Day one

The journey has begun and the weather was reasonable all things considered. Mainly sunny if rather windy at times. I clock up 62 km and a top speed of 53kph. However it was not all easy going and at times it felt like rolling a rock up a mountainside on several hilly sections as I was forced to push the loaded bike (40kgs) up hill.

A brief stop at Kaltenbronn again before venturing into uncharted territory. The maps.me did a pretty good job guiding me but it was heavy on the battery, which by lunchtime was down to 2%. Luckily I noticed after stopping for lunch under a pear tree and the solar panels and power bank charged the smartphone enough for me to continue. Analog maps are essential really.

The high point I reached in the Black Forest (933m) soon after Kaltenbronn.

Pears kept raining down on me but thankfully my crash helmet protected me from these rock hard missiles. Windfall was everywhere, apples, grapes, plums, pears and a whole lot more. Unfortunately I dare not add to my load and had to forego these tempting offerings.

Beautiful vineyards o be seen once beyond the Black Forest region.

A short break in Bühl to top up my water supply. Not to be confused with Buhl in France.