Wow, sensory overload today. Without a doubt, this has been the most incredible day of cycling so far.
Now I am at Donaueschingen I really feel optimistic. This is the beginning of the next stage, in my mind at least. Perhaps it is because this is where my guidebook begins, my app starts to kick in and because, well it is the source of the River Danube.
The true source of the Danube, if you're being fussy, is actually another 35KM up from Donaueschingen at Bregquelle, the source of the longer of the two tributaries (the Breg and the Brigach) that meet here to form the river. I thought about leaving my stuff here and doing a return trip, but that is just being pernickety.
I have also decided that it is no longer necessary to get up at the crack of dawn to set off. I think that was borne from my experience of the mini heatwave as I set off from Calais and it was not possible to cycle after midday. Anyway, everything is so wet from condensation, that it makes sense to set off a bit later in the morning and I really fancy a nice breakfast today. I feel good about everything, I wake up and start punching the air and clenching my fists with excitement. It is a great feeling. I open up both sides of my tent and it just feels bigger. I am going to have to do a slight double back on myself first thing though as I am currently 5K away from the official source so want to go there. Think I will aim for 85K today, to Sigmaringen. Sounds like there will be Karst mountains on my way, and let's face it - who doesn't like a bit of Karst.
A long and late start, largely due to the fact that I stupidly followed the advice of an annoying Dutch couple that said the road to Donaueschingen was blocked so I went miles out of my way including some rather shitty roads to get to the official start of the river, known as the Donauquelle. I made a mental note to myself that although they may have been right, I should have checked the route myself and possibly saved me some aggro of getting lost, navigating major roads and generally flustered. One thing I am coming to learn is there is usually a way, even when the way says it is blocked..
I also stopped by a supermarket to buy a decent breakfast and felt rather smug when a lady on a bike looked at my loaded bike and could not believe I was cycling to Istanbul, on a regular pedal cycle rather than an electric bike which everyone over here seems to have.
The Donauquelle has an impressive white marble monument consisting of a group of figures with mother 'Baar' pointing out to her daughters the way of the river to her daughter the 'young' Danube.
The actual source is a pool which reflected the surroundings and reminded me of Writ in Water by Mark Wallinger at Runnymede, celebrating the legacy of Magna Carta. I took my time in the glorious sunshine, great photo ops and excited that I had got this far and thrilled to be setting off, albeit very late in the day, on this next part of my périple.
Finally, en route, I love how there is always a side route that follows any main road here, the first part of the day was through fields in sunshine. Flying along, just the usual miles and miles of corn growing everywhere and lots of storks standing sentinel. I saw a black squirrel, which was odd as I have also seen the odd red one too. Wildflowers pepper the roadsides and inside the wheat field of crops too. I knew I was very late if I wanted to make it to Sigmaringen in one day, and I do want to get my skates on a bit tbh. But the morning was so lovely and I came across a rather gorgeous little café called Nina's Ess Art, so I decided to have a coffee.
Onwards to Tuttlingen, which I made for around 13.30 Hrs. An unexpectedly nice town, very clean and a world centre of medical technology; turns out that 50% of the world medical instruments are manufactured here and all the towns’ squares and streets are named after famous pharma companies situated here. I had a sandwich by the sparkly and a tad sterile main square and decided to press onto at least Beuron.
And then my day really began, as the landscape opened out into the most incredible vista of Karst mountains, majestic, mysterious, enveloping, other worldly and so bloody beautiful.
As I cycled along, I felt humbled and insignificant and also a bit lonely. I would have liked to share this moment with someone else, but this feeling didn't last long. I took a few pictures and some video, but I knew full well from experience, that nothing could capture this feeling and no picture would do it justice. Just wow.
Given how astounding this was, I decided against rushing and to enjoy it all. I followed the winding course of the Danube through some wooded areas with not particularly wonderful road surfaces until I eventually found a campsite called Camping Wagenburg.
The owner was kinda grumpy and facilities left a bit to be desired, but I found a nice spot and started setting up my tent. In my excitement, I slipped out my regular routine and just chucked things on the ground. I also realise that I had lost my cycling glasses, either there or left at reception when checking in.
Once I had the tent up, I started to cook up dinner, but my gas cannister had finally run out and I found out that the replacement I had been carrying had the wrong type of fixture for my stove. On top of that, the legs of my portable stove had become wobbly. Luckily my neighbours were were a friendly bunch and they lent me their cannister and a Leatherman multi tool thing that allowed me to fix it. Another dinner of couscous, tuna and tomatoes. I was dying for a beer, but none available. But what an amazing day, unforgettable and even better, this felt like just the beginning.
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