Day 1: Gauting - Paterzell

Saturday June 12, 2021
We have the urge to get out of our usual one-day-ride radius and book a hotel a day's ride away to the southwest of us. I have planned a route that will include a few sights that are new to us. The first half is all familiar but again we can't complain, it's fine riding. And the weather is perfect.

For the first 20 km we gradually gain altitude until we can coast down to the basin of Ammersee, the third largest lake in Bavaria.

We pass Herrgottsruh Chapel, still very near home

We ride through the lane of oak trees that we know so well.

A favorite tree that I have often photographed

We won't stop at Andechs today - another abbey with a beautiful baroque church and popular beer garden.

We pass Andechs and as we approach Ammersee are on territory that we haven't ridden quite so frequently. I am looking forward to the area south of the lake, the Ammer Delta with a large variety of breeding birds, and am hoping for good views of the Raisting Satellite Earth Station,  the largest satellite communications facility in Germany, and especially Raisting's radome (a dome structure which protects satellites) which is classified as a historical industrial monument. I've seen pictures of it but have never been there.

Part of the time our path follows the Ammer.

Information on protected flora and fauna

In some villages the dung heaps are located next to the road - a large dung heap means many cows and a prosperous farmer, or at least it was so in earlier times. A large car is probably more indicative of a farmer's wealth today.

Finally Raisting's satellites come into view. The Alps are hazy in the distance. I was hoping for a clearer day.

A closer view, thesatelites look quite surreal among the poppies and corn flowers.

We ride on and are puzzled as to why we didn't see the radome. How could we have missed it?

A picture from Wikipedia - at home I read that it was severely damaged in a storm in March 2020 and is being repaired.

Our next stop is Weilheim, a town with a population of about 27,000, with a historical center. It's quite warm by now and we stop for a cold drink and a saunter through the streets.

Weilheim

Weilheim

Our next stop just four kilometers down the road is Polling. Once again we visit a church and a monastery. As I write this I am amazed to see that we are visiting almost exclusively sacral buildings - and beer gardens. So be it, the Catholic church  indeed played a major role in the shaping of art, architecture and history in this part of the world, and indirectly in the brewing of beer, which the monks were so good at.

Between Weilheim and Polling

According to legend, Polling was founded around  750. Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria hunted a deer in the area. Suddenly it stopped and pawed the ground and three wooden crosses were found buried there. On this spot Duke Tassilo built the Polling monastery. When we get home I enjoy reading about the history of the places we visited even if I don't retain much of it.

Walls of the former monastery

Abbey Church Heilig Kreuz

The hind pawing the ground where three crosses are discovered

Tassilo III, founder of the church and monastery at Polling (he is holding a blue print of the church); in the background the hind and a crucifix

Impressive wrought iron work on the church doors

We have ten more kilometers to our hotel in Paterzell.

The air is filled with the sweet aroma of freshly cut hay.

The last kilometers of the day as we approach Paterzell.