Ups and downs,
Trip Start
Feb 28, 2009
1
47
127
Trip End
Jun 20, 2009
Krems,
Lower Austria,
Austria
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Feeling a bit miserable this morning turning over the persistant failures in various area's of my life to date. But got on the path. Which turned out to be alongside the previously mentioned busy road. Then the path ended and I was mixing it with the traffic. Horrid. With hindsight I could have taken a ferry or backtracked to a bridge but ... And I was slow too so it was all a bit unhappy.
After about an hour the sponsored ride fella caught me up; we commented on how noisy the site was and soon he was dust. In places the Austrians have built a cantilevered path over the Danube as the space between the hills and the river is so narrow. After about 11km there is a dam and the map suggests the other side isn't cut off by any ferries (!)
A big river
. So I cross and there is a tourist information on the other side. With toilets. Which they explain are out of action. And I say I must! So I do. There is no lights and the entrance is an inch deep in water. The toilet tissue is history; there's been a major overflow/leak. But needs must and it does the job. The lady does at least smile when i give her a "when you gotta go you gotta go" shrug.The other side does avoid major roads and is a vast improvement. To cap the slowness issue I'm then caught by the swiss girl who also stayed at Grein. She made the same choices re the side to ride on; as she put it "you never go back". As our riding paces are fairly compatible and we deal with path issues amicably its nice to have someone to ride with. Also my pace picks up a bit and riding into the wind is a bit easier when there's someone else doing it too. The scenery varies between narrow gorge and wider embankments leading to dams every few miles. There are castles and churches everywhere. Its very pretty but after the first twenty or so.
I needed to make a bit more progress, my initial target came up about 12.00. So we had lunch in a pretty glade by the river and she turned off to geocache and I pushed on. It was an even narrower gorge and quite pretty. I said hello to various people on the trail as you do. In the end I got into Krems about 4pm. At 56 miles its decent day (after yesterdays disaster)
castle
. I do need a rest day; the washing situation is desperate and my hands and muscles are feeling it. But they have great maps outside town so you can see how to get to what your looking for. Excellent. So I go straight to the camping but they don't have wifi so I head for the hostel. Which is closed until 5pm. Whilst waiting outside two women walk past and say hello. I double take; its the same pair from earlier.Anyway this is a very nice hostel; its e15 with just the facilities you need. It has a members kitchin, a tv and comfortable benches. At last a sensible balance! This place is within striking distance of Vienna but I'm not sure if I want to stay or whiz through. On the other hand its hard to believe I'm so close to Hungary.
