Day 5 Lake Constance constantly impressed!

Published on 7 June 2024 at 23:39

Buchs to Konstanz 67 miles

Knowing our longest day in store, I was anxious to get riding early. However rain showers delayed our start. When we did finally get going we were full gas and feeling good in cooler weather and flat, albeit wet, trail. Making quick time of the first 30 miles We entered Austria and arrived at Bregenz and the shores of Lake Constance. Having not encountered others riders all morning, suddenly there were a swarm of Bavarians on bikes! Evidently its a popular past time with Austrians and Germans to cycle around the lake and e-bikes have made it possible for the over 60 crowd to relish the ride. Sometimes we are jealous that they have it so easy but mostly we we're proud that we are doing it old school. Perhaps we were extra motivated this morning by our first destination, Therme Lindeau, a thermal bath and sauna destination. Our sore bones were oh so happy to sink into a variety of different pools and saunas of varying temperatures and massaging features. We didn't want to leave, but we knew we were only halfway into our double leg day and we knew the beautiful city of Konstanz awaited us. It was easy to see why the route circumnavigating the lake is so popular. The path kept alternating between adorable lakeside towns with amazing parks then back into the woods only to pop out at the next adorable little town. It's said that happiness (or sadness) is the delta between our expectation of something and the reality. Without much expectation for the day, we were pleasantly surprised with each turn and town. In Friedrichshafen, the birthplace of the Zepplin, almost on cue one came into view. It was so impressive to see., larger and faster than I would have imagined. We wished we could have stayed longer in each little village along the way but we were pushing to make the 6:20 ferry to Konstanz. Even showing up a few minutes late, we somehow made it and rested briefly on the boat before a final push into town and our hotel overlooking a beautiful square. The sunset, the town, everything was perfect. Finally something had to go wrong. Dinner was just a formality to get us to the frozen yogurt shop next door. It looked amazing and I didn't mind that they only had one flavor because the toppings were unique and so yummy looking. And then the disappoint hit hard. Their frozen yogurt tasted like, well yogurt! What? Yep, the sour taste ruined it for me and I was left picking at the chocolate bits just to salvage it. Still if that was our only disappointment so far then I'll say that things are going amazingly well. Hopefully the looming rain won't dampen our spirits!