Monday 20th. May. Rottenacker to Ulm. 44km.

Another good tailwind today and sunny. The countryside has become more open, with rolling green farmland and quaint towns. We came across a field next to the river that had about a hundred swans gathered in it, most of them quite young. I've never seen such a large group. It looked like a swans nursery. We also saw for the first time a real live hare. It was four times the size of a normal wild rabbit, with much longer legs and very long ears. Much cuter than a rabbit.

Ulm, which is very pretty, has the tallest church steeple in the world, and is also the birthplace of Albert Einstein. The Danube is getting bigger now, but still not navigable by big boats yet.

Route: Rottenacker - Ehingen - Ersingen - Erbach - Ulm.

Sunday 19th. May. Scheer to Rottenacker. 54km.

For the first couple of hours we had a huge tailwind, then the wind dropped completely, and we had a bit of light drizzle. A lovely ride through beautiful country. We saw our first stork (besides the storks head we saw sticking out of a nest in France). The Danube is gaining pace in flow, but not really much in volume yet. Stayed at Hotel Teufel Dorfwirtschaft, which is very nice.

Route: Scheer - Mengen - Binzwagen - Riedlingen - Zell - Rechtenstein - Untermarchtal - Munderkingen - Rottenacker.

Saturday 18th. May. Fridingen to Scheer. 51km.

A lovely sunny day and a most delightful ride. Unfortunately, the photos don't really seem to capture the real beauty of the route. The joy of cycle touring is not just the beautiful scenery and the pleasure of non-tiring, non-jarring exercise, it's also the peaceful sounds and the reminiscent scents of the rural areas. It's the combination of all the aspects of the experience, which makes it so unforgettable.

The Danube is still a young pup at this stage. We met yet another Swiss couple who are riding from Donauseschingen to Passau, so we are sure to bump into them again. The Swiss people seem to be very gregarious and chatty. Stayed at the Hotel Donaublick. Very nice.

Route: Fridingen - Bronnen - Beuron - St.Maurus - Hausen - Gutenstein - Sigmaringen - Scheer.

Friday 17th. May. Singen to Fridingen. 59km.

Wow, what a day! We did 59km, of which about 35km were a slow steady uphill. The climb up into the low lying clouds through the forests at the eastern edge of the Black Forest was spectacular, and we even surprised a couple of wild deer who didn't hear us coming. We got lost a couple of times, because the EV6 signs disappeared, but the amazing scenery was good compensation. When we came over the last rise and coasted into Tuttlingen, we had arrived at the upper reaches of the Donau (Danube River). Our climb from Radolfzell to Emmingen took us from 398m to 772m above sea level.

We have now cycled about 2100 km since we left Bristol, and it has been a slow uphill climb most of the way. Now that we have reached the top of the Danube, the route should (in theory) be mostly downhill all the way to Vienna. Stayed at Hotel Gasthof Sonne. Very nice.

Rout: Singen - Engen - Emmingen - Tuttlingen - Fridingen.

Thursday 16th. May. Neuhausen to Singen, Germany. 65km.

We left Neuhausen with a light drizzle which cleared after an hour. We really have been lucky with the weather. Switzerland is truly beautiful, and so far, so is Germany. The Rhine river flows out of Lake Constance which is amazing. It is an ancient natural lake which has the Rhine flowing into it at one end, and flowing out of it at another section.We got a bit lost at Radolfzell, and again on the way to Singen due to confusion with the EV6 signs. I think that maybe they have changed the route on the ground, but not yet changed the website.  Stayed at Hotel Victoria, Singen.

Route: Neuhausen - Schaffhausen - Hemishofen - Stein - Wangen - Moos - Radolfzell - Worblingen - Singen.