I went mountain biking with Julian and his friend Alex in the Black Forest this afternoon. We spent a couple of hours heading up to Shauinsland before descending along a ridge and eventually ending back in Freiburg. The descent was awesome. It was mostly single track on such a gradient that you could ride with a bit of speed. It was just technical enough to make for some interesting bits and keep you on the edge of your seat (so to speak). I thoroughly enjoyed it. We had pizza and beer back in Freiburg by the Dreisam river.
Above left: Us riding along a wider section of road. Above right: Julian was unlucky and managed to get two punctures during the ride thus totally destroying his yearly average. I reckon he will have to go a few years without punctures to bring the average back down to an acceptable level. Unfortunately his kevler reinforced tires were no match for this well placed nail.
Above: Our route took us from Freiburg up into the forest and then briefly back down into the valley. We left the sealed road and rode by various tracks up to the Shauinsland summit. After a break we headed down premium single tracks for beer and pizza by the Dreisam in Freiburg.
After spending the night at my new flat in Freiburg, Frauke and I drove across the border to France and spent a night in the Vogesen mountains (hills). We went climbing at a crag named Gueberschwihr which was quite fun. We haven’t done a lot of climbing recently and have no finger strength. I lead a few climbs around the 5a, 5b mark and then we had had enough.
Above left: Me climbing at the Guerberschwihr crag with Frauke belaying below. Above right: There was a boulder area a wee walk from the climbing crag.
We camped in a little town in the evening. There was a wine festival there and at about 2am a lot of drunk French guys came out and started making lots of noise. Two of them came over to our tent. One poured a glass of beer over it and the other peed on the side of it. The French are so terribly charming.
The next day we went cycling for a few hours in the hills. It was ok but we were both still feeling a little unwell from our lingering colds and various ailments. We checked out Martinswand, another rock climbing crag in the afternoon but it was only 6 degrees and a nasty wind made it feel much colder. It was beginning to rain so we left without doing any climbing and headed back to Germany.
Above left: Frauke and I cycling up Col du Firstplan. Above right: It was rather cold and wintery at the Martinswand crag so we headed back to Freiburg.
As the weather is still un-customarily warm and friendly Frauke and I went for a mission up Widderstein in nearby Austria. Der Großer Widderstein is a 2533 m that can be reached from Kleinwalsertal (a valley just across the border from Oberstdorf). It’s got a good traditional looking summit i.e. you know when you’re at the top. The round trip with a good break for lunch took about 6.5 hours.
Following our sunny walk we ate a tub of ice-cream as has become a tradition.
Above left: Frauke climbing Widderstein. Above middle: View from the top of Widderstein. Above right: There were a disturbing number of naked men on the walk. Frauke nears one of them in this photo.
Below: Map of route.
Frauke and I went for a ride into Austria to Reutte and then back through Tannheimer Tal. The weather was nice and the riding was grand. Below is a dinky wee map of our route.
Alastair and Amber visited this week. They’re planning a cycle touring trip through Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. They are starting at my place in Oberstdorf and will end up in Freiburg sometime in September. I’ll meet them there. Of course I will take the easier option and go by car.
We spent the week walking in the hills, cycling, avoiding the rain. As I am too lazy to write much I shall post photos instead.
Above: Amber and Al on Riffenkopf in Allgaeu.
Below left: Al and Cris riding by the Iller. Below right: Al and Amber in the Breitlachklamm.
Above: Cris did his best to dress in camouflage so as to fit in with the natives. Below: Al, Amber, Cris, and a native at the Allgäu Festwoche. Beer was consumed. Cheesy festival music was played.
Below: Mmmm icecream…
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