A Morning Ride ... and all asphalt
Saturday April 14, 2018
Ah, a sunny weekend. Ideal for all the working population who spend the week tied down to their jobs, sitting at desks indoors, hardly seeing the light of day. Now the sun is shining and they can get out and enjoy life al fresco.
Ah, a sunny weekend. The bike paths are going to be crowded, the trains will be full of people with bicycles and baby carriages ... We old-timers should stay at home and make room for those who only have the weekend at their disposal. Or else we could possibly get an early start, before the masses were underway? That was our plan. We were fairly early at the train station, there were no hoards of cyclists waiting to get on the same train that we were taking. There were a few cyclists on the platform, but they had different destinations. A good start.
We took the S6 to Gauting again, but this time we cycled northwest to Fürstenfeldbruck. We completed another segment of the circle. When planning the route I saw on the map that we would be riding through some forests again. The ride was a short one, only 18 km, but I was hoping it wasn't going to be all on dirt trails. But as I already gave away in the title of this post, this wasn't the case. We had asphalt all the way!
Ah, a sunny weekend. The bike paths are going to be crowded, the trains will be full of people with bicycles and baby carriages ... We old-timers should stay at home and make room for those who only have the weekend at their disposal. Or else we could possibly get an early start, before the masses were underway? That was our plan. We were fairly early at the train station, there were no hoards of cyclists waiting to get on the same train that we were taking. There were a few cyclists on the platform, but they had different destinations. A good start.
We took the S6 to Gauting again, but this time we cycled northwest to Fürstenfeldbruck. We completed another segment of the circle. When planning the route I saw on the map that we would be riding through some forests again. The ride was a short one, only 18 km, but I was hoping it wasn't going to be all on dirt trails. But as I already gave away in the title of this post, this wasn't the case. We had asphalt all the way!
Purple is today's color. Five segmens have been completed, two to go.
Asphalt all the way also meant some traffic. It wasn't a lot and it wasn't dangerously close, but cars are cars and I would prefer no cars, please. I shouldn't complain, it was a lovey route over some hills, with fields and farms and patches of forest.
The train station elevator in Gauting. We are ready to roll.
After leaving the train station in Gauting, the first couple of kilometers took us through quiet residential streets.
The name of the road leading to our destination is Römerstrasse, Roman Road. We are cycling on historical paths.
This road was part of a long-distance network that spanned the entire Roman Empire. There are sources dating back to 230 AD which describe the road. It was probably built in the time of the Roman emperors from the Julian family, and has now been revived under the name Via Julia as a cycling, cultural and recreational path.
This road was part of a long-distance network that spanned the entire Roman Empire. There are sources dating back to 230 AD which describe the road. It was probably built in the time of the Roman emperors from the Julian family, and has now been revived under the name Via Julia as a cycling, cultural and recreational path.
We were soon on this road through the woods. The bicycle route is the Via Julia.
Roman Road, Römerstrasse, straight as an arrow, takes us to Fürstenfeldbruck.
A bit of traffic on our route.
Lovely countryside with gentle hills, farms and fields for crops. To the south we had a splendid view of the Alps - but too distant to get a decent photo.
On our ride today, I saw many roadside crucifixes or marterl. I especially liked the setting of this one.
Peaceful scene
Closer to Fürstenfeldbruck there is even a bicycle lane, it looks freshly paved.
The end of our ride is in Fürstenfeldbruck where Kloster Fürstenfeld is located. Fürstenfeld Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery. The abbey was one of the household monasteries of the Wittelsbachs. The abbey church is a masterpiece of the late Baroque in southern Germany. We didn't go in the church today, we have been there often, but we went to the Klosterstüberl instead. The restaurant was part of the abbey brewery which belonged to the estate of the former Cistercian monastery. The brewery no longer exists but the Stüberl is thought to be over 100 years old.
In the Klosterstüberl
Janos drank an apfelschorle - that's a mixture of apple juice and fizzy water. Here they serve it with a tiny little apple in it! Never saw that before.
A view of the facade of the monastery church
The church entrance
Today we decided not to get off the train at the main train station since it has been a hassle getting off with our bikes when everyone was trying to get on through the same door. I chose a stop a few stations earlier which would give us a pleasant ride home, just five kilometers more than from the main train station and with less stress. Just as I was thinking 'good thing the elevators have all been in working condition so far', we encountered the first elevator that was kaputt. No big problem. We got on the next train and rode one more stop. Here again it was easy to exit the train - and the elevator was working.
It was a lovely day, spring progressing in leaps and bounds. And just two more outings with the train and the circle will be complete.
It was a lovely day, spring progressing in leaps and bounds. And just two more outings with the train and the circle will be complete.
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