You are now at post Nr. What a tour…. That was after my first three days of travelling. As I had hoped, I think they were a good physical preparation for everything else to come. But one by one…. It was just the perfect start of my vacation! Thanks so much again to both of you! After some good sleep I started the trip on Saturday, around h. Weather: some clouds and a bit of wind. I simply followed the peeps of my Garmin that I had previously fed with my routes see my post 00a for the preparation.
The ride went pretty smoothly, disregarding some unexpected gravel paths and re-routed roads. The landscape around Freiburg, bordering on the Black Forest was beautiful, of course — the Rhine however rather unspectacular. The urban area of Basel approached at just the right moment when I was longing for some change.
Passing the border, I had a break and a refuel at the central station in Basel proper coffee, refilling my bottles, cheesy pizza-bread. Anything that works. Yes, it was almost continuously going uphill for dozens of km, but at a very harmless gradient.
I could have picked an alternative flat route south around the Jura, but I figured this would be a good way to get used to some climbing from day 1 on. I think it was a good decision. But then: rain — on and off — weaker and stronger. I got very skillful in putting on and off my rain jacket quickly. Thanks to my overshoes which I was testing now for the first time, my feetremained dry! Brand: Velotoze. Basically condoms for your feet.
Also, besides myself I had to lift my bike and especially my luggage over those mountains. So I was having my lows… it was getting colder, I was getting weaker, my jersey wetter from sweat or rain or a delicate mix. Now I was already in the francophone territory and could test how much of my French skills remained by asking for a sandwich, some water and my beloved Magnum Double icecream.
