Stage 10 - Garmisch to Nesselwang - 25 km!

Is cycling 25km a Stage? So it.s cold and raining, all day. I tried waiting the storm out, but by noon, it was still on me. So I took the train west as far as I could, then cycled the rest in the rain. I don.t know why, but once I get a place to go in mind, I.m hard pressed not to find a way to get there. Call it determination, or stupidity, I.m not sure which. But the owner.s a cyclist and even cleaned and lubed my chain after we put it in the garage. He used to race as an amateur, but quit about 2 years ago. He is going to watch the German Tour on Monday as well, but by motorcycle. He.s put on a few pounds and doesn.t ride much. Thanks to my pop for booking a place near the finish and start stage in Sonthofen for me! Tomorrow will be a short 40 km ride to my abode for the next two nights, so I think the ex-racers will have a few beers tonight! Monday I plan on doing a long loop and coming back around to the Cat 2 Riedbergpass to watch the boys come through. Then the following day I will go to the start and see if I can talk to anyone "I know". Gotta run.

Stage 9 - Landsberg to Garmisch - 115 km

"RIIIIIIIIIIICOLA" OK, so maybe I.m not in Swiss country, yet, but that.s what I felt like yelling today. OK, I actually did, but no one was around, I think, damn, maybe I.m wrong, oops, run on sentence... I am out of the flat country and into the friggin' ALPS baby! Man, I think I.m closer to heaven, physically and spiritually in a sense. Today was one of my best so far, but I think the mountains have the most to do with that. The other areas have been great, even the boring past two days. But they were exciting in different ways and I got to see some places not many Americans will see, or probably should. Just kidding! The first 40k were flat, but there were some really steep parts for the last 75k that I am glad to have granny gear for. I do not recommend a double compact crank for touring. I thought about doing that with my Cannondale, but I am glad that I bought the Trek touring bike for this trip. Oh, today felt like a "no chain" day, literally. I was track standing at a light and then mashed the pedals when it turned green and I about yelled more than Ricola. Fortunately there was a shop less than 100 yards away and it was worth €35 for a new chain and piece of mind. I wish I could show some pics from today, although they still don.t do justice without the panorama effect and the clarity isn.t as good either, and you don.t get the smells of fresh cow pies, and, and, and wish you were here! Tomorrow I head toward Fussen on the way to Lindau. I will try and see Birdseye, or Birchenshit, or some place Hitler was my dad told me to go to. Hopefully I can find it on the map, or TT. And, I may get to see a Pro Tour event, the Tour of Germany! I think I have it planned to watch Stage 4 on Monday, but we.ll see how that goes depending on where I am. There is a Cat 2 climb that is 20k from the finish that ought to be good to watch, as long as I.m not going up there fully loaded. Ok, time to go get loaded. PROST! B2

Although the picture doesn.t do justice, it was my first view of the Alps!

I.m THIS happy to be in the Alps!

One of the many murals painted on the buildings in the town of Garmisch.

A view of the church steeple at night.

Stages 7 & 8 - Ulm to Landsberg am Lech - 140 km total

Rain, mud and ass-less chaps!

It was forecasting to rain yesterday through next Tuesday, so I went to the bike shop and bought a set of waterproof ass-less chaps. Basically, that.s what they are, but they work! I checked out at noon and fortunately it quit raining about 12:30. Unfortunately the bike path map I have did not show that the path along the Iller river is dirt and gravel. I looked like hell, and so did my bike, after about 15k. So I got off the path ASAP and whipped out TT and made it to Erkheim for the night, only about 65k in the record books. This area is like S. Georgia, minus the trailers and clay. There are plenty of corn fields and cow pies, as far as the eye can see! That is basically what the last two days have looked like, as the pictures will attest. It is surprising that even in these rural towns, all of the homes look respectable. People actually take care of their shit here. Today was more of the same, cow pies and corn, but this time I got on plenty of the wrong paths. But between TT and my map, I was able to make it to Landsberg. Unfortunately it wasn.t as far as I wanted to go, but after so many "off course" adventures, I was ready to bed down. My goal is to make it to Garmisch tomorrow, but judging by today, that won.t happen. The paths in this part of the country are marked, sort of...... Either I missed a few, or they just aren.t where they are supposed to be. So patience is a virtue when it comes to cycle touring down here, but that.s ok I don.t have to be in Thun until the 19th! I could go on and on, but as my family would say, just get to the point. The point is, I.m having a good time, regardless of everything that comes my way! Til next time, keep the rubber side down.

Folks, on your left, corn. Down the middle, bike path. On your right, shed. Over and over and over......

Hmmm, imagine that, more fields.....

City Zentrum (Center) Landsberg

Landsberg "falls"

Props to my boy, and gal! I wonder if they haul Porche ass?

Travel day - Ulm, Germany

First of all, I would like to thank Tim, Tammy and Zachary Greene for welcoming a stranger to their home and cooking me a fantastic steak dinner! Tammy asked if I.d like baked or mashed potatos, I of course said MASHED! Man, I miss southern cookin'. Tim has got to know more about German history then most of the Germans themselves. Thanks for the history lessons Tim!
So yesterday I toured the Schloss Castle and pretty much just the places in downtown Heidelberg. I got a pass to see a few places and rode the bike to get to them. It.s so much easier being able to go where you want to, and not have to figure out the local "strasse" (trains). I drank a beer with 33% alcohol in it, and it was pretty good. It.s called Vetters 33 and it looks like a stout, but tastes really sweet. Odd, but I liked it! So after playing tourist I got on the net to try and decide where I was going next. My original plan was to go to Italy, but I just don.t feel that compelled to go, at least not right now. I went back over to the Greene.s and we went and had a really good Italian dinner, then walked around the neighborhoods. I wish we had city planners in Atlanta like they did\do in Germany. There were little parks on about every other block. And not just tiny ones, really cool ones with awesome swing sets and jungle gyms. Then we got on the net & Tim talked me into sticking around southern Germany, which didn.t take much convincing either! I.ve had a great experience in this country, so I might as well stay. That, and there are bike paths everywhere and not as many in Italy.
So I took the train to Ulm and went to the church in the center of town, which is the main attraction. It has the tallest spire of all churches, or that.s the claim to fame. I toured the city and found a bookstore with bike path maps. It also includes recommended B&B.s to stay at, so I have a reservation about 60 km from here for tomorrow. It will probably be hit or miss for a while on internet connections, I think I.m going to be in some small towns for a while. But the plan is to make my way down to Garmisch then back over to Lindau (Bodensee), then on my way to Interlaken by the 18th or 19th. So all is well from Euro, I.m just taking it easy! Peace.
P.S. - I added some pics from the last week that you can check out now on my older posts, if you didn.t notice already.

Schloss CastleChurch in Ulm. Don.t ask names, I don.t pay attention most of the time....

The inside of the unnamed church in Ulm. Very nice!

Stage 6 - Worms to Heidelberg - 65 km

"The weather is here, wish you were beautiful." - TNV

From Worms to Mannheim is more off the beaten path as the last 50 km were yesterday..... Mannheim seemed to have a festival going on as well, but I decided to roll on. I got off of the Rhein river route and onto the Neckar river route from Mannheim to Heidelberg, it looks really nice but no boats and there were a LOT of cyclists on the path today. I.m sure it being Sunday has the most to do with it, but it was nice to see people out and about. Not many "young" people out though. So I rolled into town and think I will stay for two days. Looks like a neat place so I should stop and smell the roses! I received an email from Tim and will meet up with him later I suppose. Ciao for now.

Ride that way, boy!

Damn, it was SO good!