Epilogue, Vienna to Home

Well, the flight was a little late taking off but not too bad arriving LHR.  The surprise was that it was T3. This meant that there was quite a transfer for us to T5.  We had to wait before getting into the lounge, but we got in after 15 mins and grabbed a free lunch before heading to gate.  And so we arrived in Aberdeen, in pouring rain. Unfortunately the bikes and bag didn't!! It has to be said we were more than a little miffed about this, and it took a while to report the missing items and get them registered. More concerning was that BA recognised that one bag hasn't made it, but had no info on the other 2 (presumably the bikes). Were they still in Vienna?  We got a lift home with Duncan and Brenda (thanks guys for waiting so patiently) and the following morning our worries evaporated as a courier turned up at the front door with all the missing items. Phew! I guess they didn't make the T3-T5 transfer.  So now the holiday is over and there's catch-up to play.  Bikes are unwrapped and awaiting cleaning and servicing (& fixing Anne's gears!). Only apparent damage on the return flight is the broken pinger on Anne's bell. I can live with that.

Total distance: 740 miles.

Day 23/24, to airport and home.

We checked out of the YH, remembering to retrieve our SYHA cards and entered the fray that was Vienna morning traffic. There was no hurry so we stopped by the Naschmarkt for a wander round and a coffee before leaving the city by way of the Donaukanal cycle track. This was pretty easy to follow: just keep the canal on your left and the smell of drains in your nostrils (and the motorway to Bratislava on your right for a bit of the way). When it left the canal, the path was signed to the airport and meandered through a pretty nature park where we stopped for a poppyseed cake bought earlier at the market. The cycle track continued right into the airport and we arrived at the hotel grateful for a bit of air conditioned luxury. We even paid an upgrade for an early check-in, which is a bit of a cheek as the room was waiting anyway. So we didn't feel guilty about liberating the toiletries from their imprisonment in the hotel. The next 3 hours were spent packing and wrapping the bikes (including 15 minutes attempting to stem the blood flow from the tip of my LH ring finger which fell prey to my penknife blade!). A recce of the route and distance to departures, followed by a shower and change, and we were ready for a drink and tea. Then came the chore of repacking bags for the flight. 

Distance 15 miles. 

We didn't take breakfast at the hotel the next morning, but carried the bikes and bags straight over to check-in. Hoping desk would open 3 hours before flight, we rocked up 3.1/2 hours before. It didn't. We stood for the best part of 2 hours at the front of the queue before finally being processed. After the usual tyre pressure discussion with associated physics lesson,  the issue was delegated to the guy on oversize baggage. He didn't give a stuff, so long as he could ram the bikes through the scanner. Then it was breakfast in lounge and, when the noise from the  Israelis who surrounded us became insufferable, we headed to the gate. So here's a lesson learned: when you are being bussed to the aircraft, try to be around the last ones on the bus. That way you're the first off and into the cool of the aircraft. Flight delayed, so we'll see how the rest of the journey pans out. 

Day 22, Vienna

No riding today ... a day off?  Didn't really get to sleep until the youth in the Youth Hostel piped down around 01:30.  Such is the penalty of having a room that has windows opening onto the courtyard but, hey-ho, this is a Youth Hostel.  It is pretty cheap for Vienna, and as I write this, Anne points out that if we were in some fancy hotel downtown we'd be paying 3x as much and wouldn't have the advantage of sitting in the courtyard ourselves this evening - And wouldn't have hassle-free bike storage.  But as I write this, thunder is again rolling so it looks as if we may have to retreat!! 

We have retreated. The day was spent getting the U-Bahn to Schonbrunn Palace, a mega-impressive place to visit with associated attractions, and gardens.  A great place to wander round so we bought the combined ticket that included the guided tour in English, and lingered long.  It was sooo hot again that we meandered around looking for shade as far as possible.  We returned by U-Bahn to the centre and had a walk around the Stadt Park, then U-Bahn and walked back to YH.  After a shower and change we found an excellent Croatian restaurant a stones throw from the hostel and had an amazing fish platter for 2, with Croatian wine.  A fitting end to the day.  As the clouds blackened we postponed coffee and headed back to the hostel.  The room is again meltingly hot, so it'll be another wet hanky assisted sleep tonight.  Bring on the thunder, but clear it by tomorrow please, when we cycle out to our final accommodation at the airport hotel.  

16,777 steps, according to my VivoSmart, equating to 15.3 km and 29 flights of stairs climbed (and burning 3150 kCal!)

Day 21, Tulln to Vienna

Well it was another hot one. Breakfast was taken outside as it wasn't even going to start cool! So this is the last day to Vienna (except for the final ride out to the airport on Thursday). It was just a smooth fast run along busy cycle ways through the dormitory town of Klosterneuburg where we diverted for coffee and cake. Then it was on to the suburbs of Vienna. We were passed again by a Dutch couple with their two young children: he with a ~2.1/2 year old on a rear cycle seat and pulling a Thule trailer-buggy with a ~9 month old inside; she lugging two massive panniers and the rest of their combined gear in a one-wheel trailer. Respect!  We found the Bauhaus store on the run in to town (B&Q equivalent) and purchased the pipe lagging needed for wrapping the bikes for the return flight then made our way to the YH and checked in. After a shower we headed off into the heat to ogle all the magnificent buildings that Vienna has on show. Boy was it busy and hot. I think it will be another wet handkerchief cooler job tonight. 

26.1 miles at 10.3 mph avg.  2 hrs 31 mins to ascend just 90m. 

Gotta admire that!

Cyclist are legitimate road users too ... get the message?

Ready to wrap. 

Opera House

Hofburg Palace

St Stephan's cathedral

Day 20, Krems to Tulln

The rain had continued off-and-on overnight, and was still on when we awoke.  Happily, by the time we wandered over for breakfast it was off, and so it remained all day.  We feasted well, wandered over to a nearby cycle shop for a nosey round, then headed back to the room to pack and load up.  The stream outside the gasthof roared with thick brown water from the night's rain, and puddles littered the cycle track.  We slalomed off dodging huge brown slugs and massive snails that were slithering across the tarmac until reaching a confusing bridge on the outskirts of town that eventually delivered us to the RH bank and took us through, or rather alongside, extensive forest park.  It was very very humid.  The leaves dripped, the meadow flowers were bowed over with dew, and mist emanated from the woods. On we sped looking fruitlessly for a coffee stop, but encountering nothing but dams and power stations, and forest.  Eventually the village of Zwentendorf was reached and we detoured in to find the entire place closed.  It was Monday. Beware all of you tempted to visit Austria on a Monday.  It closes! I was getting increasingly irritated by all the signs that keep telling you that a place is coming up in 3 or 5 or 8km, that sells coffee, cake, dumplings, hot food, but which never tell you opening hours, or days.  Sooo many places have been passed that are closed, and not just on a Monday.  So, some snack food from our panniers was consumed instead whilst sitting on seats on the edge of the village.  A poor compromise. And here's another thing that is starting to irritate:  Anne was starting to get embarrassed by my counting out all the clinker in my wallet to handover exact money in cafes.  So I started to handover the nearest amount in excess of the bill.  The waiter then assumes I don't want change and walks off with the lot!  I got wise to this pretty quickly so started handing over notes way in excess of the bill.  This does however mean I end up with a lot of change ... which I shall start counting out exactly!!  This afternoon we had two tiny coffees and were billed the most yet for such fare: €6.40. I handed over a €10 note and the waitress took it, kept her money pouch tightly shut and looked at me enquiringly "bitte?".  In your dreams!!!  You think you're getting a three quid tip for serving us two piddling, overpriced coffees?  I took the change.  I do not have 'sucker' tattooed on my forehead!  

We eventually rolled into Tulln (leap frogging our Dutch couple again!) checked in, showered, and wandered out for a beer and an explore.  Dinner followed later and was well received as we'd not eaten properly all day. Anne was shocked with the double schnitzel she received forcing me to help her out at the expense of not finishing my meal.  Still, it does mean I've a massive bratwurst foil-wrapped for a snack tomorrow.

29.4 miles at 11.3 mph avg.  2 hrs 36 min to ascend a monumental 55m!

Day 19, Melk to Krems

Thank you Rob & Karen for an excellent tip from your Australian days: the only way I got to sleep in the heat of the room last night was to drape a large handkerchief, soaked in cold water, over my chest.  And when the school kids staying in the hostel had a midnight rumpus, it was recharged and worked perfectly again!  By the early hours we could here the rain pounding down and things were cooler.  After breakfast we realised the futility of waiting for the rain to stop so layered up and headed out.  The hills were cloaked with cloud and light rain persisted as we rode along. 2km out came the first confusion as we failed to make sense of signage at first until we realised that the road we were looking for was the bridge some 20m above us!  Having pushed up the 18% slope that led us to it, we crossed once more to the left bank and headed downstream.  At least the temperature was tolerable. We had a coffee break at a roadside cafe on the approach to Spitz and sampled the local marillen knodel, or apricot dumpling. Nice as they were, we could only eat one each ... and that sat heavy on the stomach. We were aghast when we noticed an elderly couple come in a few minutes later.  He had two, and she had three!  We continued in the rain through the prettiest section where the steep slopes come almost right down to the river and are covered with vines.  This is the Gruner Veltliner and Riesling wine producing area, known as the Wachau.  If there were no vines on a piece of land, then there were apricot trees.  With such a narrow strip by the river, the rail, cycle track, and busy road ran close together which was no fun.  The diversions through the villages were a pleasant respite from traffic (but not from tourists - this is a very touristy area). By the time we reached Dürnstein we were ready for another pause in the dry, and for a glass of the local wine. At this point the sky brightened a little and the rain largely stopped.  From here we finished the ride into Krems, shared a pizza and checked in to the gasthof. We had been leap-frogging another couple all yesterday and previously; we saw them in Melk when we wandered out for tea; and we leap-frogged them again today at coffee/wine  stops.  As we approached the gasthof it turned out they were staying in the same place.  They are a Dutch couple doing an organised bag-carried tour just from Passau.  And they are going to Tulln tomorrow like us.  This is the popular/tourist part of the Danube. Again the rain has now started so we are now waiting on a lull before heading out for tea ... probably the nearby Italian as it was the only place we saw open on a Sunday night.  Also, pasta is less risk to my wobbly crown, which happily is still staying put.  Famous last words.  

25.6 wet miles at 9.7 mph avg.  2 hrs 37 mins moving time to ascend 160m

Day 18, Grein to Melk

It was a pleasant start to the day (apart from the traffic on the bridge across from our room which started building from 6am). We headed off, over said bridge, under cloudy skies and with pleasant 21C temperature. First stop was a meander around the village of Grein, just a kilometre away, too close for a coffee stop. We then wandered down to the cycle ferry point to find we'd just missed it. No matter, he turned round and came back for us with a cheery grin ... and even took our photo as we sailed across. It was a totally flat day today, all on velvet tarmac, and passed another gorge section which was quite pretty. It was not a long day, and we couldn't check in to the YH in Melk until 16:00, so there was plenty of time for: a coffee stop at a track-side gasthof; then a coffee and apricot cake stop at Ybbs; and a lunch and beer stop at Pochlarn. You can see where the priorities lie on this trip. The latter stop was extended as the black clouds gathered, lightning flashed and rain started. Eventually, with not many kilometres to go, we donned waterproofs and headed out into the rain with thunder rolling, not in discreet thunder claps, but 20 minutes of continuous rumbling!  The temperature had built to crazy heights again, so the rain was a welcome relief as it sucked a bit of heat out if the air and then steamed up from the tarmac reducing vis to 150m for a while! The rain had stopped by the time we reached Melk, so a glass of wine (locally produced grunerweltliner) was imbibed in the town square whilst we waited for the clock to strike 4. The YH room is baking hot, so after a shower it was a relief to get back outside and into town for some tea. A summer festival was well underway with street food stalls, buskers, oompah band, accordion players, traditional dancers and more leder-hosen than you can shake a stick at.  There was quite a buzz about town. Returning to the hostel we were shocked to find that the room was no cooler even with window left wide, so it's gonna be tough sleeping tonight!

32.3 easy miles at 10.8mph avg.  2 hrs 58 mins moving time to climb just 89m!

There's rain a-coming!

2,040km to Black Sea (NOT to Vienna)

Day 17, Linz to Grein

We were awoken by bells again for a third morning!  No big deal this time; first morning was 05:30, second was 06:00, this morning was 07:00 so not long before alarm. We had to check out by 09:00 anyway, so an early rise was a good idea. And, it was going to be hot so an early departure was a good thing.  A Youth Hostel breakfast was predictably, shall we say, basic, so no hanging around there. We left around 08:30, at a pleasant 21C, straight down the hill so that Anne could demonstrate the direct route we could have taken to the hostel yesterday.  Whatever.  After crossing the bridge back to the north side we joined the cycle track by the river (apart from diversions around building works - Austria will be a nice place when they finish building it!). The route continued past the industrial zone on the far bank, on the flat, through nowhere in particular so a mid-morning coffee potential did not present itself. Never mind, Mauthausen looks a nice place at half way. It wasn't. It was approached alongside a main road ; we diverted in and failed to locate the centre, let alone a coffee shop; burst through the other side onto a big swirly junction where we dodged traffic to gain the cycle path over the girder bridge. Things quietened down after that. We passed a cyclists' shelter (banana and biscuit stop) then nothing else until Wallsee was reached. Even the ancient wooden bridge that the Guide talked about was absent, replaced by a new one presumably having been wiped out by the 2015 floods (the year the Guide was published). The cycle route skirted round Wallsee village for good reason: it sits high on a sandstone outcrop  on a bend in the river (the source of all of the millstones for the area in times gone by). By this time we were ready for food and beer so the big climb up to the market place was welcome. We collapsed in the shade of a tree in a gasthof biergarten and ordered omelette and pizza for a cheap price (& beer too, of course). Really, meal portions here are ridiculous: I still have half the pizza in my pannier. It's been so hot that it's still at the temperature it was served at!  We left after a  long pause in the cool of the shade and a nosey at the castle (privately owned by descendants of the Franz Ferdinand family - no, not the rock group, the Archduke whose assassination started WW1). The last ten miles to our destination was purgatory. We just tried to ride fast to keep the cooling breeze going. It was punishingly hot. The Garmin Edge registered 51.1C after being parked in the sun at lunch.  The shade temperature was 31C, and we weren't in the shade. Tonight's accommodation, at the Donau bridge, was reached just after 15:00 with some relief. A shower, laundry, and beer/wine followed in that order.  The remains of my pizza will go towards tea and maybe just a salad bowl in the restaurant will round it off later. 

43 sweaty miles at 10.6 mph avg.  4 hrs and 3 mins to ascend 175m. 

Linz industrial zone, promoted by A. Hitler

Cyclist shelter in cider country

New wooden bridge

Not just cider, but perry country too

Day 16, Aschach to Linz

Another short day to give us a bit of time to look around Linz, but boy was it hot. We left the rather fabulous schloss hotel with a starting temperature of 24C. We crossed the bridge back to the south side and rode onwards, again on fine smooth tarmac following R1, as the cycle route  is designated in Austria. We passed a rather impressive hydro dam and debated crossing to the north side but decided to stick with the plan and continue, through shaded forest cycleway, to the cable ferry at Ufer that crosses to Ottensheim. This was a fascinating contraption that uses a motor only to align itself at either end, but then orientates itself at an angle and uses the current to push it across the river whilst tethered to a cable. Very clever, but can only operate if the dam upstream has its sluice gates open! 200m later we stopped for a welcome coffee and cake. The cycleway continued by track and road until it funnelled us rather misleadingly across a road onto a cycleway that followed the main dual carriageway into Linz for 5km. It was a miserable, noisy and unpleasant ride separated from the traffic by a strip of gravel and a line of plastic posts! And by this point the temperature was well up into the high 20s, in the shade, and there wasn't much of that. Pushing the bikes round the busy centre was no fun so a visit to the old and new cathedrals was all we could manage with a biergarten between the two. Then we headed off to the Youth Hostel which looked like a flat run on the map, but it was up a seriously steep and long hill. 90% up there ensued a lively debate regarding the optimum route to our destination. This resulted, to cut a long story short, in a circuitous return down the hill to where we started. We then took a more direct route ... which resulted in climbing the hill again along a different road!  

A visit to a Spar supermarket for some fruit and yogurt followed checkin, then we retreated to the adjacent Botanical Gardens for a shady wander, our snacks, and later, a coffee. Believe it or not, the Tropical House was actually cooler than outside!  Spar was revisited and, in marked contrast to last night's indulgence, bread, cheese, tomato & pasta salad was purchased for an excellent tea, along with a beer, on the hostel terrace. By 20:30, the temperature has at last dropped to 'bearable', but only in the shade, in the breeze!

22.3 miles (including the 2 hill climbs) at and average of 9.4 mph (including pushing around town - it was 11.2 on arrival at Linz). 2 hours 22 mins moving time to ascend a knackering 225m ... all at the end. 

Day 15, Passau to Assach.

Wow, what a breakfast spread; it's a pity you can only eat so much! So much choice.  We headed off on a shortcut to the bridge, failed, and retraced (pedalling quickly back past the hotel in case anyone noticed us) following the route indicated by Mr Garmin.  As usual he kept us right. After an initial dark and gravelly stretch alongside an old railway track, we hit smooth tarmac which took us across the border into Austria and continued all the way to our destination either on cycle track or quiet country roads.  We cracked on until the first river crossing by cycle ferry at Engelhartzell where we had to ring the bell vigorously to summon the boat.  We were hoping for a coffee at the ferry point, but it was closed Tuesday and Wednesday, muh!  At least a farm biergarten materialised petty soon after we reached the north bank so coffee and cake were there imbibed. Refreshed, we continued to the so-called Schlogen loop where the river does a full 180 deg bend to work it's way through a huge band of granite.  Here we took our second cycle ferry to Schloggen where a fine gasthof beckoned with the offer of a beer!  An offer not refused.  The wide alluvial plane that we had seen so much of earlier was now gone, replaced with impressive gorge scenery, a river hemmed in by steep forest-cloaked slopes.  But these were not for cycling up.  This stretch, i.e. from Passau to Vienna, is the tourist section.  There are dozens of cyclists ( mostly on e-bikes) and the Austrians have clearly capitalised on the trade by ensuring that the cycle tracks are absolutely first class.  Gone are the gravel tracks (famous last words); bring on the velvet tarmac.  They even provided a 10-14 mph tail wind to aid progress making this the fastest easiest stretch yet.  We soon reached Assach where we stopped at a local bakery for a coffee before crossing the bridge to the north side and back-tracking to definitely the best hotel yet.  It is an old Schloss (castle) and sits high on the north bank.  So steep is the approach that it was a get-off-and-push right at the end.  Our meal was indulgent and was taken on the terrace overlooking the river.  Despite sitting in a pretty stiff wind in only shorts and flip flops, we were still rather warm as the sun set over the opposite hill.  Better make the most of this as tomorrow we are in a Youth Hostel!

44 miles at an average of 11.6 mph.  3 hrs 47 mins moving time to ascend 160 m.

Day 14, Windorf to Passau

The bells, the bells!  They rang out with gusto for 5 minutes bringing me out of a deep sleep at 05:30!!!  As if that wasn't enough, the  church clock chimed every quarter of an hour thereafter. We dragged ourselves to breakfast only to find that the early risers had nabbed all the good bread rolls and they hadn't been replaced (well, they were as we left the breakfast room). At least in Germany even the bad bread rolls are fine enough. We hit the road with over-jerseys and gilets on as it was a cloudy and fresh morning.  We hardly got 3 miles before stopping to progressively delayer as it warmed up!  It was a straightforward run to Passau planned to be short to allow time for sightseeing and was again on fast mixed surfaces.  Passau was entered by way of an enormous low level hydro dam which we stopped to photograph from all angles, happily with no security consequences.  Our 4* hotel (perhaps the fanciest of the trip) was on the waterfront where all the river cruise ships berth, so we had to slalom our way along to our destination past all of the disgorged tourists.  By now it was getting pretty hot.  After a change and luggage dump we climbed the steps to the fortress that overlooks the city. A bowl of salad each satisfied Anne, but as it was the most useless salad bowl I've had in Germany (6 lettuce leaves, half a vine tomato, a slice of cucumber and a tiny bit of pepper) I felt as if I'd had nothing! And my requested grosse pils was only a kleine pils "because pils only comes in bottles of 330ml". "So why didn't you tell me when I ordered it ya' daftie!", I thought but didn't say.  A walk around the beautiful old town followed and included a break for a plate of cheap and cheerful man-food, and a grosse bier.  The cathedral is exquisite inside, and has Europe's biggest organ, apparently.  We returned to properly check in and after a shower, unpack and chill out, we went round the corner for a pasta.  So, here's another beer conundrum: when they sell pils at the Italian restaurant 'vom fass' i.e. from tap/font, why can't I get a 0.5 litre?  There is at least some logic to the volume constraint when bottle-served, but when on tap what is to stop them pouring into a half litre glass?  Some countries have some funny customs. And don't get me started on the amount of head in the glass!  With darkening skies we dashed back to the hotel, ordered coffee on the patio, sat back for some more passive smoking and watched the developing thunderstorm. Hope it's clear by tomorrow - it's a longer day with 2 river crossing ferries.

13.4 miles at 11.0 mph avg.  1 hour 13 mins to ascend 56 m

Michelin starred it ain't!

Day 13, Reibersdorf to Windorf

Well, after the previous night, anything would be good, but it has to be said we had the best nights sleep so far in a lovely room that wasn't too hot, was quiet, and had comfy beds.  And last night's meal was cheap and good (and the excess provided the sliced ham, for today's picnic - these German meals are way too big!).  The whole bill for bed, breakfast, meal and drinks was less than €100, so ace value.  We headed off into a cloudy morning with temperatures of 18-19C and not a breath of wind. Perfect conditions for Scotland-conditioned cyclists.  It was pretty much more of the same today. Largely fast tarmac, no hills except the occasional climb onto a flood dyke, buzzing along through fields on the alluvial plane (adding beans to our crop-spotters list) with the odd factory or milk processing plant thrown in for variety.  The latter surprised us as we have seen virtually no cows, but we suspect that the low lying ground is for crops and just a few miles away, as the hills bound the plain, pastures dominate.  Well, that's our theory anyway.  The problem with pan-flat terrain is that it requires relentless pedalling.  There's no respite after a hill climb so it can feel a bit like an exercise bike session.  Consequently, an hour is the best you can tolerate without a stop for a break.  A croissant from breakfast provided the excuse after the first 60 minutes as we sat next to one of the many water level controlling houses. Soon came the town of Deggendorf which we had targeted for coffee and (the best yet) cakes.  We bought tomatoes and banana at the local market then the best bread rolls yet from a bakery.  After a bit of a wiggle to find our way out of town we cycled on until we found a perfect picnic spot just before the village of Winzer next to a statue with a convenient stone table.  This took a while as there were a lot of diversions after Deggendorf which contributed to our slightly longer day than planned. Not long after the picnic the sun came out with a vengeance so it was good to find a biergarten open in the village for some welcome refreshments. The gasthof was reached in Windorf without drama and a further beer and meal was gladly consumed after the chores were done.  After a day of superlatives (sleep, value, cakes, bread rolls, speed) a short walk around the island in the river rounded off the day as the sun gently set. How romantic!

45 miles at an average of 11.2 mph. 4hrs and 2 mins to ascend a few flood dykes accumulating 120m