The Bo-Ko. That’s Bodensee to Königssee-Radweg to you and me.
Talk about spoilt for choice. Which route?
Not the angel hugging a pretzel route. Or the horse cantering over mountains route. Not the Mooserunde. Or the Spitzenblick. We were mostly on this one. The Bodensee-Königssee Radweg.
Storm Boris was still lingering over Bavaria, so wet roads.But the snow on the alps made for dramatic scenery.The ride into Oberstaufen where we spent the night.Bavarian towns certainly know how to plant flower beds.And we know how to class up a nice hotel: hang wet bike shorts in the window to dry. Oberstaufen was a bit pricy, so a good time to use some Hyatt points at the Linder Hotel.Heading out of Oberstaufen. Still cloudy.Owly! Amusing roadside art? Advertising?Pastry break at 20k. Yes that is sunshine.Another farm field cat. So many farm cats.The Großer Alpsee and a happy cyclist. The alps are peeking through the clouds. After five days of peddling starting to feel strong. The quiet town square on a Sunday in Immenstadt.With a sweet cat happy to accept petting.Now for some jaw dropping views of the alps with a coating of fresh snow and clear air post storm.But first a nice long break on a trail side BarcaLounger. The Bo-Ko has good amenities along the way. We were early for check in at our hostel so we took a nap.It was a good thing we weren’t pressed for time, each view was more stunning than the next.See what I mean? Will you go stand in that field please?
The forecast for the next day, Monday September 16, was pretty miserable. Wet and cold. Loads of discussions about train versus no train. We decided to start out and see how the day went. We were riding close to the train route so if it got really miserable we could bail and take a train hop. Unfortunately I had a cold coming on. I’m pretty sure no one ever prescribed a long cold wet day riding a bike as a cold remedy. It’s not easy to skip some beautiful riding though, so we started out in light rain.
We set out. Bravely. And then the rain came. Sheltering in a tunnel under crossing.Sheltering in a rural bus stop where a kitty came out to cheer me up.And finally sheltering at a small train station. We took a train hop to save ourselves a few hours riding in the rain on the way to Füssen.
Füssen is where both Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle are located. The heavy cloud cover and rain hid both from view for our one night in town. Bike touring is like that. We see so much that only other bike tourists see, but when we get to town, we tend to see less, especially when cold and tired from a long wet day. The weather was forecast to clear up, and we planned a rest day in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, our next stop. We veered off the Bo-Ko route into Austria for a stop here, and we’ll join it again after Garmisch-Partenkirchen before leaving it to go to Salzburg.
Füssen has a lovely main pedestrian street.Riding out the next morning along the Lech River into Austria.A curious cow greeted us at the top of a climb. Those cattle guards we went over were there for a reason. Heading towards Heiterwanger See.Heiterwanger See is ridiculously beautiful.Plansee, the connected lake, is also stunning. A long gravel decent is waiting for us at the end of the lake.Rest day in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. And such beautiful clear skies post rain.What to do on a rest day? Let a gondola carry you up the mountain.To be specific, the Wankbahn carried us up to Wank. 1,780 meters/5,839 feet is the peak of the Wank.Yes, we made all the jokes all the way up and down.And yes, we got to be the silly tourists wearing sandals in the snow.One of these things is not like the others.The view across to Zugspitze peak in the snowy alps was spectacular.The Zugspitze is over Rich’s shoulder to the left of the photo. 2,962m/9,717f.Another dinner, another healthy German pour of white wine. A Rivaner, or Müller-Thurgau.Heading off down the Loisach River valley. This beautiful day certainly makes up for riding in the rain. When the sun is shining everything is more fun!Like this chicken made from big hay bales advertising the egg hut where you can buy fresh eggs. And the stork signs announcing a new baby for this family! (I blanked out the last name.) We saw a lot of these, what a fun way to celebrate and let your neighbors know the baby has arrived. By stork, right?And the houses painted with religious imagery.
We have Salzburg in our sights, just three more nights before we cross into Austria and have three nights to enjoy the city. We won’t go all the way to Königsee, the end of this route, since it’s a bit of a dead end for us. At this point my cold is waning (or was it getting worse still? Who can remember.) and my rear end was getting used to the hours on the bike. Feeling good. Got my blue tooth speaker on my bike, pod casts, music, pastry. I can pedal all day. Rich can always pedal all day. He’s a monster.
The monster cyclist in Bad Tölz.Does every German town have a lovely pedestrian street?The Isar River was running quite high.And off again. Our route took us through a golf course.Through farmland where farms advertised their products.Tegernsee was a perfect pastry break spot, complete with shaded BarcaLounger.Tiny churches dot the countryside in this Catholic region.All smiles. It’s slightly downhill.Hey Rich. I think there’s a cow behind you.The alps. And horses.Farm cat who owns the road. They came out for a cuddle.Always appreciated after a long day which included a flat tire on Rich’s bike – ice cream vending machine!And a lovely cafe set up to sit and enjoy the ice cream.Garden goals. Love the giant teacup pot.Energized for the last 7k.One of our many room hacks. This helps block the light through the too sheer shades. I’m particularly pleased with clothes hanger ladder. Just be careful to not overload.We rode into Salzburg on a Sunday. So many other cyclists out.Cheeky cows. That’s a photobomb.Traditional house and garden under modern solar panels.Salzburg here we come!And boom! Salzburg.
From leaving our dear friends’ place in France, we’ve pedaled 600 k/372 miles so far. One flat tire on Rich’s bike, which did already have a slow leak, but was only our second flat on these new bikes (shhh…don’t jinx it!).
The far left heart is where we started, biked into Geneva and took the train to Zurich. The blue dot is us in Salzburg.
Although the map makes it look as if we were not in the Alps, we did have some substantial climbs and decents. Although the mileage isn’t massive, there was 5,000 meters/16,400 feet of climbing, on loaded touring bikes. Sometimes on dirt or gravel roads and paths. Phew. No wonder I needed this rest in Salzburg.
After decades of living and working in wonderful San Francisco we gave it all up to travel the world. Not owning a car allowed us to save money and live hyper-locally. Now we’re living around the globe. Follow along to see where we are and what cats I manage to pet.
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2 thoughts on “The Bo-Ko. That’s Bodensee to Königssee-Radweg to you and me.”
Less Car, More Life 
Have a good trip and enjoy your travel.
But I thought all babies were delivered by Storks…
Looks like lovely scenery, but WAY too many inclines for this novice.
Happy riding!