Lots of lovely sights to see today:

Lake Constance dominated – and, with it, a lot of tourists (damn tourists! Why can’t I just enjoy my visit?)

Thinking about it, in the 6 days I’ve been away, I haven’t had a conversation with a single soul lasting more than a couple of minutes (mostly check-in, check-out, ordering and paying for meals). When you’re ‘in the saddle’ for 6 hours or so, by yourself, that puts paid to most interaction.

You can get quite used to your own company. It reminds me of running the Chicago Marathon years ago: I had trained very assiduously (by myself) – including those dreaded long distance runs at the weekend (usually 18-20 miles).

So, there I was in Chicago, in the excitement of this amazing race – one among 40,000 or so – and the place was crawling with people. They estimate that over a million locals come out along the route to cheer, support, play music, have parties and more. And all I could think was “ Would you just get out of my way and let me do my run in peace?!” (I can be social too, I promise)

So, no wonder that I love the solitude of these wonderful cycling forest paths – with no people, no cars, no noise except for the birds calling from the trees:

I will confess that the jaunt across the lake on a ferry was rather nice (certainly the easiest kms on the trip!):

Looking forward to seeing the only waterfall on the Rhine tomorrow (can you name it? ( I had no idea!)