I was itching to film the ride and set up the Insta 360 on the magic selfie stick but unfortunately I set the camera to regular wide screen mode not 360, after reviewing the footage disappointed to find I'd captured mostly hedge at the side of the road not the vast scenery of forests and mountains I'd seen. This whole Vosges region is wonderful and perfect riding country, and always enjoyed coming here passing cafes and stop points I'd been before and it sounded like Rob was enjoying it too while chatting over the intercom. In the background that Tiger start to growl as I waved Rob past and he unleashed the beast, let it rev a bit and left me behind for some miles as I pulled over to adjust the camera mount.
Some time early afternoon after a fun ride on high came the descent into the flat lands over canal bridges and built up area approaching the Rhine. The river is the natural border between France and Germany and we would cross at Neuenberg am Rhein but unfortunately came across a huge road block. I couldn't see the bridge since the build up of stationary vehicles with tall trucks but could tell from the GPS's we had a few miles to go to cross and could only assume there would be some kind of road works on or near the bridge itself. We contemplated finding an alternative route as some of the car drivers were turning around, it was such a hot afternoon and remaining stationary meant cooking in the sun. Soon though realising little traffic was coming the other way I could see just enough for us to make progress by filtering on the other side of the road by moving quite quickly before nipping in between trucks and buses just as the traffic started to appear in the opposite direction. Rob went first, I followed, and we kind of leap-frogged our way for quite a few miles to a roundabout with road works just before the bridge and the border crossing. I love crossing the Rhine, such a wide river compared to any found in the UK and it had been fun yet hot work cheating the traffic, so by now both needing fuel and drinks with a slight detour we pulled into a garage claiming a spot in the shade alongside other bikers to cool down.
After a short ride we were soon heading into the Black Forest region of Germany along the L131 back in to mountainous twisty forested roads. Most bikers enjoy the North/South B500, but in the past I've found it to be a little too busy so this West/East route was a much quieter alternative. A lunch stop was beckoning after coming across the very accommodating Haldenhof Bergastof cafe/guesthouse at the top of a valley that looked strangely familiar to me. I was sure I'd been in Hinterheubronn along the road to Neuenweg before. I ran in and found the nice seating area outside in the garden overlooking the valley. I grabbed a seat in the shade and Rob soon joined me. The more I thought of it I remembered I'd eaten at this very restaurant with Peter while returning from a Swiss Harley rally back in 2010. I can't recall what myself an Peter had eaten back then, but this time myself and Rob tucked in to a very nice steak salad. While returning to the bikes we stopped for a conversation with a great guy who as an ex-BMW rider asking about our bikes and where we had ridden from, it turned out he was on holiday visiting his German relatives and as a Physician had moved to Maine, USA many years ago. It was quite amusing how after 20 minutes of chatting about bikes he suddenly realised he'd left his wife alone in the restaurant!
By late afternoon it was getting really hot so good to keep the air moving and stay cooler with more miles through the Black Forest and then on to ride a lap around Lake Titisee. There was an option to stop near the lake and I was tempted to get an ice-cream but it it did seem quite touristy full of families and really quite crowded so kept moving and started to climb up the side of a hill ridge toward Lenzkirch turning off down a lane toward Saig bei Lenzkirch. Tonight we would be staying at the very nice Boutique Hotel Ochsen and managed to get access to one of the garages to park the bikes for a fee. I have to say being out of town the parking would have been safe, but with a slope (I like to use the centre stand) and the opportunity to unload/load the bikes in shade made it appealing. Fantastic room with a view and an empty swimming pool. Riding in it was +30 degrees so a cool dip before a dinner on the terrace of Goulash and 'Spaetzle' the German pasta. A very pleasant evening with a short walk after we were looking forward to crossing borders into Switzerland and Austria tomorrow.
A warm night and no air conditioning in my room despite the heatwave across Europe it was spacious and cool enough with the balcony door open to get a good nights sleep. I enjoyed the stay at the quirky Hotel Ochsen nestled in the valley and I have to say the food including breakfast was great too, I'd be happy to revisit in the future. Drinking coffee (americano for Rob of course) just inside by the terrace gave us chance to familiarise ourselves with todays route consisting of a crossing in to Switzerland briefly, then on through Austria with options to visit the Rhine Falls, and our second mountain pass - the Arlberg. The garage idea paid off, leaving most of the luggage on the bikes overnight and by now with blue skies, the air heating up, it was good to suit up inside and make a quick departure south-east through the town of Lenzkirch.
The early part of the ride was amazing winding along empty roads of the Black Forest on the 315 through Bonndorf eventually climbing up high to reveal what I first thought were clouds in the distance but quickly realised we were looking at our first view of the Alps. Pulling over at Stühlingen right on the German-Swiss border to take a picture you can just make out the snowy peaks on full iPhone zoom above. Ride With Us had provided an option to visit the Rhine falls at Schafhausen and it felt odd to be considering the river again. I didn't realise the Rhine flowed through Switzerland, always relating it solely to Germany but sure enough as we rounded a bend we could see the river with parking spaces on the side of the valley. Parking up taking two of the many motorcycle spaces while eyeing the spectacular waterfalls across the valley and on removing helmet and earplugs could hear the loud roar of water.
Later, with me leading out of Schafhausen town following my GPS, it was very slow progress riding through many sets of traffic lights in built up towns and villages. Over the intercom Rob questioned if we were really on the intended route since his GPS was trying to use a different direction that seemed to direct to the motorway so I managed to re-route through more pleasing scenery on the way to a motorway junction. Fortunately both of us had pre-bought Swiss and Austrian Toll Vignettes (electronic not sticker) before the trip to allow us to use both motorway networks.
It was a late lunch stopping by the Restaurant Schuetzenhaus-schoenholzerswilens (a mouthful in itself!) outside under a shady umbrella and I sensed we had restricted menu options when asking for an omelette was offered a very nice Swiss style pork salad instead. I had the impression a couple of Brits passing through on motorcycles were a bit of a novelty when Rita the very nice English speaking owner was curious to know our thoughts of Switzerland and where we were heading to convey to other guests. It was getting quite late so we didn't hang around and moved on, riding across country for a short while before joining the motorway for a couple of hours and I recall an impressive long downhill section revealing the bright blue Lake Constance (Bodensee) shimmering with sail boats and other craft ahead of us on the left.
A nice run by the lake and into Austria and so tempted to stop and grab an ice-cream but both decided to keep moving and rejoin the motorway for another hour or so heading toward Innsbruck. By now the motorway work was tiring and I was a little disoriented in the heat so we pulled over at a service station to refuel and rehydrate just off the S16 at Klosterle to try and find the Arlberg pass. It turned out we had taken a wrong turn somewhere and missed taking the scenic cross-country L200. By now Rob took a decision to head straight to the hotel so I decided to have a go and try and take directions from another biker for the pass. It was suggested it was only a few miles down the road. In the end I did enjoy a pleasant evening ride through the Arlberg to compensate my disappointment of missing the L200 and Rob and I both arrived at Hotel Reschenhof at about the same time parking in the underground car park nearby and only just making it in time for our evening meal allocation.
Today's 235 miles were very mixed. The first half of the day enjoyable, the latter after lunch not so good with a little too much motorway. The use of 'shaping' ('via points') instead of more fixed waypoints to direct us to the L200 the likely reason we lost the correct route. The Garmin GPS units often treat shaping points (represented by blue dots) as optional and do not announce them so once off the official route we had no easy way to realise the error. However, given the great time spent at the Rhine falls I believe we would have arrived much later and missed the evening meal anyway, so it all worked out well in the end - there are only so many ride hours in a day. Our inclusive evening meal with beers as extra were a welcome end to a fun albeit tiring day.
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