Reichenau and Back

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I have been a little lazy since the last bout of rebellion, and so, also conformed with the doc's orders i.e. no sport for 6 weeks. Lets makes that 8 for good measure :) And today, I wanted to get back with a big bang, not the post-beans kind of big bang, but the symbolic types - telling the body that the hibernating season is officially over.

If only I did all that I plan to do. If only... :P

What I wanted to do was start at Konstanz, go to Radolfzell, and from there head towards Stein am Rhein, and then head back to Konstanz. But some where within the first 2 kilometers I got distracted. Well, what to say, pretty young things are pretty young things :) I was perhaps a few meters behind these aforementioned PYTs, and well, there was no motivation to overtake them. At the 7 kilometer mark I think I took the wrong turn.

Right-ho, because these PYTs turned left towards Reichenau while I should have continued straight towards Radolfzell. It was only after I lost the PYTs that I realized I was on the wrong route. I stopped to click a few snaps to commemorate the monumental fail I had just committed. Then I remembered that I had left the memory card on my desk at home. So now I had space for only 6 more snaps. I am sure I would have been seething mad if I had discovered the lack of a memory card at the 50 km mark. Am I a believer in signs and destiny? I honestly do not know how to answer that anymore.

Anyhoo, this Reichenau island thingybob is one funky place. Glasshouses everywhere. And rows of salad greens growing all over the place. It is said that people living in glass houses should not throw stones, well these guys apparently can't throw even a tennis ball around. It is also a UNESCO heritage site because of three really really old churches (from the Roman era). Did I go in? no. Why? why not? What people do not know is that there is also a ghost toilet at Reichenau. No. Really. The locals say they can hear the toilets flush themselves at night. And of course, the haunting sounds of a constipated soul attempting to pass stool. Which is why they grow greens in the hope that one day the ghost will be cured....

WC beim Freidhof - i.e. Toilet at Cemetery

The rows of salad greens

The wrong side

Reichenau and Back

Stein am Rhein

Radroute 436098 - powered by Bikemap 

So, the doc said no sports for 6 weeks, but he did not say anything about cycling :) And hence I went for a little spin to a village called Stein Am Rhine. It was a 56 km round trip from Konstanz. The cycle track follows the Bodensee, so no inclines, err… hmm… there were a few minor one near Stein Am Rhine, but really – it was (and is) a no sweat ride.

The skies were ominously gray all morning but at cleared up by afternoon, which is when i started from home anyways. The blue held up for the whole day, the temperature was about 11 degrees, so it wasn’t a bad day to cycle at all. Or to motorcycle. I saw so many kickass motorcycles on the road. Sigh. My heart ached. Again ;) And no, it wasn’t the darn ribs.

Stein Am Rhine felt like an extremely touristy village. There were too many camera totting people for it not to be. The shops were open, not just the ice cream joints. Maybe it was a very Swiss thing. But what the heck, I got my ice cream. It was everything you’d expect of a European village – One stream flowing in the center (check, stream here is the Rhine), one big towering church (check), one or more bridges across the stream (check) and a fountain for good measure (check)

Keeping Guard

The Church

The fountain

The dragon…

… the slayer

F650 + GS1200 (i suspect, lady + man)

The bridge

The clear waters of the Bodensee

Rathaus (or Council house?)

Stein am Rhein

18 BHP to 1 HP

Once upon a time, not so very long long ago, I used to ride a 18 Brake horsepower motorcycle - the Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350cc. I too used to be a biker boy. Once upon a time...


Work is just under a kilometer away from home, and so I have been walking to work. The best part of the walk is around 100 m before work. There is this garrage, and the mechanic happens to repair and sell old motorcycles. So everyday, before and after work, I salivate, drool, ogle at these bikes. Recently I've seen this bike with a side car, and well... I've just been drooling some more, and missing my motorcycle some more.

The past one week has seen some exceptionally pleasant weather - the road side daffodils have bloomed, the walkways are flush with yellow, and I am told Mainau is ready to explode with colors; the sky is blue - sky blue, like Bangalore during February; the biker boys are out with their bikes; and the hem lines... hmm... have gone UP - God I love spring!

Last weekend I spent my time ruminating about life, quarter life crisis??. Anyways, I was thinking that when I have the time - I have no bike, nor the means to acquire one over-night, and when I had no time (or acted as if I have no time) - I had a kickass bike. What-a-strange no?? Either I could keep thinking... ahem ahem.. brooding, or I could do something about the shit-u-a-shan... It is a no brainer, that by the time I convert my Indian Drivers License, and save up enough money for a bike, it will be the end of the biking season in Europe. And I am not daft enough to ride during winters - no sir, I am crazy, but not that insane. So what's the other option?

If I have learnt anything about myself, then it is that I have an incurable affliction. I must be able to travel when ever I please, and I don't mean a train ride or a car ride. I must be in charge of the vehicle - and I must feel the wind in my hair*, bugs in my nose, and the pebbles hitting my legs. These are the small pleasures of life which I have missed in the past 6 weeks. Perhaps another hobby could keep me interested? I've tried cooking, and i've given stained glass a shot. I like them both, but I'd rather eat than cook, and stained glass is hard work. I don't enjoy doing it, but the end result is something which makes me feel proud. So I am back to square one.

You see these gazillion number of people cycling around in Konstanz. And a decent new bicycle costs upwards of €400 - and remember what it costs in India?? This is insane!!! I am not sure I want to buy one, especially if I am not going to live here long enough - so I have rented one. (pssst... this is the bhp to human power** i.e. 1 HP)

I have gotten my hand on a rental bike for three days for €25. A lake, the Bodensee - 300 kms to circumnavigate through 3 countries - presents itself as a very tasty route. I need no visa. What else could I ask for? But the last time I peddled was in 1999 - ten years ago! Can I do 300 kms in 3 days? Questions, questions, questions!!! Heck, I haven't even made hotel reservations - and it is a long Easter vacation! All the best to me!

* Always ride a bike i.e. motorcycle with a helmet. Always!
** thanks to jishnu for the analogy.

18 BHP to 1 HP