Much more comfortable night.

We woke up and had a leisurely breakfast, having met the Frenemies the night before.

We’d lamented not having a TV to watch the Netherlands-Brazil World Cup game. Turns out, there was a Dutchman camping in Carrera who’d had a radio in his RV. D’oh. He was excited to tell us that Holland had won.

We decided to push hard today and try to reach the Bodensee at the Swiss/Austrian border, making this our last day in the Alps.

Today started out with more climbs, games of chicken with tractors and exquisite views of the Rhine carving out valleys and gaining new adherents from feeder streams and rivers.

There were a few sketchy pitch-black tunnels. Lots of narrow roads hugging the mountainside with only a small guardrail between you and the abyss.

Having bested the mountains, we were rewarded with the longest straightaway descent of the trip. It reminded me of my favorite sections of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. Got to hold 40+mph for a few minutes.

Now we wove through small villages on gentle up n’ down hills and bike paths cutting through cornfields. Felt video game like. Quite fun.

In “some town whose name escapes me at the moment” we witnessed the formation of the actual Rhine river where the ‘Anterior Rhine’, which we’d been following, meets up with the ‘Posterior Rhine.’

Blazed past Chur, the Big Town in the area and entered the Rheintal, one long, extremely windy valley that we’d spend the rest of the day trying to exit.

We grew hungry and decided, perhaps foolishly, to eat in Liechtenstein. Recently, I saw in the news that Snoop Dogg tried to rent Liechtenstein for a week. They said they were willing but would need earlier notice. Well, after we biked more than halfway across the entire country - literally - in search of a restaurant, I’m definitely Pro-Snoop Dogg. I hope during his one week as King he will shake things up there.

Man cannot live on castles alone, Liechtenstein.

After lunch, we stretched, started pedaling, sneezed and were out of Liechtenstein. After a few kilometers following the Rhine in Austria, we stopped and had another swim. Just as cold. Just as refreshing.

When we reached the Bodensee, we were all beat. And the hoped-for campground turned out to be non-existent. Eventually we found a hostel in Hard. Despite feeling guilty for surrendering so easily to Comfort, it was quite comfortable.

That night we watched Germany lose their shot at the World Cup Championship. The Germans in the crowd were quite low while the Austrians celebrated heartily - for a German loss is an Austrian win.