Wet on the way to Weltenberg

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.