Day 1 – Donaueshingen to Knopfmacherfels

Beautiful day, lots of open fields to start with, but became more scenic near the end of the ride. Just before the campsite there was a wicked uphill which we ended pushing the bikes up.

Finally found the campsite around 5:30pm which was basically a paddock, although they did have flush toilets and a shower. It was full of school kids doing a cycling trip and a climbing trip, so we didn’t get to use the shower. I had a swim in the freezing cold stream instead. Lots of screaming happened here.

Had chow mein for dinner. Had a reasonably peaceful nights sleep apart from waking up every hour or so to blow up my thermarest. Damn thing kept going flat.

Day 2 – Knopfmacherfels to Sigmaringen

Distance Ridden: 33 kms

TimeTaken: 5 hours

Had rice for breakfast and headed off about 10am. Very sore bum today. Stopped off at a lovely spot by the river to eat some rolls and meats we had bought. Watched kids go down the river in their kayaks, thinking I’d like to do that.

Relatively short ride today. Made it to the camping ground about 3pm. They only had camping sites next to the pub as the kayaking school took up the rest of the campground.

Went to the pub for a beer and watched it chuck it down with rain. Saw a few sorry people coming into the camp ground totally drenched.

After dinner we got chatting to two unrelated couples of dutch people. They had cycled all the was from Holland. 900 kms so far for them and they were heading to Italy.

Found lotsa holes in my thermarest so patched it up. Damn thing still went flat during the night.

Day 3 – Sigmaringen to Munderkingen

Distance Ridden: 60 kms

Hot day across open plains in full sun. A lot less hills so more ground covered. Felt a lot better today.

Had a thunderstorm around 1pm which we sat out under the shelter of trees. Once the rain eased we continued on until we reached a big arsed hill, which neither of us could ride up. I even struggled to push my bike up, my heart rate going over 160bpm (thx to my polar heart rate monitor).

I had to stop at the top for a breather, and just as well too as the raim came outta the middle of nowhere. Luckily there was a shop and shelter so we sat out the storm for 1.5 hours. A well welcomed rest for me.

Once the rain had settled to a mere drizzle, we put on our wet weather gear and continued on. In the near vicinity of the campsite we were greeted my a strange man on a pushbike who escorted us to a paddock and charged us 10 euro to camp the night!

The paddock had a stand alone shower and toilet. Very clean and lovely hot water. Had another go at repairing my thermorest but still no go.

Walked into town and found a festival happening. (country and truck festival). There was a big marquee with a brass band and lots of prosting going on. Had  a beer in a big fookoff beer mug.

A nutcase creepy guy with no shirt on walked in and helped himself to beer and was opening them with his teeth. Walked back to camp (watching over our shoulder for nutcase creepy guy).

Had a peaceful nights sleep (yet again on the hard ground due to holy thermarest)

Day 4 – Munderkingen to Blaubeuren

Distance: 54 kms

Late start again today. Mike got up at 7am and I took the opportunity to get more sleep on his comfy (non-holey) thermarest.

Woke up feeling very BLAH and really needed coffee. Went into Munderkingen and bought fresh rolls and meat but couldn’t find coffee anywhere!

Found a dodgy pub with dodgy coffee, but caffeine is caffeine and I felt a shite load better for it!

Another nice day of riding. Took the alternate route up to Blaubeuren. A lovely town with a big sink hole. Tried to find the campsite but couldn’t so asked the locals. They said nein campingplatz here. So on closer inspection on the map, the campsite symbol looked very much like the danger symbol on the map. Damn!

We rode back to a closed hostel we past earlier. The girl next to the hostel said we could camp on the hostel lawns and offered to let us use her shower and toilet.

So we set up camp next to a little river. We did some washing in the river and hung it out to dry. We were just about to head back into town for dinner when the owners turned up and told us we werent allowed to camp there. They were celebrating a 60^th birthday party in the hostel that night, but they offered to put us up anyway.

So we pulled down our camp, dumped our stuff in the room, then rode off into town for dinner. We found the only place which seemed open for dinner and got chatting to a couple of locals. Well almost local. She was from birmingham and he was from East germany, but they live here. They joined us for a few biers and had a really good laugh. These were the only english speaking people we had met so far.

Had steak and spatzle for dinner. Then pissed, we tried to ride back to the hostel on our bikes in the pitch black. Was really scary but made it back ok. Had a restless nights sleep in a real bed. Think I prefer the hard ground.

Day 5 – Blaubeuren to Gunzburg

Distance: 50 kms

Slept in till about 9am. Extremely hot this morning. Got really sunburnt yesterday so put on covering clothes today.

Slow start due to sore bum. Missed turn off for track so ended up riding on the main roads into town.

Stopped at gasthof for coffee, but had coke instead as it was sooooo hot. It is Sunday today and everything is closed.

Got to Ulm and found a few shops open in the hauptbahnhof (train station). Got rolls, meat, apples and water for our lunch. We found a lovely spot by the river to sit down and eat our lunch.

After lunch we had a look around Ulm. Nice city.

Back on our bikes we contined on. It seemed an extremely hard slog this afternoon. The heat and the sore bum were really getting to me. Very slow going to the next campsite, but finally found it and it was very nice.

Set up camp, had showers and felt 100% better. Had a beer and felt 200% better.

Had dinner in a lovely garden bar close to our camp. Had a huge meat platter which neither of us could finish. Beef, pork, chicken, bacon, onion rings, salad, chips and spatzle. Yum!

Day 6 – Gunzberg to Dillingen

Distance Travelled: 38kms

HOT day.

Lovely hot day for riding. Found a campsite in Dillingen right beside the river. Got a coupla beers from the bottle shop which we drank while cooking dinner. Had a vesta curry and rice.Really yummmmmy. Went to bar for more beer. Had an early night and it started to really chuck it down with rain during the night.

Day 7 – Dillingen

Distance: 0km – rained all day.

No riding today. Was too wet to pack up and leave so decided to stay another night. Went to the town and had a good look around. Got my legs and underarms waxed. Had thai curry for lunch – was awful.

Had dinner at a restaurant. We both had beef goulash and spatzle. YUM!

Early night.  Hope it stops raining soon. Don’t wanna get trapped here for another day.

Day 8 – Dillengen to Neuburg

Distance: 83kms

Got up early to pack up before rain started again. Got away at 8.30am and were making excellent progess until we got to donauworth. An old guy stopped to tell us we were going the wrong way. Mike decided he was just a confused old git and decided we should continue in this direction. Turns out mike was the stupid git. We were in Nordheim, not Donauworth!

Had to backtrack a coupla times but got there in the end. 1.5 hours wasted and an extra 10kms ridden.

Stopped in Donauworth for lunch. Nice town. Continued on after lunch and had to stop yet again for another thunderstorm to pass.

We finally limped into neuburg 83 kms later.

Neuburg is a lovely little town. We watch the sparring in the river.

Day 9 – Neuburg to Vohburg

Distance: 51kms

More frigging rain! Another stop/start day. Late start due to rain. Didn’t get packed up until 12.30pm. Had a lovely brekky in Neuburg. Lets than 10 euro for the 2 of us. It was also a free nights camping as no one asked us for money.

Had to sit out another couple of rain storms today.We stopped in Ingolstadt for a coffee and sat out the rain for a bit.

Left Ingolstadt and headed along a dirt track which just got muddier and muddier. We had to stop and sit out yet another thunderstorm. At this stage I was busting for the loo, so squatted in the stinging nettles! OUCH!

We got stuck further along the track due to repairs being carried out to the track. Damn. But on the plus side we managed to find an alternate route on tarmac. Yay!

Detoured up to menning to try a guest house there, Very very weird. There were men sitting around making no sound. Guy could not speak english. The whole environment was too weird, so we got the frog outta there and pressed on to Vohburg.

Campsite in Vohburg was very basic so we paid 57 euro to stay in a nice guesthouse. Had pork with champignons and spatzle for tea. Best meal yet! Had a coupla really large beers and went to sleep on the most comfy bed ever! Sure as hell beat my mat going flat.

Day 10 – Vohburg to Kapfelberg

Distance: 43 kms

Shitty day, lots of rain on and off. Seemed to stop and start all day, so very slow going.

Staying in a little cabin tonight as we don’t want the hassle of wet tent.

Day 11 – Kapfelberg to Regensburg

Distance: 28 kms

Short ride today. Rain getting to us so we decided on a rest day. Got to Regensburg about lunchtime but decided it was too wet to camp. We found a hotel in town for 72 euro including breakfast. We sat outside the Dom under the shelter of umbrellas and drank beer. Had an early night.

Day 12 - Regensburg to Deggendorf

Distance: 91.4

Long days ride today. Left Regensburg around 10am. Very boring days ride, but at least it didn’t rain. It was overcast and cool, perfect bike riding weather.

Got into Deggendorf around 5ish. Set up camp then went to the biergarten for beer and food. There was a festival on so we went to check it out. There was a great band playing beside the river so we sat and drank beer and listened to the music.

Back at then tent for sleep about 11.30

Day 13 – Deggendorf to Passau

Distance: 58 kms

Shorter ride today. My quads are really hurting so took it slow. Nice ride, very scenic beside the river.Stopped for lunch at a riverside pub. Had currywurst and chips.

In Passau now waiting for mike to cook dinner. Pasta.

Day 14 – Passau

Rest day today. Had a look around Passau. Found the internet at last, first time since we been here!

Bought and umbrella hoping to ward off the rain. Magnificent hot day.

Walked up a million steps to the Oberhaus. Well worth it for the view.

Cooked up some spaghetti, mushrooms,zuchinni, speck and garlic for dinner. YUM!

Day 15 – Passau to Linz

Distance: 92 kms

Long days ride today. Started out at 8:15am. Was a really nice ride. We had to do a couple of river crossings on the ferry. Found a quiet little campsite after about 77 kms of riding and was only 2.50 euro for the night! Bargain!

We went to put up our tent when another poxy thunderstorm came through. It absolutely chucked it down! So we postponed pitching until it stopped. Was about an hour before the rain actually stopped.

Meanwhile a car load of thugs rocked up and we decided we would ride the extra 13 kms to Linz. Lucky we hadnt paid already!

On the ride to Linz we missed the turnoff for the other side of the river. So we ended up riding the long way on a very busy but narrow main road! It was wet and very very scary. It looked like we were riding downhill, but it was such a struggle and very very slow. An optical illusion I think.

We finally arrived in Linz, fatigued and grumpy, and we couldn’t find the frigging campsite!

So we ended up staying in a hotel for 72 euro. It was very comfy and included breakfast. Internet here was also free so a bonus.

Had a yummy yummy dinner and we also had a menu in english for the first time since we left england. Luxury!

I had pork with mushroom sauce and rice. Really yummy.

Had an early night and slept well.

Day 16 – Linz to Grein

Distance: 62 kms

Slept in today. Had breakfast and finally checked out about 10:30am.

Walked our bikes thru town. Had a look in the Dom. Creepy organ music playing here.

Got back onto the bike trail about midday. We stopped off at matthausen concentration camps. We had to push our bikes up a big arsed hill for about 1 km.

The concentration camps were really creepy. We both got creepy vibes there and there were certain places we couldn’t go. Wish we hadnt come here.

Anyway we had a great coast back down the huge hill we walked up. We stopped in matthausen for some lunch. Cold goulash soup and stale sandwich. CRAP!!!!

We are now in Grein at a nice camp ground by a lake. Theres a band playing so we may go watch shortly.

Day 17 – Grein to Durnstein

Distance: 74.79

Lovely ride leaving Grien. We crossed over the river and had a fantastic view of grein from the other side. Lovely ride, very enjoyable.

We stopped off for lunch by the river. Had a roll, some speck and some grapes.

Very hot today , but lovely. We saw some old age kayakers on the river with their umbrellas up. Looked funny.

We got into Durnstein about 5ish. We found a nice camping spot by the river with a little beach and lovely view of the castle. The campground here was really full and I can see why. The facilities are excellent and free.

Some BMW riders rocked in and put their tents up next to ours and they snored loud all night. Very sleepless night.

Day 18 – durnstein to Klosterneuburg

Distance: 72 kms

My bum was in extreme agony today, so it was a long ride. Quite  a boring ride too. Not very scenic and was slow going on the tarmac. Seemed to take forever to get to camp. The camping ground was chockers, but they found room for us. Its only 10 kms to Vienna by train, so we will pop in tomorrow and have a look.

Day 19 – Klosterneuburn

Another rest day.

Hopped on a train and went into Vienna.

It was a Sunday and it took us forever to find the Doms. We had to ask for directions in the end.

There was a church service happening in the Dom. It was an anglican service even, so we went to church.

There was a choir and a vicar who spoke in english (in fact he WAS english) so that was quite nice.

After church we continued on and looked at all the old buildings. We found a film festival with jazz, beer and foods from all over the world. I had HefeweiBen and some traditional Austrian food. We sat and ate under an umbrella while it chucked it down.

After eating and drinking we continued on walking, struggling with every step as my quads had seized up.

Got back to camp about 5ish. We couldn’t be arsed cooking so we went into town for some goulash.

After dinner we walked up the stairs to the Dom. There looked to be some opera happening as people were all dressed up in black tie attire. There was a priest so we figured it was a wedding and we were probably gate crashing.

Day 20 – Vienna

Distance: 15 kms

Today we leave. We cycled into Vienna to the Westbahnhof and hopped on the train back to where we started. Donaushingen.