Germany vs UK riding

It's often hard to get a picture of another persons travel experience from a distance but the cycle recently completed to the Bodinsee along the foothills of the Bavarian Alps was truly like riding through a childhood storybook !

Endless green fields, quaint historic villages with tall spired churches, immaculate 2-3 storey houses with their picturesque multi coloured flower boxes all against a majestic backdrop of alpine hills and nearby mountains.

It sounds all too good but cycling in Germany has its pros and cons for any prospective cycle tourist so let me share some with you by comparing our current experience with that of the UK.

Food - It would be an insult to compare German food with the UK where fried anything goes, chips are a main course and the national dish is Indian! The only problem with German food is a) understanding what the he'll you are eating and b)trying to avoid their incredible cakes!

Cyclists - Strangely while German people are generally friendly German cyclists do their
utmost to avoid eye and voice contact most likely because they would be "hello'd" out with the no of cyclists on paths over here

Cycle conditions - Again no comparison, a recent UK media article indicated it would take 16 years to complete all the outstanding road repairs in the UK - road conditions were so poor as a cyclist you had to ride away from the verge putting you into potential conflict with traffic. In Germany the cycle paths and roads are amongst the best in the world so well made in fact that you experience little if any road effect when driving or cycling over

Accommodation - Much of a muchness although I do prefer the quaint b&bs over the large gausthouses of Germany particularly as the latter do not come with air con

Scenery - Hard to generalise but the standouts have without a doubt been cycling in Scotland, Nthn Ireland and Bavaria each with it's own unique superlatives

Bike servicing - What can I say, attempts to get the bikes repaired in Germany were incredibly frustrating with mechanics expecting you to leave your bike for a few days for even
the simplest of jobs. In the UK the places we stopped at went out of their way to help you often putting other work off as they realised as tour cyclists you had somewhere to be

Language - the further south in Germany the harder to be understood the further nth in the UK
the harder to understand

Summary - If looking for a cycling adventure then the UK takes the cake for me as simply getting to your destination is an achievement and accomplishing your cycling goal provides a great sense of accomplishment. The German cycle routes as beautiful as they are are most
definitely a holiday cycle as they are so well surfaced and signposted and often running near major roads that they provide little challenge other than to sit back and relax and enjoy all the great things about Germany - to me it's the scenery the beer the food and did I mention the beer !!!