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Day 6: Regensburg to Deggendorf

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Today was surprisingly ok. Much cooler than the last few days and an easy 90km. Exiting Regensburg through the medieval gate The Chin Chin hotel was absolutely superb. Staying in the centre of the city did involve some crazies going mad outside our window at 2am but that’s the cost of being cool I guess. Breakfast was served sitting outside the hotel on the street watching the world go by. There’s a vaguely Parisian vibe to Regensburg. Don’t tell the French… And what a breakfast it was. I know you come to the blog for the stories of cycling and close shaves with lorries and heat death but this is a breakfast. No room in the picture for the basket of bread products either. As we rolled away from the Chin Chin — gently burping cheese and ham — we were sorry to say goodbye to Regensburg. It was surprisingly fantastic. Although it is tempting to think “we must come back”, it’s also important to be realistic. Part of the fun/joy of thes...
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Day 5: Bad Gögging to Regensburg

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A shorter and somewhat less hot day although the eternal truism is that 20km to go feels like 20km to go whether or not you’ve done 40km so far or 80km so far. The Danube is getting more serious about being a proper river now. Once again we were up at 6am, powering through the morning news on our phones and down at breakfast at 7am. The absolutely gigantic  dining room was already stuffed with older guests getting the highest possible money’s worth out of the extensive buffet. It was still a “stamp it out in a factory producing four star breakfasts” fare but on an industrial scale. While Dr T paid our ludicrously small bill for vats of wine and food last night, I descended into the depths of Mordor to retrieve and wash the bikes. Hot, smelly and dank. I felt sorry for our bikes. Back out in the entrance road to the hotel, we loaded the bikes and girded ourselves to get going. Next door to the entrance road is the pool, surrounded by loungers. A...
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Day 4: Donauwörth to Bad Gögging

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There was a lot of punishing grinding along gravel tracks in 41C heat today. Some really lovely towns and a lot of peach iced tea. Dusty, baking hot and a long way to go. A dream holiday… The Park Hotel in Donauwörth had air conditioning and a balcony and so while we slept reasonably well, our washed bike kit could dry in the night time heat. Breakfast was once again a “stamp it out of the machine which makes four star German breakfasts” affair. The coffee machine was strangely gated behind the bar and when I asked for my third coffee I received a skeptical raised eyebrow from the waitress. I was probably eating into their profit margin by having surplus coffees beyond the regulation amount. After managing to pack the bikes without getting smeared with the increasingly filthy combination of oil and dust which is caking the drivetrain of the bikes, we set off at 7:50 and we whizzed down the hill that we had so painfully walked up at the end of yesterday. ...
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Day 3: Ulm to Donauwörth

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Although some nifty navigation knocked 5km off the route today, it was a hard day with temperatures nearly reaching 40C. The day started early with an excellent breakfast at the Hotel Goldenes Rad. And then we were on the cycle paths along the side of the Danube in the cool morning breezes. This would not last. The Danube has got a lot bigger all of a sudden. Actually, that wasn’t the first thing we did. The first thing we did was pack the bikes and oil the chains and once again, I got a chain tattoo before we’d even started. Nobody wants this as the link photo of the blog… More washing to do at the end of the day. One would think that after over 60 days of doing this, I would learn to stand on the other side of the bike when I’m packing the bean… The paths were beautiful and soon we started seeing these navigation signs. The distance to the mouth of the Danube These only started appearing as the Danube becam...
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