Day 2 - Bad Berneck - Fleckl

This is the route we rode today:

Day 2 in the Fichtelgebirge! Breakfast kicked off at 8 and it was a solid spread — yoghurt, orange juice, coffee, boiled eggs, cheese. Everything a cyclist needs before a day of questionable route decisions.

The view during breakfast was… less encouraging. We watched the rain absolutely hammering down outside the window. Aiai.

Fortunately the rain did stop, and I biked over to our definitive parking spot while my brother and dad took the car — we’d already loaded the bike rack so it made sense. It was only about half a kilometre. There we finished setting up our bikes, mercifully without rain. Ready to roll!

As is tradition, we had a heated route discussion within the first kilometre. I won! We continued on the bike path, went offroad, and then promptly got stuck because we hit private property and had to turn around. Complete with a very persuasive-looking sign warning about a dog guarding the premises.

Of course the “alternative” route was amazing — so amazing we had to push our bikes up a steep little path. And afterwards? We ended up on the exact same road we had detoured from. Classic Gressens Move™. At least we had a good laugh about it.

We cycled on, all good, turned off the road and were immediately met with ANOTHER private property sign. At this point we’re basically collecting them. We looked at the map, rerouted, and carried on. This is part of the adventure — we don’t complain, we just solve and continue!

The detour turned out to be pretty nice actually — rolling hills, cool meadows, good vibes. After a while we decided to stop for a snack, but of course the rain had other plans and started coming down. So we changed into our rain gear with the necessary comedy routine. I somehow missed that my rain pants had a zipper at the bottom, making the whole process unnecessarily complicated. But my dad absolutely stole the show with his outfit. Fashion icon.

After some rain cycling we spotted a shelter and decided to hold a Route Management Committee meeting. Although we had a simple 15km bike path option, we unanimously voted to stay on the planned route. I know, I know — you think we’re crazy. But honestly, we’re having a great time!

If I had to summarise the day’s weather in one picture, it would be this one. Serious rain, nice sun, serious rain again, nice sun again. Rinse and repeat. Literally rinse.

With all the rain, the climbing trails got properly interesting. Nothing beats the combination of roots, mud, and rain. Slipperyyyyy!

When we reached the top and stopped for a rest, my dad decided to pedal backwards on his eBike. Pro tip: don’t do that. The chain came off, and with his type of eBike you have to remove all sorts of covers and guards to get it back on. And putting that stuff back on? Let’s just say it’s not in the “easy” category.

But we solved it, got going again, and all was good. We even got a couple of proper river crossings under our belt. Who needs dry shoes anyway?

After a while we decided it was lunch time. I got out my stove and made us soup, which paired beautifully with the Ajvar from Slovenia plus some cheese and bread. We set up at a hunter cabin because it seemed like the best option. And of course — OF COURSE — there was a much nicer cabin only 300 metres further on. It’s basically a law of nature that this happens every single time.

After lunch we started the big climb of the day. I have to confess I was tired, but we still decided to keep the original route and it was the right choice. We took a small trail up and were rewarded with a really nice viewpoint.

The trail wasn’t always rideable, but since it was supposed to be only a kilometre long we decided to walk with our bikes. After a while it improved and we got back on the saddles. We came across a couple of hikers and walked again to be friendly, though I’m pretty sure those hikers weren’t expecting three guys with mountain bikes to appear on their peaceful trail.

When we finished the trail we were at the top and — hallelujah — there was a Biergarten with an awesome view. In winter this is apparently a ski piste, but today the sun was out and we were ordering Colas and chilling like absolute champions.

We noticed the next part of our planned route looked a bit sketchy near the piste, so we looked at alternatives and found a gentle MTB route for the last 10km. Good call, especially since I was running on fumes at this point. Of course the hotel had to be at the top of yet another climb. Because why would it be downhill? That would be too easy.

But there was one last surprise: check-in for the hotel was 3 kilometres away. I graciously let the two guys with eBikes handle that trip while I took a well-deserved rest and worked on this blog. Now it’s time to shower and get everything as dry as possible for tomorrow. That’s a creative challenge where we really let our imaginations run wild — we’re lucky the apartment has electric heaters and we are taking FULL advantage.

And now we need to hurry because the restaurant stops serving at 19:30 and we are in dire need of some warm calories. Three wet cyclists sprinting to dinner — what a sight that must be.

See you tomorrow! 🚴