The end of the trip to Europe this year saw me finish in Nuremberg, Germany. Admittedly I didn't really know much of Nuremberg before arriving. I knew they were the host city to perhaps the most famous legal trials of the 20th Century, the Nuremberg Trials. But I didn't know much of their medieval history. The history I'm sure more Germans would prefer we know Nuremberg by.
Turns out that Nuremberg was shalt we say the centre of Europe for quite some time. I mean the place had its King etc. But it was the fact this place was where the Reichstag met. Basically where your royal courts would meet. And then you also had the burghers that were appointed to look after the municipal city make sure the trade was good. We're talking medieval times. When the power of the salt trade diminished so did the power of Nuremberg. Importantly I picked up a lot of this information doing a tour of the Nuremberg Castle. Very interesting.
More interesting was the development of the Nuremberg castle over time. The place was extremely secure from invasion. So as the area got wealthier kings would come and go the leader of the time would make an addition to the castle.
So Nuremberg was quite a rich city. Perhaps in part the area's history of wealth and identity was conducive to their attraction to Hitler when they faced poverty after WW1. Nuremberg rose to power again etc with the Nazi rally grounds. Which were not really a highlight I wanted to visit. So I didn't. Plus they were way out of town in reality.
Nuremberg's Grain History
What the Nuremberg area was famous for was the production of wheat and other grains. Think barley for beer production. So Nuremberg's architectural fame has been installed by the buildings which were originally grain storage. I spent my time walking around the old town area, although knowingly rebuilt due to the WW2. What was recreated provided the sense of grandeur and purpose. Even if that purpose was of giving the town executioner a means to enter and depart the city safely.
Passau was a bit hilly. I guess I didn't really look at the map in
detail when confirming my trip. I had assumed it was all flat and easy
access. Well in most of Passau it was mostly flat. But my hotel had a little
kicker at the end to get up to. Meant that any time I departed the hotel
into town there was the walk back up hill. Wasn't too bad as I was only
there one night before I moved to another hotel right down in the old
town for the final night in Passau. However context was I had been cycling for days. Once off the bike each day the legs would refuse to do hills. Understandably tour company hadn't
led on which hotel I'd be placed into when placing the deposit. So when I
booked the extra night I was flying blind. I took as place, in my
budget, in an area I though was important. I wasn't wrong with it. Just
the tour company took the other option up outside of the city centre,
and not on the river.
Passau as a city was great. The
city is a place all the river boats stop. This is Grand Central for
German river cruising. Makes sense as Passau is where the 3 rivers join
up and enter into Austria. Passau therefore is a prime place for
history. The Donau as I had learnt was one of the only rivers to go east
to west and hence why in the days when horses and boats reigned. Before
the trains and cars of today this was a prime trade route. This was
where salt was king and money was made. And why all the wars centred on
who controlled the river passages. And yes as you can guess there was
one of those castles here too. One up the top of the hill. Another climb
indeed. But it was worth every step. An wow what a lunch I had there.
Another pork knuckle with salad. My favourite. Realisation now was that I
was only days out from returning home. Cycling part of the trip was done.
So the end of my cycling trip in Passau Germany meant I completed over 350 kilometres in 6 days of cycling. To some that wouldn't seem much. But think about it and you understand to the average person that's quite a journey. Nearly 60kms a day on a bike seat. Even for me as a casual cyclist it was quite a lot. Especially as I had learnt it wasn't a road bike on smooth flat roads and bike paths as I had become accustomed to back home. This was gravel paths and rolling hills included. Yes hills on a follow the river ride.
Anyway the final day saw me on a larger ride to finish me off. Being the last day I really was looking for places to stop along the way. Not only because I was tired. But primarily because it was the last day and well the whole idea of doing this ride was to explore the smaller towns along the way. Get the experience of the small little places the big tour buses don't go. Stop in the places the locals know of but the tourist don't see. These were to be the places all my former guests from host were from. When they say "I live near Munich". They don't mean they live near Munich. They mean to say "Munich because it's the only place you'll know that's nearby. Even though it's 200kms away and I've been there only once". I can now say I've ridden the Donau. Perhaps I've ridden closer to their own home town than anyone they've met when I get another German visitor in the future. This will be a great way of opening up conversation.
Around lunchtime I rode into Vilshofen. If it wasn't for the place being just that bit far from Straubing or too close from Deggendorf and too close to Passau it would have made for a great overnight stop. Heck the realisation was one I made it to Vilshofen this place was perfect distance from Passau for the day cyclists like we are back home. You're about 25km from Passau. The cycle was flat and along the river on mainly bitumen surfaces. And off the main roads for all but a crossing entering into Passau. Vilshofen had the nice main street and outdoor summer hangouts. Really liked this coffee stop.
A bit further up I made my final stop of the bike trip. A nowhere town with nothing special. But a smart resident had set up perfectly to capture the day cyclists setting up a little cafe along the river in a quiet spot. Made for the perfect place to get lunch. And well I felt like I had rewarded a local for providing a service I not only needed but valued. They knew their target market, and understood their position along the river. Small communities along the river here didn't always capture the tourist dollar when they had the chance but this place did. Well done to them.
10kms on and I had arrived into my final resting place. Passau. Goodbye bicycle, you had done enough.
By day 5 of cycling this tour along the Donau the body was starting to say "that'll do". Not to say that this cycling trip was a grind, or a wrong decision. No it's just that I was shattered, and no matter what I did, ate, or drank after the daily ride would matter. I was tired. The rides now were fairly relaxed compared to earlier in the week. There was a definite increase in the amount of bitumen as I approached Passau nearing Austria. And reality was the distances between towns was mostly getting shorter.
Metten side step
I was also getting much more relaxed about the weather by this stage. It's a much easier decision to just allow the time to take a diversion, or a iced chocolate break when you're not concerned it's going to rain.
On this day I remember the constant though of just taking the side trip to a side town just beyond the main path. However that little side trip was a few kilometres each time. And seemed to always look like it would involve a small climb. So I stuck to the main drag until I got close to Deggendorf and justified a stopover in a town called Metten. Oh except for that obligatory Germany bakery stop. In the later afternoon when I arrived into Deggendorf I found a walk along the riverfront complete with Italian restaurant. Here I diverted away from the standard German fare for a nice pasta. I don't think it touched the sides. This was one time carb-loading was definitely allowed.
Seeing the signs on the Donau Radweg
And just in case you're wondering just what sort of signage was I following throughout the trip. Take a look at this sign. Most often you've got this white and green street directional sign occurring where ever the bicycle path would lead. Nice and clear and includes the distance also indicated. However this didn't always meant his was the path I needed. Take a closer look a the 2 squares attached to the bottom. The one on the left was for the Donau. The other is for another path.
Departure from Regensburg was easy. Seems that that Regensburg population doesn't get out of bed before 9am on a weekend. I on the other hand was struggling with staying up at night. Doing over 40kms of cycling a day was influencing my sleep patterns. By the time I was finished each day on the bike all it would take is a meal and an ice cream and I was done. Plus, with my trip being destination to destination I was perhaps more aware to be on the road to the next stop to ensure I would see something at the other end. Even with late sunsets and daylight saving time it didn't mean museums or churches were always open later. I guess I could have taken the other view and seen the towns before leaving each day however I wasn't taking a chance on the weather changing. If it was fine in the morning the rule was, ride!
Not far out of Regensburg was one of the tour stage highlights. A place called Wahalla. Personally I hadn't heard of the place until I started researching my trip watching you tube videos of cycle rides between German towns. It's a memorial of German historical figures that was created by Crown Prince Ludwig in the 1800s. Think a room full of statue heads. Creepy indeed by our expectations of what makes a memorial.
My initial thoughts on arrival were quite justified. Why build it on the top of a hill. Why must they always build these things on a hill. You see I had managed to detour off the bike path along the river to a point where I could see the building. Taking the straight line theory to the building I thought the front stairs were how you had to get there. Fortunately for me I had encountered stairs at the walking path. This justified my dumping the bicycle at the base of the hill as I'm in the middle of the countryside. There was no one there to steal it. I was therefore only pulling myself up the hill.
I was led towards the visual front of the building with the couple hundred giant stairs going vertically up from the base of the hillside. It wasn't until I had accomplished the climb and was walking around the back of the memorial that I got even a glimpse of the carpark. I didn't have a car, and therefore hadn't seen the real tourist road to the memorial. I did suspect half way up the stairs this would be the case. I could only be sure that even royalty would not have built in this position if they expected anyone to visit it. My only reward was knowing the others visiting the memorial didn't have the bragging rights on having climbed the stairs.
After completing the climb around Wahalla it was smooth sailing to Straubing. Can't say I really achieved much in Straubing. It was a nice town. I just walked up and down the main street and the town centre. There was the world cup being played on big screens inside all the beer gardens but nothing I especially happening to make my stay memorable.
After having the nightmare of a ride the day before I knew my ride from Kelheim to Regensburg would be fine. I knew this not because I had seen the weather forecast. I knew this because I had just spent $150 on a top quality rain jacket that was sure to keep me dry. After drying out in Kelheim during the afternoon as soon as my bag arrived I had hightailed it to a sports store, and then when not satisfied with the selection there I discovered there was an actually shopping centre just out of the city centre away from the tourist focused old town. Anyway I knew the rules. Don't buy a jacket and it'll piss down again. Or buy a jacket and have a dry ride for the rest of the cycling week. It wasn't really a choice in the end.
So with my unexpected purchase on, and extra clothes in the side pannier of to Regensburg it was for me. The extra clothes were just in case I again beat my suitcase to Regensburg. The ride on this third day of cycling was also much shorter than I had experienced previously. For the first 2 days I had entered the farmlands. Here I was heading back to the big smoke. Regensburg would be the biggest city I would stop in until Passau. The cycle ride wasn't as eventful as the previous. I didn't stop in the smaller town of Bad Abbach. There was a small threat of a shower so I was more hesitant to rest in the town the guide books had said was a spa town for cyclists passing through. Then no sooner than I had left the town it took it's revenge.
You see just outside of Bad Abbach there was some not so smart cookie that must of hated cyclists and so decided to move the cyclists out off the town road onto the top of river levy banks to pass by the town. Only instead of leaving the top of the levy bank as the hard screed, or surfacing with concrete they had placed a more finer dirt like substance on it to make it smooth and inviting. They had made sure also that the signage directed cyclist onto this path. Only when I had gotten about 200m along this path did I realise why the local cyclist ahead of me seemed to not divert on this path. After the day of rain it had become clay. A soft quicksand of clay that was quickly making my bike go from 15kgs to about 30kgs and impossible to pedal. After another 200m I was stopped. I hadn't fully appreciated at this time why I felt so unfit. I had noticed my tyres sliding down into the surface. I even looked back noticing the track mark I had left in my wake. I was cursing the path designer at this stage. Who the ... puts mud on a bike path. I gave up. With a road only 20 metres away I went cross country down off the embankment to bitumen I knew I could cycle freely. Only when I got even there I was still disabled. My bicycle mudguard had collected so much I was chocked up on both rims. It took 5 minutes of creative bouncing of the bike to dislodge enough mud to continue.
It wasn't long from here before I was greeted by the signs suggesting I was nearly in Regensburg. However I was slightly tricked. The park outside the edge of Regensburg directly me along the river rim and not the straight line to Regensburg so it did seem forever I was entering the city.
Originally when booking the tour I had considered staying an extra night here because it was somewhat popular on the tour websites. It would have also allowed a rest day. If I was doing more than a week riding I would definitely required a bicycle free day. After all professionals on the Tour de France get rest days too.
Regensburg was the first truly large city I had stayed in Germany this time around. And with larger cities comes the bus tours. The American bus tours were here in droves. The tour guide with their umbrellas and "follow me" sticks were out and about being followed by their less able bodied guests with the look of why can't we be sitting on a bus right now. Heck some of the most annoying were fully kitted out in full headsets without a distraction in the world that could remind them they were also in the middle of the walking footpath. Yelling at each other to make a comment. They'd even blindly look at me as if to not comprehend why a person pushing a bike was staring at them. Patience Chad patience I thought to myself. Let the cars sort them out.
Of note the partners of Radweg Reisen to my cycle tour Austria Radreisen finally sorted themselves out here (my booking seemed to straddle 2 partner ride tour companies). My welcome kit found me 3 days in after my sending some very concerned emails days before about not having maps, bag tags, or tickets for the Weltenberg ferry, and a museum in Ingolstadt. It had maps! Very detailed maps of where to ride, and where to turn off. And tickets tickets for the ferry. Very impressed. Would have been useful. Realisation was how the heck would a guest of less travel experience of survived without.
Regensburg was nice. Perhaps could have stayed an extra night and still filled up my time. But with a limited stay I kept my express city tour focus in place. It meant I didn't go into the extra museums etc and kept to the walking around and experiencing the old city feel I enjoy. I did though make up for missing out on the Weltenberger Abbey Dunkel in Kelheim by visiting a Weltenberg Brewery Restaurant.
Before even booking my trip I spent hours deciding up what I wanted to do. When I decided upon taking a self guided cycling tour the second level of the decision was where? And from there the decision would cascade down. Germany was the country as I am very comfortable travelling in Germany. Then it came down to region. This decision was made by google research on the Weltenberg Abbey. My searching had come across this picture perfect summer cycling day involving the oldest Benedictine Monk Brewery Monastery in the world. In my head it was going to be great. The ride was to be only about 55kms. Then I'd arrive at the monastery do a tour of the grounds, have a taste of their famous dunkel beer, and then hop onto the ferry that would transport me the remainder of the way. 15kms to Kelheim by ferry. And Kelheim itself was going to be another picture perfect town with plenty of history.
The day was doomed from the beginning. I left Ingolstadt early as I knew it was likely to rain. I will say the weather prediction did indicate it would be deteriorating throughout the day. I guess I refused to accept that this meant it was going from bad to worse. No sooner than I had been on the road for a bit the rain hit. My jacket wasn't build to withstand much rain. So it wasn't long before I was growing towards an acceptance that I was wet and would just have to put up with it. If I was back home considering a regular ride I would have cancelled. But here the backpack was going to the next destination. It was my task to meet it at the other end. And that meant taking the bike to the other end too.
I had ridden from point to point through numerous showers. The paths had been quite difficult most of the way with much of it gravel dirt levy banks along the river. The puddles I had ridden through were getting larger and larger. There was no where to hide. I would have stopped and attempted to dry out but it was getting worse and worse. And all I could think was I can get to the Abbey and dry out there. Alas by the time I made it to Weltenberg I looked like a drowned rat. And it was at this time I came across the ticket seller to the Abbey with a I'm on a smoking break look on her face and in her voice. She saw me arrive and in German indicated that the Abbey was closed. I perhaps should have tried in my broken German to enquire a bit more if the Abbey was actually open. It was just too convenient for her so say no whilst ripping the cigarette from the pack departing the ticket booth.
Convenience had her directing me to the ferry terminal around the corner. And hence with defeat upon my face I just accepted it wasn't my day and that I should continue on in search of warmth and a dry hotel room. To my defence in the rain it did look closed, and I had just seen a bus load of tourists leave the other way back to the carpark. When I made it around the corner I was confronted by a gaggle of German tourist who had just disembarked the tourist ferry I was now heading towards. Their direction was the ticket booth I had just been brushed off from, or perhaps back towards the carpark for a tour bus. I was unsure. Damn it I thought. Maybe it was open, and I was just too difficult to deal with being the only English tourist, and a drowned disheveled one at that. Never get in the way of a hardcore smoker and a cigarette it would seem.
But it was too late for me. I was a defeated man. Mentally I was already on that departing ferry about to leave. So without hesitation I was in line for a ticket. I will never know what the Abbey is like. I missed the opportunity to try the beer at the Abbey itself. The thought of a warm shower was much more compelling.
The ferry ride was a relief. Time to sit and have a beer. Any beer would do. Through the day I hadn't eaten since breakfast since it was always raining, and I had wanted to get keep going to get out from the rain. Upon arrival into Kelheim I made straight for the hotel. Alas nothing had gone to plan, not even my arrival. My suitcase hadn't arrived as it was only 3:30pm. It would only be guaranteed to arrive by 6pm. So all I could do was sit and wait in my converted drying shed of a hotel room. A minor inconvenience after what had seemed such a long day in the saddle.
Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to the review coverage of this year's Tour de Donau. For those who may have just joined the coverage the path was to take riders along the Donau river through southern Germany over seven nights with 350kms of cycling coverage over 6 days.
Unlike the Tour de France where we see 19 teams with 8 riders, each with their 2 team cars, support crews, team buses, a gendarme fleet, and the related tour caravan of promotional advertisers the peloton for this tour was much more subdued. In fact pared back very significantly. The number of riders was in fact one. One solitary rider.
Marketing officials were quick to point out that the rider was in fact an amateur cycling tourist from Australia who had paid for his own sponsorship, accommodation, and support team. The support team, Radweg-Reisen were to provide services along the way including accommodation and the transport of luggage. Heck the instructions from Donauwörth hotel reception on arrival the afternoon before, had instructed to just look in the garage for the bikes, they each have a name tag and starting date, and then in the morning breakfast was from 7am. Just be sure to leave bags at reception for collection by the driver before 9am. No other tour documentation would be provided it seemed. Radweg-Reisen clearly considered the cycle race Tour de Donau a mere booking of their Donauwörth to Passau Cycle Path. It was obvious that this tour wasn't a pro-cycle tour sanctioned event and therefore there would be no doping other then that of the self administered amber variety, and Eis (ice cream).
The support team at the start line in the morning weren't aware of the official race timetable, nor of any additional documentation available. The van driver was surprised I was asking about what was meant by the "red bag tags", and questioned if I had a map. After hearing of my verbal no he said he'd try and find one for me. It wasn't until later I learnt there was supposed to be a welcome pack of some sort with detail.
Perhaps in part due to the close proximity to the Tour de France which was to start only days after this tour concluded, and because I had booked my own way did it become clear the ride not on the world pro-cycling calendar. My pedigree of being Team Chad's GC rider (General Classification) had been lost on the tour organisers.
What wasn't lost on me though was the fact day one's itinerary of 65kms. As a casual cyclist I hadn't ridden more than 45kms in one ride. Realisation early on was that fact that equipment supplied wasn't like back home where I rode a thin wheeled road bike on bitumen roads. The bike here although rolling well was heavy set, had a pannier to hold stuff or take the balance out depending on your perspective, and a giant basket on the front which prevented the mounting the go pro as I had planned. Many of the roads outside of the major town stops would be on gravel paths through farm fields. Not just dedicated cycle paths.
Without any larger official map I had been left with the tour's vague initial information pack which was to follow the "clearly" marked Donau bikeway. Only it also become quickly clear that I wasn't used to looking in the same directional manner the path designer had intended, and nor did I have the same expectation of the word "clearly". So within the first kilometre I was already backtracking to the start on the oft chance I had missed a sign because there was no sign when I made it to a first major junction. Once finally leaving Donauwörth I was lost, and to be continually lost until I could make it to the next hotel. My guide was a mobile phone with limited juice, and a Map app for which I had discovered not enough maps of the local area were downloaded. Unfortunately I also hadn't figured out how to get my Frankfurt purchased mobile data plan to work properly. Contrary to the German salesperson I wasn't in retrospect right to go after all. Reality was I was on wifi only, in the German countryside, without a map, hopefully following enough signs to get me to Ingolstadt via Neuburg.
About 25kms along I made it into some small town along the way. Here there was a well set up small brewery with garden area and a sign. This would be the first real opportunity to just rest and take in the scenery. Until this point I had been pedalling hard just to get over 20kms an hour. I was struggling on the small rolling hills already, and knew I wasn't really following the river tightly. I did though read reviews previously warning of the first day being both fairly long, and with rolling hills so wasn't too concerned.
By the time I hit Neuburg I was about 50kms into the ride. The situation had changed. There was a section where I had not seen a sign for about 3 kilometres. So I concluded that the path had taken me down a wrong way, or was missing a few signs. Joining back before Neuburg was a relief. It suggested even if I did lose a path I couldn't really go far wrong. Neuburg itself was quaint highlight. It was pretty, with a nice sized historical centre. The historical centre was all but empty as it was separated from the commercial centre. Tourist information staff were keen to point out that tour buses were yet at peak season levels.
After stopping for lunch I started my way out from Neuburg. I realised I might need to stop the Strava app from recording my "record ride" as I had seen my battery power drain fast due to the phone data issue. So of course this was where it was all starting to go pear shaped. About a kilometre out from Neuburg the weather came in. An afternoon storm front. Not too heavy but enough to raise concern if I didn't keep going. Especially as I had 20kms to go.
Then about 10kms out I completely lost the cycle path. For about 2kms I was following the Donau which gave me some confidence. However I had then ignored a sign which in I retrospect realise indicated the bike path was closed. But it hadn't also indicated an alternative path. So I just continued for another 3kms until the path really got bad. I even had to walk a section of path which was clearly a manual diversion away from the river through the scrub. I suspect because a path bank had been wiped out or removed. In this diversion I nearly stood on a snake resting. I quickly got out of there and vowed to follow the path more clearly from then only. But my troubles weren't over there.
By the time I made it to Ingolstadt it was about 5pm. The weather was further deteriorating, although not yet raining. I was down to 3% battery power on the phone. Not good as it was my map, address recorder and photograph taker. The Gopro was already dead. I was a bit lost for a bit in the city centre without a map. However after a bit of backtracking removed myself out to the river where I was able to locate the correct bridge, and then follow my hand written directions to the hotel taken before the battery died. Thankfully I located my hotel. Unfortunately it was the least centrally located hotel of my tour. I was shattered but alive. A rest allowed recovery for a walk into town for dinner and photo tour. Day one was marked off. I was so tired.
On this day I remember the constant though of just taking the side trip to a side town just beyond the main path. However that little side trip was a few kilometres each time. And seemed to always look like it would involve a small climb. So I stuck to the main drag until I got close to Deggendorf and justified a stopover in a town called Metten. Oh except for that obligatory Germany bakery stop. In the later afternoon when I arrived into Deggendorf I found a walk along the riverfront complete with Italian restaurant. Here I diverted away from the standard German fare for a nice pasta. I don't think it touched the sides. This was one time carb-loading was definitely allowed.
Departure from Regensburg was easy. Seems that that Regensburg population doesn't get out of bed before 9am on a weekend. I on the other hand was struggling with staying up at night. Doing over 40kms of cycling a day was influencing my sleep patterns. By the time I was finished each day on the bike all it would take is a meal and an ice cream and I was done. Plus, with my trip being destination to destination I was perhaps more aware to be on the road to the next stop to ensure I would see something at the other end. Even with late sunsets and daylight saving time it didn't mean museums or churches were always open later. I guess I could have taken the other view and seen the towns before leaving each day however I wasn't taking a chance on the weather changing. If it was fine in the morning the rule was, ride!
Not far out of Regensburg was one of the tour stage highlights. A place called Wahalla. Personally I hadn't heard of the place until I started researching my trip watching you tube videos of cycle rides between German towns. It's a memorial of German historical figures that was created by Crown Prince Ludwig in the 1800s. Think a room full of statue heads. Creepy indeed by our expectations of what makes a memorial.
After having the nightmare of a ride the day before I knew my ride from Kelheim to Regensburg would be fine. I knew this not because I had seen the weather forecast. I knew this because I had just spent $150 on a top quality rain jacket that was sure to keep me dry. After drying out in Kelheim during the afternoon as soon as my bag arrived I had hightailed it to a sports store, and then when not satisfied with the selection there I discovered there was an actually shopping centre just out of the city centre away from the tourist focused old town. Anyway I knew the rules. Don't buy a jacket and it'll piss down again. Or buy a jacket and have a dry ride for the rest of the cycling week. It wasn't really a choice in the end.
It wasn't long from here before I was greeted by the signs suggesting I was nearly in Regensburg. However I was slightly tricked. The park outside the edge of Regensburg directly me along the river rim and not the straight line to Regensburg so it did seem forever I was entering the city.
Regensburg was the first truly large city I had stayed in Germany this time around. And with larger cities comes the bus tours. The American bus tours were here in droves. The tour guide with their umbrellas and "follow me" sticks were out and about being followed by their less able bodied guests with the look of why can't we be sitting on a bus right now. Heck some of the most annoying were fully kitted out in full headsets without a distraction in the world that could remind them they were also in the middle of the walking footpath. Yelling at each other to make a comment. They'd even blindly look at me as if to not comprehend why a person pushing a bike was staring at them. Patience Chad patience I thought to myself. Let the cars sort them out.
Of note the partners of Radweg Reisen to my cycle tour Austria Radreisen finally sorted themselves out here (my booking seemed to straddle 2 partner ride tour companies). My welcome kit found me 3 days in after my sending some very concerned emails days before about not having maps, bag tags, or tickets for the Weltenberg ferry, and a museum in Ingolstadt. It had maps! Very detailed maps of where to ride, and where to turn off. And tickets tickets for the ferry. Very impressed. Would have been useful. Realisation was how the heck would a guest of less travel experience of survived without.
The day was doomed from the beginning. I left Ingolstadt early as I knew it was likely to rain. I will say the weather prediction did indicate it would be deteriorating throughout the day. I guess I refused to accept that this meant it was going from bad to worse. No sooner than I had been on the road for a bit the rain hit. My jacket wasn't build to withstand much rain. So it wasn't long before I was growing towards an acceptance that I was wet and would just have to put up with it. If I was back home considering a regular ride I would have cancelled. But here the backpack was going to the next destination. It was my task to meet it at the other end. And that meant taking the bike to the other end too.
I had ridden from point to point through numerous showers. The paths had been quite difficult most of the way with much of it gravel dirt levy banks along the river. The puddles I had ridden through were getting larger and larger. There was no where to hide. I would have stopped and attempted to dry out but it was getting worse and worse. And all I could think was I can get to the Abbey and dry out there. Alas by the time I made it to Weltenberg I looked like a drowned rat. And it was at this time I came across the ticket seller to the Abbey with a I'm on a smoking break look on her face and in her voice. She saw me arrive and in German indicated that the Abbey was closed. I perhaps should have tried in my broken German to enquire a bit more if the Abbey was actually open. It was just too convenient for her so say no whilst ripping the cigarette from the pack departing the ticket booth.
Convenience had her directing me to the ferry terminal around the corner. And hence with defeat upon my face I just accepted it wasn't my day and that I should continue on in search of warmth and a dry hotel room. To my defence in the rain it did look closed, and I had just seen a bus load of tourists leave the other way back to the carpark. When I made it around the corner I was confronted by a gaggle of German tourist who had just disembarked the tourist ferry I was now heading towards. Their direction was the ticket booth I had just been brushed off from, or perhaps back towards the carpark for a tour bus. I was unsure. Damn it I thought. Maybe it was open, and I was just too difficult to deal with being the only English tourist, and a drowned disheveled one at that. Never get in the way of a hardcore smoker and a cigarette it would seem.
But it was too late for me. I was a defeated man. Mentally I was already on that departing ferry about to leave. So without hesitation I was in line for a ticket. I will never know what the Abbey is like. I missed the opportunity to try the beer at the Abbey itself. The thought of a warm shower was much more compelling.
The support team at the start line in the morning weren't aware of the official race timetable, nor of any additional documentation available. The van driver was surprised I was asking about what was meant by the "red bag tags", and questioned if I had a map. After hearing of my verbal no he said he'd try and find one for me. It wasn't until later I learnt there was supposed to be a welcome pack of some sort with detail.
What wasn't lost on me though was the fact day one's itinerary of 65kms. As a casual cyclist I hadn't ridden more than 45kms in one ride. Realisation early on was that fact that equipment supplied wasn't like back home where I rode a thin wheeled road bike on bitumen roads. The bike here although rolling well was heavy set, had a pannier to hold stuff or take the balance out depending on your perspective, and a giant basket on the front which prevented the mounting the go pro as I had planned. Many of the roads outside of the major town stops would be on gravel paths through farm fields. Not just dedicated cycle paths.
By the time I hit Neuburg I was about 50kms into the ride. The situation had changed. There was a section where I had not seen a sign for about 3 kilometres. So I concluded that the path had taken me down a wrong way, or was missing a few signs. Joining back before Neuburg was a relief. It suggested even if I did lose a path I couldn't really go far wrong. Neuburg itself was quaint highlight. It was pretty, with a nice sized historical centre. The historical centre was all but empty as it was separated from the commercial centre. Tourist information staff were keen to point out that tour buses were yet at peak season levels.
After stopping for lunch I started my way out from Neuburg. I realised I might need to stop the Strava app from recording my "record ride" as I had seen my battery power drain fast due to the phone data issue. So of course this was where it was all starting to go pear shaped. About a kilometre out from Neuburg the weather came in. An afternoon storm front. Not too heavy but enough to raise concern if I didn't keep going. Especially as I had 20kms to go.
By the time I made it to Ingolstadt it was about 5pm. The weather was further deteriorating, although not yet raining. I was down to 3% battery power on the phone. Not good as it was my map, address recorder and photograph taker. The Gopro was already dead. I was a bit lost for a bit in the city centre without a map. However after a bit of backtracking removed myself out to the river where I was able to locate the correct bridge, and then follow my hand written directions to the hotel taken before the battery died. Thankfully I located my hotel. Unfortunately it was the least centrally located hotel of my tour. I was shattered but alive. A rest allowed recovery for a walk into town for dinner and photo tour. Day one was marked off. I was so tired.
