Click here for Day 10.
As already mentioned in the previous post this was pretty much going to be my last full riding day due to the incoming weather in Austria, so it felt a bit strange knowing that the ride would kind of end that day. On the other hand, I was going to make it to Austria today, one of my main targets and my 8th country in 11 days.
The morning was cold but nice. A bit of mist lay over the ground and the Rhine as I rode away from Schaffhausen. The plan for today was to ride through some of the flatter parts of Switzerland, along bits of the Rhine as well as along Lake Constance. I had got in touch with my cousin Agnes, in advance and we’d meet up on the shores of Lake Constance, with me then heading into Dornbirn where I’d spend the night with Georg, a friend of mine from school.
As Agnes lives in Switzerland I asked her what she thought of my route for the day and if I should change anything. She liked it and said, I would be riding through what is called Most Indien (Cider India) because of all the apple trees and orchards. There were a lot and it was harvest time too.



I could have made the day very flat by sticking to Rhine and Lake Constance and after the previous 2 days that wouldn’t have been a bad idea. But flat is a bit boring, so I headed inland through some nice rolling countryside. A bit like in Belgium there were lots and lots of cycle routes. I also found some nice gravel tracks to ride on.
You could sense that winter had arrived early. Compared to the previous 10 days I was struggling to warm my feet and hands up as the thermometer struggled to get over 10 degrees. My feet would stay cold for pretty much the entire day or until after I met Agnes.



We’d agreed to meet at 2:30pm and as usual I felt rushed as I didn’t exactly know where the meeting point was relative to where I was and how much time it would take me to get there. A brief cold rain shower on the way there didn’t help.
I had created a route down to the lake and away again, in case I got bored with the lakeside. The first time I got to the lake I pretty much never saw it, as the path/road was always a property or so away from the lakeside. Kind of meant I went back in land for no good reason, although any scenic route is a good reason.



Agnes came to Rohrschach by train and brought her e-bike so that we could ride back towards Dornbirn together. We’d ride as far as Lustenau together then she would split off to Diepoldsau where she lived and I would ride on to Dornbirn to find Georg’s house.
Agnes and I had a nice catch up before cycling on over some hill I had mapped which she knew about and I didn’t because I just let Komoot do its thing. Planning on Komoot and then following the GPS does have that effect that half the time you don’t have a clue where you are or where you are going. A lot of the names of places I have mentioned in these reports I only know from looking through the route while writing the reports. It was fun to cycle on with Agnes. When we parted company I excitedly took pictures of some Austrian mountains as this may be the only time I’ll get to see them during my stay in Austria. That’s how bad the forecast was.
I had a lovely evening with Georg and his family. We had goulash for dinner and spent some of the evening trying to book me and my bike (I already had a ticket – Interrail ticket for later in the month) onto a train to Innsbruck but eventually gave up and I’d deal with that in the morning of Day 12.
Planned Distance: 118 km
Actual Distance: 118.6 km
Trip Distance: 1423.83 km
Ascent for the day: 947 m
Ascent for the trip: 12517 m
Riding time: 6:12 hrs
Riding time for the trip: 73:26 hrs
