The Schwaebische Alb is the name given to the highland that abruptly rises 200-300m from the rolling countryside of the Neckar valley to the south of Stuttgart. It doesn't present a straight face, but rather turns and twists crazily, with some rivers having carved deep gashes into the plateau. Mostly there are no visible cliffs at the edge, although the slope is precipitously steep. The Alb is basically a huge slab of limestone, laid down during the Jurassic time. The area is famed for a large collection of cave systems, as well as very many significant fossil discoveries. Although the soil of the Alb appears rich and dark, the limestone layer is apparently not far below the surface: I passed many fields where the plough had turned up rounded white limestone stones, like so many sprouting mushrooms.
I made my ascent onto the Alb from the town of Ober-Lenningen, after cycling 30km from the closest S-Bahn station of Plochingen. The pass itself was actually quite gentle and I made the 250m climb in only15 minutes, without once encountering any motor traffic (an uncomfortable companion on my last trip to the Alb). Almost as soon as I arrived on the Alb, it started raining. This wasn't all that unexpected, as the weather coming in from the west seemed pretty unpleasant when I left home. It didn't keep up for long, setting a pattern for the rest of the day of brief showers blowing across the Alb every couple of hours, followed by long periods of fine weather. I decided to head to Ochsenwang, where a good scenic view of the lowlands from whence I had come could be found.
Arriving in Ochsenwang ("oxen" something) around midday I decided to eat at the restaurant of the Gasthaus Krone in the town square. The restaurant conformed to every stereotype of the provincial establishment - a dark room lit by the orange glow of incandescent bulbs hidden by fabric lampshades, candles on the tables, ancient stuffed animals and antler-trophies leering at me from every wall - and heavy German meals. One thing about the Germans is that they really go crazy over white asparagus - out of the 4 page menu, 2 pages were devoted to asparagus dishes. Myself, I just don't see the attraction.
Although my heart sank as it started pouring outside during my lunch, by the time I had finished the rain had more-or-less blown over. So I lost no time and headed first for the Auchtert, a hill just outside of the village which was arguably the highest point I made that day (814m). From here I took the panoramic shot of the fields between Ochsenwang and the edge of the Alb (above): you can see the village just on the left and my next destination, Breitenstein, as the high-point in the centre. The day's ride was worth just the view from the Breitenstein, included as the panoramic shot below (as well as the picture of your's truly in cycling garb). It is one of the few places where the Alb actually falls away as a cliff, with a steep drop of about 20m or so just behind me.
After soaking in the view, I made for the ruins of Reussenstein castle, passing on my way a rather curious geological formation known as the Randecker Maar - a deep a conical depression just on the edge of the Alb. Not sure what made it as the explanatory sign had too many formidable German nouns, but I gathered it had something to do with prehistoric elephants and some such. After a little while I arrived at Reussenstein. Really, you couldn't ask
for a more typical romantic ruined castle - perched on a rocky outcrop rising out of the steep forested slope, the only village in sight lies far below down in the valley. I spent a good deal of time here admiring the castle and wondering why it was built, and what it was like in its heyday. As you can see from the photos, it looks as 
if the sides have been patched up at some point - whether from a recent restoration or the scars of a long-forgotten battle, I don't know. Although not crowded, it was clearly a popular spot, especially with the kids - I can well imagine how much fun such a place must seem when you're 7 years old.From here on my narrative becomes a bit dull and rushed. Making what was in hindsight a rather poor judgement, I decided to cycle to Grabenstetten the long way, staying on the Alb as it curved around the Lauter valley. The point of interest was the ruin of Hofen castle, but I never made it. During the journey to Grabstetten I fought a rather stubborn head wind, the increasingly tiresome continual up-and-down of the rolling hills and my own growing exhaustion. By the time I did arrive in Grabenstetten, it was getting late and I couldn't be bothered stuffing around trying to find some obscure castle. So I coasted down into the Uracher valley to the train station in Metzingen.
According to my cycle computer (which I know to be accurate, having calibrated it against distance markers) I managed over 100km. A good effort, but I was completely thrashed by the end of the day - the next morning I was in no state to get up and do the same. This raises some very important questions for me about that planned trip to Lake Constance. It's probably a good thing I had to cancel, as I now appreciate the fact that my route is more appropriate for a 3-day ride, not the 2-day trip I had envisaged. Furthermore, I underestimated how much of a toll the rolling hills would take, so I've revised my path to both shorten it and also take greater advantage of valleys.
No comments:
Post a Comment