Day 4 – Wednesday 11 July 2012

Illertissen – Bartholoma

Campsite

Camping Amalienhof, Haflingerstr 15, 73566 Bartholoma
www.campingplatz-amalienhof.de/

Notes

My route now veers east, away from Torfmann's direct point to point line. Campsites dictate the precise direction, and my daily distances are shorter. Oh dear, it's probably age as well!

In the morning it rained heavily until about half past nine but it had cleared up by the time we struck the wet tent. I waived goodbye to the lady who had found the Strom connection for us and rode following my GPS. Torfmann would already be ahead of me as he had stopped overnight in Ulm, and that is where I headed for next. I had plotted a route through the city that appeared to avoid the worst of the traffic, following the River Iller for the first 15 miles just before it joins the Danube. I headed off east for about three miles through Neu-Ulm to find a bridge over the Danube that wasn't a major road and stopped to take a photograph. After that there was a steep climb out of the valley and for a short way on a minor road shoulder to shoulder with the A10.

In the event it didn't take too long to get clear of Ulm. I thought of the chap I'd met at the southernmost part of the journey. The weather improved slightly and there were hints of blue sky above. The route was gently undulating apart from the occasional river valley that was quite steep. The roads were quiet and there was an one of Michelin's scenic sections from Gerstetten. Towards Bartholoma the roads became uninterestingly straight and along these relatively minor ones there were cycle lanes, fine out of the towns and villages, where the surface was reasonably smooth, but in built-up areas they are block paved and bumpy. I came off the cycle lanes in built up areas to avoid the bumps and clearly annoyed drivers who may not be used to cyclists intent on pushing through without stopping off for school or the shops.

I climbed gently towards Bartholoma and just before the town came across the campsite sign pointing through what appeared to be an industrial complex. Off to the side and round a corner there appeared the entrance to the campsite. No-one was about so I freewheeled past the site office and spotted our tent round the corner of the services block. Liz had been advised to pitch close to the side of the block to shelter from strong winds that were expected. It did turn windy during the evening but not disastrously. The showers needed coins, so I had a strip wash with a flannel as no-one was about. The back of the shower block was laid out for site barbecues, but looked disappointingly underused and dilapidated.

We walked into town past a beach volleyball pitch where a vigorous match was in progress. We found a restaurant that wasn't yet open so wandered around for a bit until it did. On the way back the volleyball game was over and people were packing up. We walked back to the campsite and through the industrial complex.