would have taken me away from the nice road and up into the hills. I was enjoying my quick ride and wasn’t too keen on taking a much slower route, so I switched plans and decided to go to Regensburg, which is slightly out of the way from a direct line to Munich. But it’s been six days since I was able to check my e-mail and post updates to OTR, so I figured I could get a hotel room for the night, check e-mail, post updates, recharge GPS and computer batteries, and dry my wet gear.

I’m now about 140 kilometers from Walter Welsch’s house in Munich. I’m going to try to make it all the way tomorrow, but I’ll need more flat, fast roads like the one today in order to do it.

August 6 Route Map

After a dry day yesterday, it started raining last night at 8:30 pm and it continued all night long and into this morning. But unlike a few days ago when it did the same thing, it did not let up at all today. The clouds were into the treetops with a dark sky in all directions, with the rain coming down hard. My plan was to ride 120 kilometers today to Monte Kaolino, but the weather killed my motivation. So instead, I resorted to Plan B – ride 10 kilometers to the nearest train station and take advantage of my Eurail Pass. I found the train station in Plauen, and after much examination of the train schedules and experimentation with the automated ticket machine (which was in German only, no English) I found that the closest I could get to Monte Kaolin via train was to the village of Wernberg, 13 kilometers east of my destination. I couldn’t use my Eurail Pass at the automated ticket machine, so I had to go to the ticket agent. She gave me my tickets and informed me that I had to change trains in Weiden in order to get to Wernberg. There was one minor problem though – the train didn’t go to Weiden; it went to Nurnburg instead, about 100 kilometers west of Weiden. So I purchased a 17 Euro ticket to go back the way I had just come. When I finally got to Wernberg it was still raining hard but at this point I was only 13 kilometers away from Monte Kaolino so I put on the raingear and rode as fast as I could. Fortunately the road I had to take was flat all the way, which made for a quick ride. My riding distance today was only 23 kilometers, but the train detour added another 335 kilometers to the distance traveled today.

August 5 Route Map

Today was all about ups and downs – up one hill and down another, over and over and over for 85 kilometers to a campground at a lake named Talsperre Pohl. The weather was perfect for biking today – partly sunny and not too hot, with a bit of a breeze to help keep cool. The countryside is still mostly farmland (wheat and corn) with the occasional patches of shady forest.

My Black Diamond Megamid tent is perfect for cycling. It’s big enough to put my bike inside it, and since it doesn’t have a floor I don’t have to worry about getting it all dirty. The campgrounds have well manicured grass lawns, so it’s actually quite nice inside. And unlike Alaska, there are virtually no mosquitoes to worry about. Combine that with the showers, restrooms, and restaurants at the campgrounds here, and camping is quite a nice experience.

Not much else to report for today. I still have about four more days of riding until I get to Munich. Tomorrow’s destination is Monte Kaolino, a sort-of-resort built around a 150 meter tall manmade sand dune.

August 4 Route Map

I finally got into the hill country today. Up to now, the ride has taken me through the mostly flat northern part of Germany. It was nice riding through that area because I could maintain a pretty constant pace of around 20-25 kilometers per hour. But now the road rises and falls, so it seems to take longer. I like the downhills, but that just means there is the inevitable uphill that follows.

Today was an easy day of just 18 kilometers to Susann Buettner’s house. On the way there I spotted a skateboard park in the town of Colditz. It had a large asphalt surface and no one was there, so I took the opportunity to dry all my wet gear in the sunshine. That lightened my load by a couple of pounds.

As I was passing through the town of Geithain, a black car pulled up to me and the driver rolled down his window and said, “You look like Scott.” I had no idea who the person was, but it was pretty obvious that he was somehow connected to Susann, as she was expecting me to arrive soon. It turned out the driver was Susann’s brother, so he guided me to Susann’s house which was only about 300 meters away.

I had a very nice visit with Susann and her family (parents, grandparents, aunt, and niece). And the timing was perfect – Susann had returned home just yesterday from a year-long trip to Nepal. And what was even stranger was that, about an hour after I arrived, the postman delivered a postcard to Susann that was sent from the Juneau Icefield by Ronny Wenzel, one of the German surveyors. Ronny wrote on the postcard that I should already be in Europe (correct on that – I was sitting right there as Susann read it!).

Susann took me on a walking tour of Geithain, which included roaming around in the town’s 850 year old church. It was pretty amazing to see such an old building, especially since there’s nothing that comes close to being that old in the U.S. We walked along several sections of the old wall that surrounded the town, and saw several of the guard towers with keyhole windows that the guards would shoot arrows through at potential invaders – pretty neat.

Susann and her parents provided great hospitality – it seemed that we were eating non-stop, and in addition to the food, there was plenty of good German beer. We all stayed up till past midnight talking about various things, with Susann acting as the translator because I speak no German and her parents don’t speak English. Overall, a very good day.

August 3 Route Map

It rained all night long last night and was still raining in the morning. I definitely wasn’t looking forward to spending the entire day riding in the rain, so it was a nice surprise when the rain stopped at 8:00 am and the sky began to clear a bit. But it was not to be – it remained cloudy all day with intermittent periods of rain throughout my ride. Unlike yesterday when I was able to get to the campground and get set up before the rain came, this evening when I was within 3 kilometers of the campground I had the heaviest downpour of the entire day. It was coming down very hard when I got to the campground and I had to set up in the rain. Not a lot of fun. But 20 minutes later the rain stopped, and I got a hot shower and a meal at the campground’s restaurant – all better!