Flat & Easy

63 miles, 9.6 mph, 1190' elevation gain
(Straubing, Germany to Nesslbach)


View Larger Map

Highlights: very nice weather, flat & easy riding along the River Danube, several scenic small cities, riding without a map


()

()

()
Journal: Today the weather was very accommodating (partly cloudy, temps in the mid-60's, slight tailwind) as I continued downriver along the Danube River. In the morning I picked up my food for the day (pastries, walnut bread, sausage sticks & two cheeses) at the Saturday market in the attractive old town of Straubing, then rode on the right side of the Danube to the town of Platttling (where I shall return in several days from Linz to commence my ride up the Isar River back to Munich). From Plattling it was a short ride north to Deggendorf (with another nice old city center) on the left bank of the Danube. I could have camped here, but wanted to keep on pedaling towards Passau (at the German-Austrian border). The only problem is I don't have maps for a 30-40 mile stretch of the Danube before Passau (and I didn't want to pay $10-20 for maps that would only help me for half a day) so I wasn't sure where the campgrounds would be along the way. About 10 km from Deggendorf a German couple told me of a campground just off my map, so I decided to head there. They also said there was another campground 25 km farther in the town of Eering, but I couldn't find the town on my GPS and didn't want to risk running out of daylight looking for something I might not find. Tomorrow I will ride along the popular Passau to Linz segment of the Danube River. Some say it is the most beautiful part, so I hope the weather will cooperate.

Back On The Danube

61 miles, 10.5 mph, 1220' elevation gain
(Nittenau, Germany to Straubing)


View Larger Map

Highlights: overnight thunder & lightning storm, gloomy morning with occasional light rain, riding solo again, city of Regensburg on the Danube, all-you-can-eat sushi lunch, exhilarating evening ride, very flat


()

()

()

()

()
Journal: Today began with a scary overnight storm and ended with an exhilarating evening ride along the Danube River. Sometime in the early morning hours, rain began to fall & wind started picking up as a rather nasty line of thunderclouds rolled through. Since my tent was beginning to leak, I had to run outside at the beginning of the storm to grab my rain covers from my saddle bags. When the lightning was about six seconds away (only one mile by my calcs) I briefly considered abandoning ship and heading to the campground's restrooms for better protection. But then the storm was over and the rain slowed down. In the morning it was quite cool (only 51 degrees) & gloomy looking, but the rain held off for the most part. Joe & I rode 15 miles along the left bank of the Regan River downstream to the town of Reganstauf before saying our goodbyes at the train station. After riding together for four weeks, Joe needs to head back home to Pennsylvania so I will be on my own again (as I was for the first week of this trip).

The first few minutes of riding solo were uneasy. After all, who would double-check directions and translate German for me? By the time I rode the final 10 km stretch along the Regan River to the city of Regensburg I was more relaxed and looking forward again to the freedom of riding alone. Located on the River Danube, Regensburg's old town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is well worth checking out. I ended up spending about four hours exploring the city, including one hour at an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in the old town. I love sushi & eat quite a bit at home, but haven't had it for over a month now. Being a hungry bicycle tourist, I definitely got my money's worth (for under 10 Euros) as I consumed countless plates of sushi as they rolled by the conveyor belt next to me.

By the time I finished up in Regensburg it was 4 pm and the next campground was 50+ km away, so I had a dilemma. I figured since I needed to work off some of the extra calories from lunch, I would go for it. So I headed off eastward downriver along the Danube (which I rode a month ago with Joe from Linz, Austria to Bratislava, Slovakia). The decision was a good one as the rain held off, the winds were from the west & the terrain was almost completely level. After taking a small detour through the town of Worth to stock up on water, I reached the campground across the river from Straubing about 7:45 pm, just in time to catch the last 10 minutes of the Italy-Romania Eurocup match & order a plate of spaghetti.

Six Second Showers

40 miles, 9.7 mph, 1370' elevation gain
(Furth im Wald, Germany to Nittenau)


View 2008-06-12 Furth Im Wald, Germany to Nittenau in a larger map

Highlights: cloudy & cooler, mostly flat, only one steep climb, early finish, swimming pool

()

()

()

()
Journal: Every campground shower seems to have its own identity. Some require tokens (which can cost about $1.50 per 5 minutes) while others are free but shut off after a set amount of time. This morning's shower set the record for the shortest elapsed time of only 6 seconds! In other words, every six seconds the water would shut off and I would have to press the button to start the water again. I can understand 30 or 60 second increments, but six seconds seems rather ridiculous.

After showering, I packed up & discovered I couldn't find my Camelback (water backpack), one of the can't-live-without items on my long-distance bike tours. Normally I would notice not having it immediately, but yesterday I was wearing my heavier rain jacket (instead of my lighter weight wind breaker) so I did not notice. The last place I recalled having it was the restaurant in Furth last night at dinner, so we headed that way to see if I was right. Fortunately, as soon as I walked into the restaurant the same waitress from last night saw me and immediately put up a finger to let me know she had something of mine.

After being happily reunited with my Camelback, we were on our way heading down along the Regan River. The morning ride was essentially flat as we followed the river & railway line, mostly on pleasant farm roads. We took a lunch break in the town of Cham (in another nice town square) before continuing downriver. After crossing the river at Roding, the trail left the river & steepened on a gravel road for several miles before returning to the river. The rest of the afternoon was uneventful as we keep to the river. When we reached Nittenau, Joe had enough riding for the day so we set up camp at the local campground. Since it was early I took a dip in the local pool, but not for too long since it was not heated & a bit cool for my liking.

Return To Bavaria

45 miles, 8.7 mph, 3730' elevation gain
(Dobreny, Czech Republic to Furth im Wald, Germany)


View 2008-06-11 Dobrany, Czech Republic to Furth Im Wald, Germany in a larger map

Highlights: early start to beat heat, overcast at times, headwinds & hills, reaching the German border, waiting for thunder & lightning to dissipate


()

()

()

()
Journal: We got an earlier start today (by about an hour) to try to beat the heat that got to us a little yesterday. Also, we weren't sure how bad the hills would be as we approached the German border. In the morning it didn't matter much since the skies were mostly cloudy or overcast and the hills were quite mild. As usual, the riding itself was nice enough as we rode on lightly trafficked back roads past pleasant country scapes & through small rural villages. The only hard part today occurred just before lunch, when the intense sun returned and we climbed several hundred feet in under a mile to our highest elevation of the day (2155 feet). It was worth it as we had a great view of the Vserby Pass to Germany in front of (& below) us. This pass has been used for 1000+ years to connect Bohemia (present day Czech Republc) to Germany. Armies have marched across this pass to fight one another, but from the end of World War II to 1990 the crossing was completely closed because of the Cold War. Hard to imagine today since there is very little even left of the border itself now that Czech Republic's borders are completely open (unmanned) to the European Union.

The biggest excitement of the day occurred as we were crossing the border into Germany. Some early afternoon thunderstorms were creating some lightning in the distance & getting us wet in the process. We decided to wait out the storm for a short while, making sure our path into Germany would be safe. As had been the case more often than not on this trip, we were on the "right side" of the storm and able to continue towards the city of Furth without much hassle from the weather gods. It felt good to be back in Bavaria, where the roads are smooth and bicycle paths abound when needed. In fact, there was a short paved bike path right at the border crossing, which we were happy to take advantage of.

June 10

30 miles, 8.1 mph, 1450'´elevation gain
(Dobriv, Czech Republic to Dobrany)


View 2008-06-10 Dobriv, Czech Republic to Dobrany in a larger map

Highlights: Pilsner (Plzen), underground museum, warm afternoon, drinking several beers & calling it quits early


()

()

()

()

()
Journal: to come