The Black Forest

After a slow start on Tuesday morning, we headed out on our bikes around 10:30.  We had had a beautiful breakfast in our Gasthof that morning:

We were served by a middle-aged woman in a folk dress, and the people were very friendly.  As others came into the dining room, they all said, "Morgen," as they passed.

The view through the window from my seat at breakfast

We set out on our 42-mile ride through the beautiful vineyards south of Sasbachwalden.

Then, past Kappelrodeck, we started climbing into the forest.  Up, up and up ... to beauty and enchantment.  One could imagine that it was in such a forest that Hansel and Gretel met the witch who beguiled them, taking them deep into the forest to her hut ...

Then we went down, past the ruins of Allerheiligen 

Down valleys that were so green as to defy description ...

To Oppenau, where we stopped for a piece of black forest cake and a coffee.  This was the first time we had seen a gate like this into the village.

The square couldn't have been more quaint.  Very quiet, even though it was (as you can see from the clock tower) 12:15 when we rolled in.  

Thus refreshed, we headed out and up out of Oppenau toward the ridge that demarcated the high line of the Black Forest.  The sign below tells the tale:  18% grade.  Unheard of - at least to me.  

It was very difficult in places, no doubt the hardest I have ever undertaken, but .... I made it.  I told Mark yesterday that if I'd known how steep the climb was, I probably would have psyched myself out of doing it.  The following graph tells the story.  Oppenau is the bottom of the dip at about mile 17.  Then we climbed approximately 2200 feet within the space of about 4.5 miles.

But it was gorgeous, riding up through the forests, which made it worthwhile.  As I rode, I thought several times how it would be difficult to find a ride like this anywhere in the United States, just because of the mix of pines and deciduous trees and the other elements of the landscape.  Plus, the really steep parts didn't last all that long, which helped.  And the view at the top was amazing.

From here, we turned north and eventually joined the Schwartzwaldhochstrasse - a section of road that ran for about five or six miles before we turned off on the zippy ride down, down, down to Sasbachwalden.  

The views along the Hochstrasse were stunning.  Unfortunately, we couldn't stop every ten minutes to take a picture, but here's a small one I found on the Internet:

Once back in Sasbachwalden, it was time to say goodbye to this enchanted village - someplace to which I definitely wouldn't mind returning ... one of these years.