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Thursday, August 15th - Sandbach to Linz, Austria, 8798 km
I eat breakfast in the hotel. It is a little more substantial than my breakfast in Regensburg but I will be stopping to buy groceries in Passau anyway. I have another good start, around 9:15 am. It's another great day. The air is still fresh and cool. The scenery has improved too as the hills on either side grow higher, but there are no hills on the cycling path because the valley floor stays flat. I am in a fine mood.
I arrive in Passau around 10:30 while the day is still young. Again it is on the south side so I cross the bridge to get into town. Passau feels more alive that Regensburg or Straubing, but maybe it's just me. I am excited because I am only a few kilometres away from the Austrian border. I do my grocery shopping, take a few pictures and I am on the path again shortly after 11.
There are many more cyclists on the path today than there were yesterday. They ride in pairs or small, disorganized flocks that are sometimes a bit tricky to get around as they weave from side to side on the path. They are mostly going downstream, from west to east, as I am.
In fact, I am noticing that a significant number of tourists on the Danube are traveling by bicycle, perhaps the majority. It makes sense. In Canada, one hears about the Loire Valley as a preferred destination and nothing about the Danube, but the Loire is spread out, less scenic and the chateaus expensive to get into. The Danube is many times more enjoyable.
I am staring across the river at Austria. The path continues on the north side of the river, which belongs to Germany, for at least another 25 km. The north side has become a cliff rising sharply above me, while the south side is also hilly but less steep. I love the scenery.
Eventually, the north side of the valley becomes a shear cliff that drops to the water, leaving no space for a path at its base. This is also where the river ceases to be the boundary and both sides become Austrian. A small ferry shuttles riders and their bikes across to the south side where the path continues. The ferry ride, with its loading and unloading, is both a fun experience and a short rest.
From this point on the south side, the valley becomes a canyon with steep 200 m sides. For another hour it is quite straight, and then it begins to loop back and forth in dramatic S-curves at the deepest point of the canyon. By mid-afternoon, the canyon disappears and I arrive in Aschach, a town on the south side where I seek out some juice to give me more energy.
The path continues along the south side through a wide expanse of valley for the next hour. The hills close in again for the last half hour before I arrive in Linz, the childhood home town of Adolf Hitler and Adolf Eichmann. It is nearly five o'clock when I arrive. This will be the biggest town I'll see on the Danube until I get to Vienna. It has a tourist information office in the main square and a youth hostel with available space, so I stop for the night. I have covered 125 km today and that is enough.
The hostel is quite busy as this is still summer. I eat there and chat briefly with a couple of guys from Mexico who are staying in the same dorm room. Why are there so many travelers from Canada, they ask me. We just like to see the world, I laugh.
I walk through the streets of the town to find the main square and find an Italian restaurant for a pasta dinner. Afterwards, I search out the sole gay bar listed in Spartacus. Its name is Blue Heaven Bar. It isn't large, perhaps the size a large apartment. There are only a dozen or so men inside. I say hi to a couple of them but they either nod and look away or pretend they don't hear. I assume they do not speak English or prefer not to try.
I make the occasional effort to speak to others as the evening wears on and eventually I strike a conversation with two fellows, Gero and Steffen, who are locals. Gero is a curly-haired blond with an eager, open face. He wants to know what it is like to travel by bicycle and if I get any injuries. I ask if he is an athlete himself, as they are questions an athlete would ask, and he says he has played a little football. Steffen is taller, quieter and shier. He is more interested in Canada than my trip. I enjoy their company, if only to have someone to talk with. They ask if I can meet them for breakfast tomorrow around 10, but that is a bit late to start my day.
I cannot talk with them as long as I would like either, because I need to go to bed early. Tomorrow will be my third long day in a row. I sneak back into my dorm room as quietly as possible as the lights are already off when I return. The Mexicans are stirring so I don't think they're asleep yet. I regret not being able to chat with them longer too. One is a dancer and quite cute, but life on a bicycle rolls right along.
PHOTO 1: crossing the bridge into Passau
PHOTO 2: waiting for the bike ferry
PHOTO 3: the bike ferry on the Danube Radweg
PHOTO 4: Burg Kraempelstein on south bank of the canyon
PHOTO 5: the Danube Canyon
PHOTO 6: town of Aschach on the south bank
PHOTO 7: Neuberg Schloss before Linz
PHOTO 8: Linz, main platz
PHOTO 9: courtyard off the street near the hostel
PHOTO 10: Linz street near sunset
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