Our first attempt to bike to Kempten was already a perfect day to let us experience what it means to bike in hot summer. We were ready to start towards the monastery of Andechs for getting our first stamp in our pilgrim passes on the way towards Santiago de Compostella.
Andechs in the heart of the #regionstarnbergammersee is called the ‘holy mountain’ as the monastery and church is located on the top of a ‘drumlin’ left on the moraine by the glaciers after the last ice age. We will try to find what’s left of present glaciers on our tour later. Andechs is a well known pilgrimage place with its beer halls and beergardens. But it’s also known for it’s quality of organic dairy products by #andechsernatur.
Passing through the glacial valley of the Ammer-lake we reached the monasteries of Diessen and Wessobrunn before we had to descend into the canyon of the river Lech. Discovering the beauty of the city of Schongau we continued on the old Roman roads of the Via Claudia Augusta to reach Marktoberdorf. The Wertach cut the next canyon into the landscape of the Allgäu, where Robert couldn’t believe the speed he could achieve on a 14% downhill slope. In the village of Görisried we got from the family #weihele some recommendations to continue our way further westwards. The Weiheles own the company of #naturbo, which gave us the possibility to have a look at sustainable building construction with claycovered woodpanels. Thankful for the new route we had to cross the forests of Kempten to arrive just in time for the Rotary Club Kempten meeting. After 11,5 hours of biking and a distance of 132 km we traveled back home by train, which was still adding another four hours. What a loooong day.
