We ended up cycling with J2 in a heat wave, with hot sun and temps in the mid to upper 90s all week. We were careful to bring (and drink) plenty of water, stop for cold drinks frequently, take advantage of all the shade we could find, and in general take it easy--and start early in the morning to avoid biking during the hottest part of the day, in late afternoon. It worked. We all stayed healthy and happy.
Bike Route: see
The Danube Cycleway Volume 1 for the routes we followed on the Danube
Accommodations: Gastaette Wunsch, host Doris Lindner. A family room with two double beds and private bath in a guest house right on the trail about 3 miles before Gundelfingen. Included breakfast. The guest house has been in the family for several generations, and our host was welcoming and helpful. The room was on the top floor with big skylights, which meant it was very warm.
Busy morning. Ken and I returned the rental car and walked back to the pension while Meghan and Josh finished packing up and getting organized. Then Josh, Ken, and I headed out on the cycle path toward Gundelfingen, and Meghan hiked to the train station for her ride to the Black Forest, where she would spend the next three days. We would all meet up again later in the week in Regensburg.
Once we were out of Ulm, we had the cycle path to ourselves for stretches of time. We stopped for snacks and drinks several times, detoured into a town for lunch, and still made it to our guest house in time to go swimming in the lake across the road and bike to dinner at a family-run cafe about a mile away.
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| Josh entertained us--and himself--with funny photo compositions and jokes. |
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| It was hot. A few minutes after we took this photo, Josh complained of a headache. We stopped in the shade and gave him water. As he took off his helmet, he said maybe it was too tight. Sure enough, he had deep grooves in his forehead. So we loosened the helmet a bit, he rested a few minutes, and then we took off again. |
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| Castle viewed from the picnic table at our lunch stop. It is now a private home. |
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Biked 35 miles to Donauworthy
Accommodations: Pension Gertrude, host Eugen Mederle. A triple room on the lower level with shared bath and common room, and walk-out access to the back garden. Included breakfast. Josh was disappointed that the advertised "small pool" in the back garden was only the size of a small hot tub.
Our pension was up a steep hill about a mile from the center of old town. We hiked down to old town for dinner, explored the town until we found ice cream, and then hiked back up to bed.
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| Ken spotted a sign pointing to the Apollo Grannus Roman ruins just off the bike path in Faimingen. These are the largest Roman temple ruins discovered north of the Alps. They are tucked right behind a private home. Josh was glad we got to see them because Apollo is his favorite Roman god. |
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| Lunch was smoked salmon, local cheese, and fruit from the market stands in Lauingen. |
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| Ken and Josh foraged for snacks along the way. Here they are sharing berries from the bushes. |
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| Ken showed J2 how to make "gum" from wheat--a trick he learned as a kid. It didn't work so well. Maybe wheat has changed since Ken was a kid. Or maybe Ken has changed since he was a kid. Or maybe this wasn't wheat. |
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| We ordered traditional Swabian meals at a family-friendly tavern in old town and ate them inside, out of the sun. The food was good and we were hungry-we all three belonged to the clean plate club that night! |
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| The gate from one part of old town to another. |
Wednesday, 26 June 2019
Biked about 43 miles to Ingolstadt, including "bonus miles" for taking a couple of wrong turns
Accommodations: Hotel Adler in the main square. The hotel was nice and we had a big, comfortable room, but it faced the main square and was noisy. Good breakfast included.
Our longest day of cycling, and the hottest day of the week. We started early and stopped frequently--and had fun!
We had booked a variety of accommodations to give Josh a taste of everything. Unfortunately, our room here faced the main square, and the square was loud with partyers until well after midnight--and we couldn't close the windows because of the heat. So we were a little tired and crabby the next morning. (After several more stays at hotels on the main square in an old town, we learned to avoid them. They were almost always noisy.)
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| Frequent pea breaks... |
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| ...and playground breaks. |
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Biked about 35 miles to Kloster Weltenburg abbey, rode ferry to from the abbey to Kelheim, biked a few miles from ferry landing to pension
Accommodations: Pension Carlbauer, host Bernhard Frischeisen. Beautiful, quiet newer guest house on the edge of Kelheim. We had a large, cool triple room with private bath, breakfast included. The large guest house complex was surrounded by gardens, and cold drinks were available for a euro each in the common area.
We biked through several villages and acres of farmland. It was still very hot; we were all three getting a little tired, but still having fun. And looking forward to slightly cooler temps over the weekend.
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| A viking ship? |
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| It's all about the ice cream. Waiting for the ferry at Weltenburg abbey. |
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| We were happy to take a break from the sun and enjoy a cool ride down this beautiful part of the river. |
Friday, 28 June 2019
Biked 25 miles to Regensburg
Accommodations: Pension Holzgarten, an older hostel about a mile from old town. Included breakfast. We had two adjoining rooms and a shared bath. The neighborhood was quiet.
Another beautiful, hot day! We continue to cycle through farmland, villages, and small towns, spotting churches and castles along the way.
When we arrived in Regensburg, vendors were setting up for the town's annual folk festival, with music on every corner and food stands lining the streets and squares. We rode on through to our pension on the other edge of the town, checked in, showered, sent Meghan a text telling her we would meet her in front of the cathedral, and headed to town.
After a fun few days on her own in Bavaria, Meghan met up with us each night from Regensburg on. She traveled by train, we traveled by bike. We had some miscommunication the first night when she did not get our text about meeting up. After that, we left both electronic and paper messages for each other, and the rest of the week went smoothly.
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| The countryside is dotted with small villages, churches, and farms. |
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| J2's riding skills improved every day. By the end of the week, he was cautioning us about oncoming traffic and road hazards. |
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| We thought about hiking up to this monument, but we didn't. Cycling all day has been enough entertainment. |
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| Eating wurst at the Wurst Haus in Regensburg. |
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| Regensburg shopping street. |
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| The front of the cathedral--our meeting spot with Meghan. |
Saturday, 29 June 2019
Biked 32 miles to Straubing
Accommodations: Apartments am Spitalthor. Wonderful apartment built into the old city wall near the Spital Thor (hospital tower). Clean, quiet, and nicely renovated and decorated. We had two bedrooms, a kitchenette, and a large private bath.
Another day cycling through farm fields with castles and monasteries and villages along the way. Meghan had checked in before we reached the apartment, and waited for us in the park just outside the city gate that was steps from our apartment door.
Straubing is a medium-sized walled city with a huge open square. We enjoyed walking around town and eating dinner and ice cream. It doesn't take a lot to entertain us.
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| Josh took hundreds of awesome photos. I'm hoping to get copies of them soon! |
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| The towers and gates to the old town are well preserved in Straubing. |
Sunday, 30 June 2019
Biked 30 miles to Deggendorf
Accommodations: Hotel Donauf. Nice older hotel with older furnishings, clean and comfortable, breakfast included. We had two double rooms on separate floors. Unfortunately, the hotel was on a busy highway and our rooms were noisy, especially since we needed to keep the windows open because of the heat.
I had originally booked us into a trailside guest house in Boden for this night--not realizing that Boden is only about 7 miles from Straubing. That would have left us with about 60 miles to bike on Monday, which would not have been fun. We found rooms available in Deggendorf and booked them instead. Although the hotel we ended up in was a bit expensive and noisy, and Deggendorf is not especially charming, this was a good place to spend the night.
After checking in and showering, we walked to the main part of town and found a Vietnamese restaurant serving a buffet. We were just about done eating when Meghan arrived. We laughed about eating Asian food in Germany, but it was great food and fun to have all we could eat.
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| On the road again! Posing at the city gate just outside our apartment in Straubing before we leave for another day on the Danube cycle trail. |
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We looked forward to meeting up with Meghan each afternoon, and exploring a new town together in the evening.
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| From day 1, Josh loaded his own bike every morning and unloaded it every night. We were impressed with how independent he was! |
Monday, 1 July 2019
Biked 30 miles to Passau. Our last day of biking with J2!
Accommodations: Art Hotel, a hostel in old town. We had a large family room with our own bath down the hall. The building is very old and has a true hostel atmosphere. We were on the topfloor with plenty of big windows and a fan to cool things down a bit. The street was a little noisy in the evening but quieted down after 10.
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