Cold Starts and Booking Chaos

I wake up at 5:30 a.m. Body clock. Breakfast around 7:30, chatting and packing. We roll out around 9.

It’s much colder than expected. Cloudy all day, never really warming up. Freezing in August – not something I had anticipated.

My Wahoo refuses to find GPS all day and is basically useless. Later I’ll learn it’s a bug due to be fixed soon. We rely on D’s phone and Komoot instead.

The first 20 km along the Iller river are easy but feel hard because we can’t get warm. The next 25 km are great. Then come 10 brutally tough kilometers where I seriously wonder how we’re supposed to manage another 50.

Before the next climb we stop. D eats pizza, I go for pasta. Carbs work miracles – after that, things improve noticeably.

The cloudy weather hides most of the mountain panorama, which is a shame.

On the last 20 km, disaster: I lose a screw from my right cleat while unclipping. We search for 20 minutes and call several nearby bike shops – no luck. In the end, we tighten the remaining screw as much as possible and set the pedal very loose. Hopefully it holds. (It did)

After 105 km we reach the Tannenhof in Reutte – or so we think. Turns out we left a day too early. Our reservation is for Sunday night. Today is Saturday.

Attempt one: the receptionist looks for an alternative. Booking.com shows “only one room left,” so I book it immediately. We ride there, try to check in … and another downer. The lady apologizes: she hadn’t checked her emails and just gave the room to the couple right in front of us.

Third attempt, D calls – success. Finally.

We store the bikes in a shipping container with power outlets, shower, and rethink our plans. All bookings are now a day off. We decide to split the next day. Two very short days, but after that we’ll be back on schedule.

Dinner at a nearby restaurant, then we fall asleep in front of the TV.