Thursday 2nd August
Meersburg to Sigmaringen: 3 hours 45 minutes, 60km

“Over breakfast, I perused a map of the area and planned my route for the day. I was going to head to Sigmaringen generally following the L roads and passing through the towns of Salem, Heiligenberg and Pfullendorf. This was the route Sarah suggested but she did warn me that Heiligenberg was at the top of a high hill and getting there would require some perseverance. On the flip side, the views would be great.

I said good bye to Sarah and her sister and set off for Salem. It was only 5km away and there was an interesting castle there, that I looked at from the gates.

Moving swiftly onwards, I arrived at the base of the hill. At the top lay the town if Heiligenberg. I was glad I had been warned about it as it had given me time to mentally prepare myself. There were two yellow sign posts pointing in opposite directions each saying Heiligenberg this way, naturally I decided to follow the one marked 4.5km and not 7km.

This was a dirt track and a steep one at that. My wheels slipped on the loose gravel and I struggled up incline after incline, occasionally dismounting and pushing when no traction was to be had. It was tough going and I soon realised that the path was not meant for cyclist but rather hikers. I stubbornly persisted, dragging Jenny and all her luggage up and up through the forest. The shade from the trees did little to alleviate the sweat that poured down my face.

After about an hour I made it to the top. The view was indeed staggering. A great backdrop to a well earned lunch. Next time, however, I’ll stick to the road.

A long downhill was due reward after that climb. I noticed that main L roads could get quite busy but the K roads were wonderfully quiet.

I arrived in Sigmaringen at about 5pm. I set up my tent in a campsite right on the Danube and adjacent to the Eurovelo 6 cycle path. I decided to go into town for a Weiss Beer in the evening sun. While seated at the small round table enjoying my beer, two women came up to me and asked me something in German, pointing at the two empty chairs at my table. I said sure, assuming they would take them to their own table, but instead they sat down right there and started chatting to each other in German, ignoring the fact that I was even there, sitting right in-between them. I found it slightly bizarre and did not know how to react to the siege that had just been laid to my table. Having already finished my beer and missed the opportunity to politely excuse myself when they sat down, I had no escape route. I figured the best way to keep my dignity was to stay for a short 5 minutes before leaving. So I just sat there, awkwardly starring at them as they chatted away in German, not understanding a word. It was only when I eventually got up to leave, that they acknowledged my existence again and said goodbye.”

Matt Krog

Read all of Matt’s posts on his website. All of the posts about Matt on CyclingEurope.org can be found here.