Rounding Up

Sally, Graeme and Des all snappy and happy.

This is what they were shooting.

Don't know how older people cope on cobbles and hillsides. Being a nun might help.

Des celebrating with an ice from Eis Murano, Nierstein.

Graeme decided to celebrate with a beer instead.

And os Heidleberg it was on teh second last riding day before the team rolled into Mannheim.

Maureen shouted Des and Janice a welcome to Nierstein ice-cream. Yummo!

Here we are back in Nierstein at the lovely Villa Spiegelberg after 42 days on the road. Each of us rode for 36 days, the balance spent behind the wheel of the car listening to Emily as she directed us through villages and cities en route to our next overnight stop. Last days of a tour are always sweet, unless of course it is pouring rain, and should be rewarded with appropriate things.

If you look closely, you can see why Des burnt off the peleton in the last few days;
he purchased extra horse power at a flew market.

Fitness improved for all, not surprisingly, after some long days traversing both horizontal and vertical landscapes. Purchases at Decathalon in Mannheim means that we are now all outfitted to continue pedaling to our heart's content. Des is on record saying he is going to ride several times each week on our return to Melbourne. Guess that means I'll go too. Can't be all that bad, can it? Surely those truck drivers and cars have softened in their attitudes to two-wheelers during our time away. That's why we appreciate Germany so much as a riding terrain as vehicle drivers respect bike riders and the respect is reinforced as so many more people ride bikes and I suppose there are some laws about sharing roads as well.

High on a hill was a lovely sheep herd. The question was, however, why the hell were we up there too?

Despite our experience earlier on the trip of getting lost and continuing to climb steep hills on gravel surfaces, we managed to do it again. This time the gravel was less benign and we had to walk downhill as well. Our day turned into quite a long one and we were all keen to reach Neckartzenlingen, only to find a shambolic guest house run by one Ingeborg, that offered few if any comforts, kind of like the town itself. Avoid this place for an overnight stay if you're in the area. Bad Urach is a much prettier place.

Janice enjoying a beer.

Marbach am Neckar was a hoot as we went to a local eatery for dinner and were delighted by our host who plied us with wine, spirituous liquor and even wanted to dance with us. Luckily her husband kicked us out round 10pm otherwise we might still be somewhere on a German Radweg.

All in all this was a very successful bike trip. No injuries; one flat tyre; one broken spoke. Not bad for collectively more than 14,500kms of riding. A lot of laughs, mainly about silly things, which are always the best. And a great insight into Germany - its social climate, its geography and its agriculture. 

We each rode more than 2100 kms, distance really depending on which day was an allocated driving day. Our final stats are:
2 September: Ulm to Neckartzenlingen; 95kms added to by mountainous goat tacks. Our biggest climing day with over 1100 metres
3 September: Neckartzenlingen to Marbach am Neckar; 75 kms of great riding
4 September: Marbach am Neckar to Haßmersheim; 70kms including a wine festival, hills and rain
5 September: Haßmersheim to Mannheim; 98kms with sightseeing in Heidelberg
6 September: Mannheim to Nierstein; 71kms in near perfect riding conditions

Rounding the Bend onto the Donau, and yes, it has stopped raining

After a rousing swim in the Regnitz river at Bamberg enjoyed by Maureen and myself - you climb in one end of the wooden platform and swim 100 metres to the end where you clamber out again, any further and you'd be swept down the river - we were ready for the penultimate stage. Little did we know that after a pleasant 40kms or so we would spend the remainder of the day on gravel, goat tracks and roads climbing up and down, up and down, up and down, until we finally found our hotel after 6pm. A LONG day in the saddle, and a good one to have over.

Amberg to Regensburg was a smooth day and we were fortunate enough to book ourselves into an oasis right in the heart of the old town. We cooked dinner and enjoyed lazing round on comfy couches and even watched some of the last bits of the Vuelta. Umm, we thought we were doing it tough!

It was good to glimpse the Donau again, not seen by me since 2014 briefly in Serbia sitting on the high banks in a park, and ridden along from Donaueschingen to Bratislava in 2008, remembered fondly but alas, not accurately. Riding into Ulm we rode along the river for a good part of the day, but prior to then, the river was only seen in major towns.

The stone bridge across the Donau at Regensburg

We entertained ourselves on this stretch in many ways: cooking dinner; watching villagers erect a 'Maypole'; spotting swans; enjoying picnic lunches; and trying not to think too much about hill climbing.

Maureen cooking up a storm in our Regensburg apartment.

Erecting the pole using ropes and props.

One of the many locks.

A glimpse of the Danube.

Janice and Sally riding forth.

Janice attempting to escape from another youth hostel.

Being watched over as we crossed a bridge.

There are many variations of the free book swap house in many villages and cities.

Graeme meets a goat.

An impressive woodstack and bird house.

Donauworth from our youth hostel window.

A small farm farmer getting on with business.

One of our interesting encounters on the ride into Ulm was meeting two blokes who were paddling down the Danube to Budapest. They had just purchased a 'new' second-hand canoe after theirs was smashed in half in rapids the previous day.

It was also a day for wildlife spotting, two swan families and a black squirrel providing the highlights.

A four cygnet swan family on the Donau.

The Ulm Munster at night.

And so we have five more riding days left until we roll back into Nierstein to conclude our 42 days on the road. And guess what? There's more hills in store. Oh goody!

Kids at play.

Des extracting the car from the Regensburg oasis.

Laundromats are such fun!

The ladies of the laundromat left to their own devices.

More stats for those so inclined to emulate this ride:

26 August: Bamberg to Amberg; 126kms; 775 uphill meters; long and hot - guess that's why they're called 'Bergs'
27 August: Amberg to Regensburg; 70km; more climbing
28 August: Regensburg to Dietfurt; 71kms; more climbing
29 August: Dietfurt to Eichstatt; 64kms; more climbing
30 August: Eichstatt to Donauworth:70kms; lots of climbing
31 August: Donaworth to Ulm; 87kms - only a little climbing