1/11/24
Overnight the clouds cleared revealing a spectacular sky. We awoke to crystal clear blue skies and allowed ourselves to nestle in our bags a little longer than usual due to our good fortune the night before. That said we did leave promptly with the Sun as we promised. As we cycled out of the woods we were able to look across the valley behind us to see a dramatic inversion.
We were quickly descending into an icy cold wind and then quickly rising back up. A steep climb to start the day. It was now 0C. Our legs were exhausted and it was a sharp reminder of the difficulty to recover from the elevation in colder conditions and without the comfort of a bed. At the top the views were even better.
We were craving the warmth of the Sun as we cycled through hilltop villages and at one point we were rewarded. After a brief pause and a contemplation about whether to insulate our hands a little more, we decided not to, we headed down again and found ourselves on twisty steep hills. A familiar thin flowery pattern of ice covered some of the cars. We had to check it was ice to be sure.
Carefully now analysing the road for the presence of ice we pushed on. As we got closer to the town to replenish our dwindling food supplies, we lost the warmth of the Sun and our hands and feet got colder.
Villingen-Schwenningen was a big town with plenty of supermarkets. We were looking forward to the cheap pastries and a warming coffee. We entered the town through one of the tall gatehouses that we’ve now seen regularly. As we entered a sudden realisation washed over us both. It was dreadfully quiet.
Today was All Saints Day. A public holiday in Germany. This was much the same as a Sunday. Everything closes. Properly. It was very odd to continually have so many days when you can’t go to a supermarket. Sundays alone were enough to make you a little nervous about whether you had enough.
We saw an open cafe, but had a little look up and down to see what else was open. Nothing as it happens. We propped the bikes by the outside tables. Attached our little hiplocks, (a glorified cable tie but enough to give us some time) and went inside to warm up.
After scouting the selection of bread and cakes which had no labelling of ingredients or allergens, we asked whether they had anything edible. Though they did serve oat milk, not even the baguettes were free of milk. Weird. We did find a small box of Palmitos, pastry biscuits which were vegan but also expensive. Oh well, needs must.
After staying in the cafe an inordinately long time to keep warm we decided to try and find another shop before we left. The train station is always a good bet and being Germany they always have bakeries. There were actually two overpriced bakeries. We managed to get a loaf for the princely sum of €4. We also tried a petrol station but drew the line at €3.50 for a little jar of jam.
We didn’t have a particular location picked for our accommodation tonight and pushed on south. Still on the panorama radweg, though we would be leaving it soon to head south east towards Schaffhausen. It would be nice to complete but a big detour for us.
We were blessed with sunny skies as the day went on and nice paths. Nowhere near the level of gravel that we’d seen before. There were plenty of big hills though. Up and down all day. It was getting less though.
At Bräunlingen we were to head off on our own path. We stopped there briefly to organise our next route. We wanted something a little more certain tonight. We quickly requested to book a cheap room on Airbnb. It was £31 and described very drably. But it was a bed and shower.
We’d need to wait for confirmation but we would press on towards the village in the meantime. The village and the room we’d potentially booked were high up however and it added a substantial bit of elevation to our route. We headed down flat paths to start, making good progress.
However we soon came to a small village called Hausen Vor Wald. It housed a rather large graded climb with a maximum gradient of 30%. That’s not a typo. It was 30% in places. It was obviously uncycleable. We finally hiked to the top, where despite the hill not being over we were at least able to ride it.
We were now on the hunt for a camping spot. The Airbnb host hadn’t accepted our stay and was thus unreliable. We also thought if we found a good spot first then we could cancel. We entered a wood at the top of the road. Hopefully not having an experience like the previous night. It started to seem unlikely we’d find an appropriate nook for the tent. Further on down the track were two trucks, with empty gun racks, and we saw a child and a fire. Some kind of weekend activity.
This wood was not for us it seemed and as we were scouring the satellite maps on google we saw a bed symbol only a few hundred metres away. Florianshütte. It didn’t make any sense. It was up a hillside and had no road to it. But the reviews from a few years ago said it was good. The path appeared to require us to go down a track and out of the wood which we did. But then it wanted us to go back up, a muddy slope in the field. It was marked as a trail.
A farmer was ploughing nearby and we gave him a little nod and wave, then started mashing our bikes up the hill. It was tough going. We almost caved in and thought this was ridiculous but we needed to see what was up there. As we crested the hill a well built wooden hut came int view. It had a fire pit and a table tennis table.
We pushed our bikes over and surveyed the flat ground next to it with a good feeling it was tent worthy. With little expectation of success we tried the door. It actually pulled open. Inside were two large tables and benches. There was also an internal door to another room. This was locked. We decided that we should put our bikes inside and stay inside so it wasn’t obvious anyone was there.
We could hardly believe our luck that we’d found such a fortunate hideaway. But the trail always provides. We ate the remainder of our food. All of it apart from a few sunflower seeds. We had to get food tomorrow. To be honest we’d been carrying a few things since home. Which was a bit daft but we’d brought a number of treats. All gone now though.
While we were sat there, and the Sun disappeared, we heard a few noises. They weren’t familiar, and it made us rather nervous. We honestly thought it sounded like someone was in the locked room. Maybe they were waiting to go hunting? We ended up banging on the door to relieve us of our nightmarish thoughts. There was no one anywhere. It must have been some kind of animal outside or a window blown by the wind.
As it got later we felt the cold set in. We were still 800m up and a thick fog encircled us. We felt safe for now, but what about morning. We’d need to leave this place in one piece.
Surly They Won't Make It 