The last riding day had finally arrived. Unfortunately it promised to be extremely hot again. We were all exhausted and sore and some were making contingency plans to finish up at lunch time or the French border if it got too hot. Time would tell, but we would give it our best shot.
Michelle, Bev, Sara, Megan and Megan…
Pete ready to roll…
we turned right out of the hotel and right again straight onto a nasty little pinch for a km or so. Not a pleasant way to start but it helped warmup the legs. Soon we were cruising across open fields…
the main climb of the day was early and gradual up through forest country before a rapid descent down into the next valley which we followed passing through small villages and hamlets like Waldau…
We had morning tea in Sant Margen at the 36km mark followed by very long and pleasant drop into the next valley. On the way down we saw a procession of old tractors making their way up into the highlands.
At this time of year storks are nesting and a lot of villages have church spires or artificial high nesting boxes set up wit video cameras to keep an eye on their progress…
I found a lovely creek and took some photos, before getting into a conversation with. local about what I thought of southern Germany and his impressions of Australian wines.
Grapes and wineries abound in this region…
I got excited seeing some scraggly old sunflowers which had been hit pretty badly by heat…
That was about as good as it got until…
This valley was particularly fertile with orchards, corn, barley and hay…
Entry bridge to a cute little town…
Unfortunately, the 5 or so kms between these two photos was filled with a long and very horrible steep climb in mid 30’s temperatures. Hard to tell with Jon. maybe he was happy it was over? maybe he’s just happy…
Our lunch stop was at a very posh winery at Vogtsburg…
Shoes off for this one…
After lunch many of us decided to roll the dice and see how far we could get. We were very excited to cross the border over the mighty Rhine…
and went through Neuf-Brisach a fortified town originally intended to guard the border between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Being in Alsace Lorraine it subsequently became a major fort between France and the German states. It was built after the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 that resulted in France losing the town of Breisach, on the opposite bank of the Rhine. It is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site. How cool are the walls and moats!
But it was so hot that we didn’t linger for long…
Now it really started to bake as we rolled across a flat open valley towards our destination. Luckily a very kind farmer sprayed us with his massive irrigation sprinkler and we found an innocuous little pub that looked after us…
We finally arrived in Eguisheim with 12km to go…
I didn’t take many photos here because my pedal broke… with 12 kms to go, are you kidding?? Luckily Sam had a spare one and soon had me back on track.
Damo cooling off before the final climb…
The view looking back to Eguisheim…
Pete heard that my peddle was fixed and waited for me to catchup so we could finish together…
A couple more beautiful villages to roll through…
And we made it to Chateau d’Isenbourg near the town of Rouffach. The riding was complete…
Rouffach…
A small celebration…
After a rest and cool shower it was time to pack the bikes up, so we had a garden party and helped each other out (thanks Megan and Paul…)
Our final debrief, Paul gave a little speech…
A lot of weary but very satisfied faces…
Sarah and Megan…
Dr Jon, the self confessed source of the zombie flu that laid half the group low during the trip…
The humidity was building, the Tour de France had been cancelled down south due to a massive hail storm and landslides. Something was definitely brewing as we sat down on the balcony for dinner…
And sure enough it was dinner and a show…
Starting off with an amazing lightning display from at least 2 massive storm cells on the mountains…
The heavens eventually opened in all their fury on us, and it lasted for hours into the night…
What a wonderful way to finish…as we had started in Venice, with a thunderstorm!!
Overall, a simply stunning, awe inspiring, mind blowing and life changing experience. The ride in its entirety was about 1330km and well over 22,000 vertical metres of climbing over 13 riding days with out any of the extra challenges. No-one managed to ride every kilometre for various reasons, but I did manage 1210km and 1960 vert metres, which I was extremely happy with. Moreover, we rode through Italy, Austria, Germany and France. slept in castles, ate amazing food, experienced stunning scenery and made great friends. It really was an Odyssey and we are all very grateful to Sam and his team for such a enriching experience.