South of Augsburg the land flattens into the Lechfeld, a broad gravel plain shaped by the Lech river as it runs north from the Alps. Schwabmünchen is the market town of this stretch, a practical place with a long main street, a handful of churches, and all the shops and services a rider needs. It is not a postcard town, and it does not pretend to be, but it makes a reliable pause between Augsburg and the Allgäu.
History runs deep on this plain. In 955 the Lechfeld was the scene of the battle in which Otto the Great defeated the Magyar raiders, ending decades of incursions into German lands. Nothing much on the ground marks it today, just wide fields, but it is worth knowing as you ride across that this flat country once decided the future of central Europe.
The riding here is about moving efficiently rather than leaning. Roads are straight or gently curved, generally well surfaced, and run through farmland, small woods and villages with maypoles in the square. On a clear day, looking south, the line of the Alps appears on the horizon like a promise, and that view grows as you head towards Landsberg, Kaufbeuren and the high roads of the Allgäu. Wind across the plain can be gusty, and in late autumn morning fog lies thick in the hollows.
Schwabmünchen has fuel, bakeries and cafés, so it is a good place to take on supplies before the hillier roads. The Lech itself, with its weirs and turquoise water, is never far to the west if you want a quieter ride parallel to the main routes. Think of this stretch as the overture: calm, steady, building towards the mountains.