Day 53 - Rettenberg to Freidrichshafen - 110kms

Talk about the heatwave coming to an abrupt end - we woke to rain and a cold wind on the last day of our 460km ride from the Konigsee to the Bodinsee.

The day did not begin well when Kev tool a chunk out of his leg opening a door and dislodging a length of  4x4 square steel (that Kev reckoned weighed at least 300kgs) while searching for out bikes. The horrified owner helped him to bandage his leg as he bravely vowed to continue.

After about 5 mins riding we both wished Kev had decided to stay put as we were being soaked and frozen by continuous rain and icy cold winds - it was hard to believe that the previous week had been mid 30s.

A stop at Stefendore allowed us to change clothes and have a cuppa figuring the remaining 40kms to Lindau should be pretty uneventful. We'd no sooner started than the rain came down heavier making for tricky descents on this undulating ride.

It was on one of these descents that I nearly came to grief with speed building and a road warning sign indicating some imminent danger I took the only option available a high speed detour across another pasture in the rain. This one was a little more technical requiring me to avoid a barbed wire fence and a large building - in the end I layed the bike down gouging out grass and dirt but thankfully only smashing my front handlebar pannier bag. Kev knew from the booming profanity that I'd survived and with his help we bandaged the damage in the rain and surveyed the impressive swathe in the paddock. When we got underway i made sure i walked anything downhill that had a bend.

After 460 kms we finally rode on to the Bodinsee at Lindau with the wind and rain really whipping up the sea.

Mike & Kev at the Bodinsee having cycled 450 kms through Bavaria ! 

After the obligatory celebration photo we rode on to Friedrichshaven skirting the more uninteresting parts of the Bodinsee to catch a train to Schwenningen for our next leg on the Neckar suggested to us by German born Angela (living in London) who we'd met and shared pain with on our Tibet trip in 2011

To say the trip was stressful was an understatement - no idea what the main station was called, no idea where to change, no idea how to use the ticket machine and no one to talk to and the train leaving in 15 mins!

I did what most people would do and ordered a Mcdonalds meal at the station, swore a lot and guessed at the answers to the other questions.

Somehow Kev and self arrived at the correct destination knackered, dirty, stressed but relieved - tommorrow would signal the start of another adventure!