Signmaringen to Ulm. 11 June.

We slept reasonably well with ear plugs in. The teenagers in the next camp site quietened down about midnight - they looked rather tired tired when they began to emerge as we were leaving camp! There was also a long thunderstorm during the night, but fortunately not too much rain. Breakfast at 7.30 as usual was just rice cereal, bacon and 2 hard boiled eggs each. We had to make up sandwiches for the day's lunch also. Set out at 8.10am with 110 kms to go. It was cloudy but a pleasant temperature, and with a westerly tail wind of about 30km per hour it made for very pleasant, easy riding. Quite a lot of the riding was on crushed limestone cyclepaths, but all the paths were in good condition, very smooth and wide, and well signposted. There were lots of other cyclists with panniers on riding the Danube trail. The river widened as the day went on, and the riding was through an increasingly widening valley on a very flat trail.

Disaster struck at 15kms on the outskirts of the town of Ennetach. Marilyn, our Canadian friend with whom we had been riding since Paris, fell and broke her ankle. Tour staff were very helpfull and arranged hospital and all other details. The previous day Amandine, our nurse, had taken Neil, aged 82, to the same hospital when he fell in a ditch and hit his head. Regretfully Marilyn and Murray will be leaving the tour to fly home to Montreal tomorrow, and it was a sad day for all tour members to be losing such a lovely couple. We have enjoyed riding with them as had similiar pace and enjoyed the same sights. Then John and I carried on riding but had to walk through the market day at Mengen. A Turkish lady saw the Paris to Istanbul sign on our bikes and made it clear she wanted to send her regards to Istanbul. We stopped at Riedlingen for our daily coffee and pastry. We over-ran the little shop with about a dozen cyclists and the lady was heard on the phone urgently ordering more cakes. The town was first established in 837AD.

From there we travelled through little towns and villages. There is a town about every 3-4kms so plenty to see. About 11am we detatched ourselves from the main group and went up the hill into Obermarchtal to visit a 17th century abbey church. It is a particularly beautiful Baroque church, one of the best examples of this style in Germany. Being on the top of the hill and being very large it is visible for miles. The abbey buildings and grounds were surrounded by a high stone wall, and overlook the Danube. A few kilometers on we stopped and sat on a seat at the outskirts of Untermarchtal to have our picnic lunch. At the next town of Munderkingen we stopped at a cafe where we had an icecream. Philip, Maureen and Glen, Charles and Leslie were at the same cafe. The cafe owner said that last year a group doing the same tour as us also stopped at his cafe! Mid afternoon we stopped in the larger town of Ehingen where we had a pastry and also managed to get a wi-fi connection to send our last blog and also receive emails. It was threatening rain again with thunderstorms all around us but we managed to stay dry. Others who were ahead and behind us did get rather wet.

The last thirty kilometers was riding through crops at shoulder height. It was flat, easy riding with a tail wind. We came into Ulm alongside the Danube, and after crossing the river found our hotel. There was space outside the hotel to put up our tents to dry. It was a fine evening. We dined in the hotel restaurant with Marilyn, Murray, Maureen and Glen. It was a very enjoyable meal, the final tour night for Marilyn and Murray. Then we went to their room for a delicious piece of Black Forest gateaux. Marilyn had wanted a piece for her birthday the previous day but we had not had it then. Ulm is the birthplace of Albert Eindtein. It also has a beautiful church. We will go exploring tomorrow.

We did 105 kms in 5 hours 26 mins, ave. 19.4 kms per hour.