We woke to torrential rain, it had been promised by our weather apps but we hoped they were fibbing. We prepared for 3 hours cycling, in the rain, with fingers crossed that we might dry out by Constance. By the time we had lingered over a very nice breakfast, the rain had stopped.
John found a leaflet for the FFA Musuem, a small museum of aircraft and cars overlooking a private airfield near Altenrhein and built on one of the first Dornier sites. We were cycling right past and decided it was worth a stop. Many of it’s exhibits are decommissioned Swiss airforce planes. As you would expect, there are a few Dorniers but more unexpectedly, several from the Hatfield based De Havilland company
Much of today was spent cycling alongside railway lines and through fields of sweetcorn and apple trees, it was a little dull at times. There was an obligatory coffee stop in Rorschach, where we sat and watched the passenger ferry sail out past a first class luxury tour boat and marvelled at the contrast.
Lunch was by the lake at Romanshorn. The sun came out and suddenly there was no need for waterproofs and fleeces. It had been a chilly ride and it was nice to bask in the warm sunshine, the only trouble was the warmth had brought out the midges all vying for our food. The view across the lake was lovely so we couldn’t grumble too much
Now for the last 20km back to Constance and the quality hotel of our first night. It felt a long slog with not much interest along the way, probably something to do with how tired and sore we were starting to feel….until we saw another stork. This one was quite happy to be approached for a photo opportunity
We arrived in Kreuzlingen, just across the river from Constance, when Ken announced it was the official end of the trip even though there were no crowds of admirers waiting to greet us. We stopped for a team photo and instead of savouring the moment, hastily donned waterproofs as the rain came down
John was in charge of leading us back to the hotel, the quickest way and he was off, he does like a challenge. The rest of us raced after him, through crowded streets, and heroically we outran the rain.
Dinner was eaten on the terrace of a lakeside restaurant where we watched the sun go down and reflected on the sad news of our Queen’s passing
braysabroad 