Day 9. Passau to Linz

You have to study the guide book for the best way to get where you're going. After   sight seeing in Passau ( beautiful cathedral with the largest organ in Europe) we took the left bank to avoid a busy road to Schlogen.

There's nothing to show it ,but we're having morning tea on the Austrian border

I at least expected the locals to be yodelling to their goats or something. What we did see though was this Aussie family, grandparents and all ,cycling to Linz.

The first ferry today was across to Schlogen. We stayed on the right bank from here . 5kms shorter too !

The scenery is stunning all along here and the path wide and fast. You get into a nice rhythm and can comfortably sit on 20 ks for ages

As we approach Ottemshein the land flattens out. This is about the tenth dam we've passed on the river so far. 5kms on and we pass back to the left bank again on this ingenious ferry . It hangs off a cable and uses the river current and it's big rudders ,to swing itself across .

There's always a coffee shop handy and Ash will be proud to know I'm taking it black and strong at about 2pm every day. It's like doping a racehorse, we go like hell for the finishing post. Linz is a massive steel producing town and instead of stopping, we've gone past to this Cohotel at Steyregg. 110kms today. We could hardly climb the bloody stairs to our room.

Day 8. 100kms to Passau

Yep , despite a few stops and a nasty fall, we did exactly 100kms today. Pretty chuffed !

  We got an early start, well 7.30 is not bad, and even though we stopped to check out several sights, we arrived here by 4pm

This little village had a butchers shop so we popped in and asked to fill our water bottles

Duggendorf was a large town, the bikeways often led you to the town centre. We enjoyed a cup of tea and a doughnut while sitting on this old girl. 

  

This is Francoise from Nantes . He's on his way to Romania so we rode with him for the rest of the day. We had some laughs, us at his virtual supermarket he carries with him, him at my French pronunciation . Here we stop for lunch, or in his case , a buffet,.

Then as we came down onto a newly metalled section, WHAMMO , Francoise lost control of his bike and fell across the track in front of Christine. They both got grazes, luckily nothing major although Christine has some horrible bruises on her legs.

This wierd looking bike was one that stopped to help. Anyway we made it to Passau, the border into Austria is here, and we've booked into this strange hotel right on the river. Only €50 but the rooms are one bed wide !

Day 7. Past the 500k mark

Tonight we're in a little pub in Straubing and I can't hear myself think for bloody car horns! Germany just beat Portugal in the World Cup and you'd think they won the final .

  Woke early to about 10 rabbits chewing grass around our tent. Packed up and got on the track by 7am. Stopped and had breakfast just out of town. Yoghurt , muesli and fruit. Also did a bit of grazing on the way as there are lots of cherry trees alongside the route. 

After about an hour I like to give my bum a break. The Donau is getting big now with lots of barges and cruise ships. See how all the rails and seats fold down for passing under bridges

Bang ! The dreaded sound of another spoke . These guys were a great help . They like to look the part but they all had battery bikes so it was a bit of show really .

Gave it a bit of a straighten then headed for Straubing where a bike shop fixed 3 spokes for me. 

   This is a lovely old town and it's been a good break even though we only did 59kms

Day 6. Regensburg, the turning point

Being Sunday, the landlord wanted to sleep in so we had breakfast late at 8am! Up until now the sign posting has been pretty good but today it was terrible and we ended up passing the same place twice !

   It didn't help that I had the screaming trots, probably from the Turkish food stalls yesterday. Luckily there's plenty of bush in this leg , so no accidents

This man was farming trout in a little stream that ran under the road

 As the Danau heads north east it pass's through the Franconian Jura mountains through a narrow gorge. You can ride as far as the Franciscan abbey but then you must take a ferry through the gorge

This area is still Bavaria so when the ferry reached Kelheim we thought it necessary to have a stein with lunch. Gave us a right kick in the pants I can tell you !

As I said before, this is a turning point as the Donau turns south east towards Passau. Accommodation was hard to find here so out came the trusty tent again.

Day 5 . Ingolstat

Just past it by 5kms actually. Got lost on the way out of Ingolstat . We  went on the right bank and should have been on the left. Extra 10 Kms which at the end of the day is SOOO annoying

This is about the 4th or 5th power station so far. The track always runs along the levy wall which is very peaceful. Lots of fish too ! This one was big enough to have a yacht club.

Just short of Neusburg I broke another spoke so instead of replacing it I bought a spoke spanner and just straightened the wheel. When I break another I'll fix them both. Got Christine a new seat too. 

We liked Ingolstat. They were having a Turkish festival so we sampled their food and sat listening to their music .we were able to catch last nights rugby score off this Jaffa from a cruise ship

We're in a pension tonight in Grosmehring. €60 including a German breakfast. Oh, and the slowest wifi ever!

Day 4.Donauworth . A major crossroad

Goes to show , when you're tired enough you'll sleep anywhere. The tent was excellent !   This morning we got away by 5.30 and bought breakfast on the way. Through forests and large crop land  around here. Great riding!

Farmers bring excess greenery to these methane plants to be turned into tractor fuel. That's a nuclear power station behind in the distance

A dab on each cheek, and some in between,

 Cyclists salvation, VASALINE

  Christine actually thinks it's Funny !

  We are passing through an area that was a Roman settlement with lots of ruins.this is Lauingen and the council worker helped us change our seats over. I also got the spoke fixed

This selfie shows the bike trail running beside the main road. It's what we need in NZ. Christine's sitting on her carrier as she doesn't like the seat !

Our NZ flags aroused a lot of attention. Unlike America , everyone new where it was

And finally ,Donauworth . The Romantic highway runs through here as well . A famous tourist route and cycleroute 9.

This is the guesthof Meyer where we stayed last night