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THE ITINERARY -
It
is about the Lake of Constance tour in 4 days by
tandem. Initially, it was thought to do only and
just around the lake, and with this idea in February
I had started to book the hotels. Then a friend
told me about Schaffhausen's waterfalls, so I decided
to stretch the path. It was indeed worth it.
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TRAVEL LOGISTICS-
- How to get to the start -
We
chose to start the trip from Bregenz, Austria,
because it is the smallest town on the lake closest
to Italy, because it is well structured as hotels
and also with parking spaces suitable for hosting
the cars of those like us want to tour Lake by
bicycle, and then, let's all say, Austria is less
expensive than Switzerland.
Getting to Bregenz is simple, you have to descend
from the Rhine Valley, or from S.Bernardino, or
Spluga, or, as we did from the Engadine through
the Albulapass or Julierpass.
In the Rhine valley there are 118 km of Swiss
highway to do. Remember to buy the stamp, you
can find it at customs cost of CHF 40. You exit
the motorway at Lustenau, then follow the signs
for Bregenz.
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FROM LOGBOOK: OUR 4 STAGES
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Monday July 31, 2017 - Arrival in Bregenz (Austria):
Weather:
Nice and warm
Departure from Incudine
(BS) 8.30am by car.
Aprica - Tirano (at the customs we buy Swiss freight
ticket 40 FRS - € 35,36) - Poschiavo - Bernina
- Albula - lunch at Ela Park.
14.00 short visit to Vaduz (FL)
At 4.00 pm arrival at Bregenz Hotel Linde
18.30 visit to the Parkplatz, great free parking where
tomorrow we will post the car
19:00 dinner at the Reblaus restaurant in the city
(Hotel Linde's hotel is closed).
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Tuesday August 01,2017 - 1st Stage:
Bregenz - Berlingen
Weather:
Nice, hot afraid, strong thunderstorm
with hail in the evening
From
the Parkplatz in Bregenz where I left the car we take
the lake bike pathin the direction of Switzerland.
We leave the Austrian Voralberg and enter the Swiss
territory. The bike path is continous and well reported,
unfortunately it is very bumpy at this time and this
conditiones us a lot on the roadmap. We cross typical
villages such as Arbon and Egnach where we stop for
lunch. In the afternoon we resume to pedal under a
burning sun. There is no wind and the humidity is
very high. We over Kreuzlingen and close the stage
at Berlingen at 5pm. After our arrival, the end was
unleashed. Strong thunderstorms with hail and wind
throughout the night. The next day we will find broken
branches and fallen trees throughout the final stretch
of the lake. |
FOTO
GALLERY on |
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Wednesday August 02, 2017 - 2nd Stage:
Berlingen - Schaffausen - Iznang
Weather:
Nice,
fresh in the morning, hot in the afternoon
It
is the day of Schaffhausen and its famous waterfalls.
An exciting show. Not badly call them "The Niagara
of Europe". Although very tiring, this was the
most beautiful stage of the tour. We leave at 9.00
am along the bike path between the lake and the evergreen
forest and with frequent breaks due to branches and
trees fallen by the strong night storm that the staff
are preparing to remove. Beyond the Rhine Bridge,
we reach Stein. We are in Germany at the end of the
lake. Walking past the beautiful village, and after
a few shots and shooting, we resume the march towards
Schaffhausen that we reach midday. It is not over
yet, to reach the waterfalls there are still 5 km
on dirt road and with a couple of 20% ramps that I
prefer to tackle to avoid risking breakage of the
free wheel ratchet. (In the past I happened to blow
the ratchet up over 25% and with only 165 kg of overall
weight, on this trip our full load tandem weighs 188
kg, better not risk with excessive slopes even if
the 22x36 Would allow it!). Fortunately this stretch
is all under the woods and the heat is attenuated.
Having reached the waterfalls, tied the tandem, on
guided touristic path we visit this wonderful place.
Going back to Stein, we stop in the woods for lunch.
Then, under a fire sunshine and a dreary heat, we
pedal towards Iznang which we reach at 17am. Iznang
is a quiet village near the lake, it is a magnificent
place. |
| FOTO
GALLERY on |
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Thursday August 03, 2017 - 3rd Stage:
Iznang - Konstanz - Uberlingen
Weather: Cloudy in the morning, hot in the afternoon
It is the day of Constance,
the pretty town that gives its name to the lake. Depart
at 9.00 am, we reluctantly leave the small paradise
of Iznang and resume pedaling through the woods and
the lake on a beautiful dirt bike path. After 5 km
we reach the town of Radolfzell and, as usual every
morning, we do the grocery shopping for lunch. Let's
continue, between ups and downs to Constance which,
hand-tandem, we visit the historic center. All around,
besides the lake, there is a dense network of cyclists
also with aerial bridges, to allow a pedestrian people
of all ages and from everywhere to reach the center
safely. What progress! It's getting late and it starts
the usual heavy hot. We must face the rise of Wallausen
before the food stop. Let's take the usual bicycle
path to the other branch of the lake and start the
Wallausen climb in the sun of the 13th. The first
kms are pretty bad, with remarkable but not impossible
slopes. The bicycle is almost always on the road to
Liggeringen, where on the right we finally enter the
woods and reach a small step at 630 m. Of height,
past which we will go down again to the lake. It is
a beautiful place, the highest point of the whole
tour, many large dirt roads between the woods and
a large lawn, a beautiful fountain with several picnic
areas. And cyclists who go and come, in short, this
is Giancarlo's Paradise! We stop to eat and with some
English words we get acquainted with a pair of German
cyclists climbed from the opposite side of ours. We
offer them coffee exchanging reciprocal travel information.
At 15 o'clock, we continue our journey on the steep
descent to Lake Bodman. Continue on the other side
of the bicycle on the road to Uberlingen, where at
17.00 ends our third stage. |
| FOTO
GALLERY on |
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Friday August 04, 2017 - The 4th and last Stage:
Uberlingen - Lindau - Bregenz
Weather: Clouds and sunshine, pleasant temperature
It's Lindau's day. We leave
at 8.30 am, greet the beautiful town of Uberlingen
and we continue along the lake bicycle, often on the
road or on the seaside roads. We overtake the hamlets
of Meersburg, Hagnau, and the town of Friedrichshafen.
Beautiful landscapes in Nonneham and lunch break at
the lakefront before Lindau. After a short break on
the beach we visit Lindau and with the last 9 km we
return to the Parkplatz in Bregenz to resume our car.
The pedal trip is over, we return to the hotel and
tomorrow we return to Italy. |
| FOTO
GALLERY on |
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