Bike Tour: The first two days

[expedition_retirement]

Our first ride was a warm up ride, a shorter ride, primarily intended to be an opportunity to make sure our bikes were properly adjusted and working properly. While this warm up was longer than the ones we've done on other tours, at just under 14 miles, it was a very flat ride, much of it on tow paths along a canal. It wasn't the most scenic ride of the week, but the destination was definitely worth it. The ride ended at the parking lot for the Abbatiale Saints Pierre et Paul, a Romanesque abbey church in the town of Ottmarsheim, France. This church was consecrated in 1049 by Pope Leo IX, who was born in Alsace (we would visit his home town later on the tour). It is an unusual, octagonal shape, with a square tower centering the front. It lacks the large beautiful windows of a gothic church, but it was calming and peaceful inside. It was humbling to stand inside the church and contemplate that it had been there for nearly a thousand years.

Our second day would be the only day that our ride would be entirely in Germany. In the morning, we left Badenweiler, with a steep descent into the vineyards and farms along the edge of the Black Forest. Our 13 mile ride took us to the town of Staufen, Germany. At the edge of the town, the ruins of the Staufen Castle sit at the top of a hill that is heavily terraced with vineyards. This castle dates to the twelfth century (but was the cite of an earlier Roman fort) and was destroyed in 1633 during the Thirty Years War. We hiked up to the ruins, and were rewarded with a stunning 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. After taking in the views, we returned to the town for lunch and a little shopping. The center of the town was quite pretty, with beautiful architecture, and interesting murals on the buildings. After lunch, our afternoon ride was an easy 11 miles back to Badenweiler, although it did finish with a climb back up the descent we came down in the morning.