28-30 August 2019

Regensburg to Deggendorf (28 August 2019, 90 km, 56 mi)

A few kilometers outside of Regensburg, we approached what appeared to be a Greek temple high on the ridge overlooking the Danube. What’s a Greek temple doing in Bavaria? It’s the Walhalla Monument, built by King Ludwig I as a kind of “hall of fame” of great Germans throughout history. The honorees are represented via 130 carved busts, arranged on shelves and pedestals inside the building. We didn’t bike up the hill to see the inside. The outside of the building was impressive enough.

We were excited to cross the 7,000 km mark today, and celebrated by picking a bouquet of wildflowers.

We’re always a bit nervous when we see detour signs. Most of the time, cyclists can go straight through, which is a huge relief. But once in a while, bikes have to go around, and you never know how long or complicated the detour will be. That’s the situation we encountered today in Bogen, Germany. A bridge across a small canal was completely closed, and we had to take the detour. Luckily, it added only one kilometer to the ride, with one, not-too-big hill. And the detour took us right back to the bike route. It definitely could have been worse.

When we reached the campground in Deggendorf, we discovered that it was essentially a tiny lawn, snuggled between a restaurant and the Danube. There were two other tents set up on the grass, and it was already starting to feel a bit crowded. But this was the only camping option along this section of the route, and it offered access to a clean bathroom and shower, so we picked a spot on the lawn and pitched our tent.

The section of the Danube that we’re riding now, between Regensberg, Germany and Vienna, Austria is one of the most popular biking routes in all of Europe. By the end of the evening, there were at least 12 other tents packed into that small area - all occupied by cyclists.

At the campground we met Wim, from Holland. He had biked down the Rhine to the Danube solo, and was planning to meet his wife over the coming weekend in Passau. He’s riding a recumbent bike, and we had fun talking with him about his equipment, and past rides he has done, including one he made from Holland to Rome. PedalingGuy even tried getting on Wim’s recumbent bike. He said it was so comfy, he’d be afraid of falling asleep while riding. Hmmm. That seems unlikely.

We walked into town thinking we would grab dinner at a Subway that was listed in Google maps, once again hoping to get free refills on drinks. But when we arrived at the location shown in Google, we couldn’t find the restaurant. It seemed like it had to be inside a building that was under construction. We went in three or four of the entrances for the building looking for the restaurant. But try as we might, we could not find the Subway. Foiled again.

It was time for Plan B. Literally. There was a restaurant across the street called “Plan B Burgers.” We went over and had special burgers for dinner, which were very satisfying. But as you might guess, we still were very thirsty. Luckily, there was a convenience store next door to the restaurant, where we were able to buy several bottled drinks each. That helped us get rehydrated without spending a fortune. 

Deggendorf to Passau (29 August 2019, 62 km, 38.5 mi)

We got out on the road nice and early this morning. For the first 25 km, we rode through the very southern edge of the Bavarian Forest. The route followed a gravel path that paralleled the main river levee, through a landscape of woodlots, agriculture, and wetlands.

We had some company along the trail today. Wim, who we had met at the campground in Deggendorf, rode part of the way with us. We passed the time talking about cycling and fun places to visit. We’ll be staying at the same campground again tonight, so there will be another chance to catch up with Wim at the end of the day.

About halfway through the ride, the route rose slowly up the side of a hill. It provided a panoramic view of the river, with the city of Vilshoven beyond. We stopped for a break on a bench facing the river, enjoying the view. 

As we approached Passau, we rode across the river on a bridge that was part of a giant hydroelectric dam. The dam had great big locks, so that cargo barges and other ships could pass the dam on their way to-and-from Passau. Just as we were crossing, we were fortunate to see a big barge passing through. We watched as the barge was lowered to the level of the downstream river, the hefty lock doors swung open, and the big barge floated away towards Passau - sailing right under our feet. It was fun to have a bird’s eye view of the process.

Our campground is right next to the Ilz River, one of the three rivers that come together at Passau (with the Danube and the Inn Rivers). The sound of water dancing over some little riffles in the nearby stream provides a kind of background music at the campground, and it’s very relaxing.

The other unmissable feature of the campground is the resident flock of mallard ducks. There were nine of them, and they were all very comfortable around people. They wandered around the lawn between the tents, hoping for handouts from the campers. They were so tame, Wim was able to pick one up, and it didn’t protest at all. That made for a great photo.

Arriving early was great, because we had plenty of time to walk into Passau for the afternoon. It’s a beautiful city, oozing baroque style. We visited the Rathaus Square, saw a few of the churches, and explored some of the alleyways through the old part of the city. There were an impressive number of river cruise ships docked at the riverfront - we counted at least six. It seems that the boat ride from Passau to Vienna (or to Budapest for longer trips) is one of the most popular river cruises in the world, beat only by cruises on the Amazon and the Nile.

We had dinner in an open-air beer garden in the Rathaus Square. We decided that since this would be our last night in Germany, we’d get traditional food for dinner. I had a pork roast with beer sauce and dumplings. PedalingGuy had roast beef with horseradish sauce, and we shared a gold-medal award-wining beer. Everything was delicious.

After dinner we walked over to the confluence of the Inn and Danube Rivers. The Inn River is almost as big as the Danube when they join. But it has a milky color, gained from glacial meltwater flowing out of the Alps. The Danube continues to be a very muddy, brownish-green. The water from the two rivers flows side-by-side for quite a way before mixing, and you can see the two colors of water flowing away from the point where they meet. 

Passau, Germany to Feldkirchen an der Donau, Austria (30 August 2019, 79.5 km, 49.4 mi)

It was another busy night at a campground along the Danube River. By the end of the evening, more than 20 other tents had been pitched on the grass, all inhabited by cyclists. Fortunately, the lawn at this campground was pretty big, so it didn’t feel crowded. But there sure are a lot of other cyclists on this section of the route. It’s pretty impressive.

Within 15 minutes of hitting the road, we arrived at the Austrian border. Much to our delight, they had an EU Austria sign along the road. So, this time, we got a proper photo at the border crossing.

As soon as we crossed the covered bridge, we had our first encounter of what would turn out to be a very social day. Vernon and Sharon from Perth, Australia, had stopped to take a photo of the same covered bridge. First, they asked if we speak English. Why, yes, we do! Then they asked us if we were headed to Hungary. As a matter of fact, we were.

It turned out that they had some Hungarian forints left over, and they hadn’t been able to change them to another currency once they left Hungary. They were hoping we would swap some Euros for their forints. We made the exchange, and talked for a long time. They gave us some insights about traveling by bike in Romania, like the need to buy water (good tap water is not easily available), and that lodging options aren’t great (they mostly wild camped). We were pleased to hear that they thought the roads were good, with decent surfaces and not too much traffic. We’ve been spoiled by traveling through much of Western Europe on dedicated bike paths.

Not long after our visit with the Aussies, we were flagged down by four Germans that needed a tire pump. Dieter, Michel, Ulla and Anka had a pump with a Schrader valve, but the flat tire had a Presta valve. We helped them pump up the tire, and they were grateful. They were just getting started on their trip from Passau to Vienna, and everyone was in good spirits.

Near Jochenstein, Austria, we passed the Rock of Isa, sister of the mermaid Lorelei of the Rhine. Legend says that Isa would rise from the water at night, to warn sailors of dangers like fog that lie ahead. But she’d also sing a siren’s song. And any sailor who followed her would become her prisoner. These days, a small chapel sits out on the rock, ensuring that Isa’s tricks are kept at bay.

Following the Danube River gets complicated on this stretch, including three ferry crossings today. The first ferry was the shortest, going straight across the river. It looked like we could have just biked across the nearby dam, but the official route took the ferry. On the boat, we met a German guy who was biking from Passau to Vienna in two days. That’s 315 km in two days, or 157.5 km/day (98 miles/day). Unlike us, he was traveling very light, on a fast bike. It makes a big difference.

The second ferry was the longest. It took us through a narrow, wooded gorge that doesn’t have a bike path. On the ferry with us was Audrey from Nantes, France. We had seen her earlier at the campground in Neustadt, but hadn’t met her then. She is riding from Nevers, France, to either Budapest or Bratislava - depending on how far she can get in the time she has available. She was going to try to ride another 10-20 km farther than us today. 

After getting off the second ferry, we continued meeting interesting people. Norbert from Germany was riding solo from Passau to Vienna, staying in hotels. He’s almost 70 years old, and has done a lot of bike touring, but says he doesn’t like sleeping out in tents anymore. He had previously lived in Austria for five years, so we asked him what we should do in Vienna. His main recommendation was to “drink the wine!” He also gave us a suggestion for a restaurant that serves huge portions of schnitzel. That sounded like great advice. We wrote it down, and definitely plan to go there if we can find it.

The ride between the second and third ferries, through the gorge between the mountain ranges, was beautiful. The Danube is still a milky color here, caused by the glacial silt brought in by the Inn River. And there are lots, and lots of swans, giving the river a lovely elegance.

When we got to the third ferry, we waited around for about half an hour before we decided that it might be wise to put some serious effort into translating the information on the signs at the ferry stop. That’s when we figured out that we needed to push a call button to call the ferry. No wonder it hadn’t shown up. We pushed the button, called the ferry, and the captain said he’d arrive in 5 minutes. That would have been a good idea to do sooner.

Just as we were about to board, Audrey from France arrived. Her luck was pretty good. She boarded with us, and didn’t have to wait.

Each ferry slowed us down a bit, so we arrived at the campground in Feldkirchen pretty late in the afternoon - around 5:00 or so. The regular tent camping area was already full, so the campground receptionist told us to camp at the far end of the property, in the camp’s playground. She said that kids hardly ever use the playground. That was fine by us, because we thought it might be quieter. But some particularly noisy kids showed up and played until well after dark. Win some and lose some, when it comes to campgrounds.

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