No Planes, No Trains, No Automobiles, just me, my bike and I

Day 2 48.5km

 Day 4 01/04/08 104.1km.
Windy very windy reduced to a crawl, but to cheer me up a little it started to rain. A LOT! Yes all day to be fair, but once I started heading east the wind was behind me or it might have been my tea! Had my first strange food of my trip not sure what they are called, but snot and Garlic in a sausage type of thing, it was all vegetables but I'm sure something must have die to make something that strange. Have enjoyed Holland camped by the River Waal tonight again very nice, but across the boarder in the morning Germany here we come

Day 6 02/04/08 120km
Rain, Rain, Rain, tell you its mad ducks and English men come out in the pouring rain.
Crossed into Germany and the sun came out and all was lovely, OK back to the truth, rain. The German boarder was not there I must have crossed it but no signs, talking of which if you ever follow the Rhine route couple of things watch out for the signs that point you in 3 different directions at once, remember we are following a river here! And the ones that point to the locked gates they are rather good :-( My advice is ignore the signs and trust you map. Also if you are thinking about cycling the Rhine route think carefully about not doing the lower half, as it is called the Route of Industrial Culture, so if factories and power stations not your thing then go another way. Stopped in nice B&B No camp sites in the heart of the industrial heart land. Had my first German beer, and slept well.

Day 6 03/04/08 61 km
A day of firsts
First brush with the law
First Puncture
First New tyre
First switch on the GPS
I am really glad I did not get one of those GPS trackers, you would have seen me going round and round trying to get out of Duisburg, it was during this time I met up with the German Constabulary halted in the street and asked for my passport, then told if he caught me riding on the cycle path the wrong way again he would fine me Euro.15, I tried to explain that in England we are lucky to get just a cycle path on one side of the road, he again remind me we in Germany do it this way, so I yes sir and crossed the road, something about lack of humour me thinks I remember.
At 48 km got a puncture, changed the tube and the tyre as that had a split in it :)
getting cold now they are forecasting snow this week.
GPS was called in to service today to get me out of Duisburg, got totally geographical embarrassed and need help.
Used my lighter to solder my phone charger, well impressed I was too. This is not the charger that we built, it was one I brought.

Day 9 06/04/08
Week 2 Total distance so far 717 km
now south of Koblenz in a place called Brey.
I took yesterday off and it rained all day :) I am battling to keep things dry it is a rare that it has been dry for more than an hour at a time.
The camp site I am in is very nice and sells a nice brew Konigsbacher. My average mileage is down on what I planned but not to much so I am OK with that as I will still hit my visas as they are the real targets that can not slip.
Found out today that Nick has hurt his leg again and will be on crutches for another month that has really made me home sick.
On the up side I put my bike through the 4000km mark today 1000ks more and it needs its first oil change!

This morning I woke up to SNOW
Day 10 Monday 07/04/08 94.26 km
Finished in Mainz today really nice city it is too. Battling to stay warm and dry at the moment, I thought my tent was leaking which was a real blow but it turns out its just condensation from the floor with it being so wet at the moment, I now am using a thermal sheet to keep the moisture down.
My hands where so cold this morning it was only -1 but with the snow it seems much colder. There was 20cm fell today, thankful 5kms from me!!! I must be in the best bit of the Rhine at present very nice well worth a visit. Dumped my cycling shoes to cold and not walking friendly, feet now happy.
Much more organised now, and more happy navigating properly again, SatNav spoils this skill. It snowed for most of the day today, the rest it rained, no I lie there was a little sunshine and a lot of sleet, but life is good.

Day11 08/04/08 99.52km
Planned a short day today spent to long in Mainz on the net to Jane but it was worth it. But if I had know what was coming I might have gone another way. Worms was my target only 60kms, but it was hard when I say that I was glad to see cobbles anyone that rides will know that the surface was rough. The next camp site was 30+km away in Mannheim a very big city, my map showed the camp site but no roads leading to it I arrived in Mannheim at 9pm at night, it took me a further hour to find the site. It’s much dryer here they have not had so much rain sat up having dinner etc...... Till 12pm feeling good but my knee still hurts big time.

Day 12 09/04/08 102.44km
1000km completed
Woke up in the dry to day and it got very wet from here on. Even the Gore Tex could not cope. Good day none the less crossed in to France no one told me that if I was on one side of the Rhine it was in France, that proper planning knowing where your going. But I got core cold and wet it damped the spirits but, with the temp at a max of 5 degree C and rain all day, think that's OK, but still I can laugh so I must be fine.

Day 13 & 14 Strasbourg
Again the day started wet! But it’s nice to be in France the people are some how nicer than the Germans, Sorry for any Germans reading this but its true the Germans seem to have all the worries of the world upon them.
Would I recommend the Rhine route? No not so far you could see the highlights so far from a car and better most of the time.
But back to France the food is good the wine is fine and guess what the weather is still Sh*T!! Having a fine but wet time. Would I change anything? Perhaps start a month later!

Day 15 & 16 Somewhere in France not on my map
Had fun getting out of Strasbourg but eventually crossed in to Germany having cycled 15 km to do it there I met a German cyclist called Claus Pongs from Baden Baden, who told me that the German side of the Rhine is not good for cycling and I would be better off taking another route through France, and if I would let him he would be my guide and take me to the place where it was easy to follow the route, so after a total of 37KM I finally left Strasbourg on a much nicer path and 10Km later it ended with a deviation through the woods. Have had 2 very good days in France.
One highlight for me was I was able to visit the Magiot Line, it has interested me since I was a small boy and I got to visit it was great. For those of you that don't know what it is, it got to be the biggest waste of tax payers money ever, after the first world war the French defence minister Magiot had an impenetrable defensive line from Switzerland all the way to the Belgian boarder, to keep the Germans out, the rest is history the Germans did not attack the line they just came through neutral Belgium and thus the keys to the impenetrable defensive line were handed over to the Germans having never been used, and most of the French army in static positions far from where they were need to fight the invading Germans.

Lots of sun but more wind head on it has slowed me down but things still go well, the difference in French camp sites is wide from very basic with traditional French toilets to very posh with all the features you could ask for this morning I arrived in Basel Switzerland. So I am now heading east
Just looked out the window and it rains here too! but I feel good and I think I will get myself something like a cake, I have found that cakes make me feel good so I must eat them:)

Day 17 saw my arrival in Stein am Rhine
So I have reached the end of the Rhine, loved Switzerland but it has more hills than I remembered. I have had 2 days that have been very tough after the relative flat of the rest of the Rhine, and never a be leave the Swiss when they tell you that the next 30KMs are flat they are talking Swiss flat and trust me there is a difference.
Spent lasts night by the Bodensee at the end of the Rhine feeling very pleased with myself having covered over 200Kms in Switzerland in just 2 days
Now on to the Donau and more hills

Day 18 Wangen
1484KM So far and Back in Germany
Another hard day must have crossed the German, Swiss boarder 10 times and not stopped till the last crossing when a board German decided to see what I was doing at the end of the day Rained on and off all day, and lots of off road riding.

Day 19 Engen 1522KM
had a really easy day today more rain and snow but what's new, some big hills and really fine views, and played lets put on then take off the waterproof game we all like that one don't we! Would have love to have taken more pictures but don't like getting the camera out in the snow. Realised that my forks where a little loose so sorted them out and gave the bike a quick going over all seems well

Really cold night dropped to -5 in the tent frost inside and out :-)

Day 20 Sigmaringen 1602Km
A day to remember fine weather cold start but bright sunshine, an old lady had told me that the Rhine was a bad route but the Danube was beautiful was right, well at least the first 100km are in the obre Donau park, and if this is anything to go on I am in for a scenic treat. I remember flying past it when I rode to Turkey some years back shame that I did not have time to enjoy it then . If you can’t walk or ride the upper Donau then take the train it is quite lovely.
Still very up and down, it has made me discover muscles I had forgotten I had. I have repeatedly gone from 800 to 20 metres and back again to day in short steep climbs and it hurts! Might as well throw my map away most of the time I'm not following any roads that are marked.

Day 21 Erzingen 1695Km
Quite a dull day after yesterday, started of flat through the woods so not much to say, just looking forward to tonight as today is a rest day and I need it, but when I arrived in Erzingen I realised it was a Zeltplatz which was not open yet and you can just camp there so not much use as the place to do my washing etc...., so I decided to push on another day, when I took my tent down in the (rain:-) I found that I had just slept in a chapter of a Steven king Book, The Slugs, they where every where I must have removed 200 from my tent.

Day 22 and 23 Dillingen 1752Km
Day started wet but I was racking up the km when disaster struck my saddle bolt that tensions my saddle broke! OK I will start you off yes it must have been under a great deal of strain! It left the saddle in normal circumstances un-ride able so I did another 56Km on it, I now know what tenderised steak is like to have as part of your body, and of course this happened on a Saturday and everything shuts till Monday I can fix it but I need somewhere like B&Q to do it. So to add insult to injury I fell off today and put a hole in one of my panniers, would like to tell you that I was flying down a mountain pass through the woods, but NO I was crawling up a bridge in the middle of a town, the cycle paths in German have a white painted line to mark where people walk and where you can ride your bike well I crossed the line to look over the side of the bridge, but it was not a line it was a ridge not any higher than 4cm but it was enough, thought I had broken my wrist with the way I hit the ground, but apart from the hole in the bag all is OK and I can fix the bag tomorrow.
Well the camp site was not great, its on a main road near a load of noisy flats near a sports ground, I did not care I slept the sleep of the dead
My rest day was great I did mending, washing (by hand!) cleaned and serviced my bike. Did the first oil change on my speed hub so I have now rode 5000Km with out any problems with the hub just bit of oil for the chain not bad! Did a get you home repair to my saddle or at least till I can get to the shops, washing drying in the sun having a beer, best weather so far life is good.
Have noticed that Nordic walking is massive in Germany at presently.
One sentence keeps coming up in my mind
take nothing but photos and memories; I'll leave nothing but my tyre tracks and the warmth of my smile.

Day 24 Neuburg 1828
Had a good day fixed my saddle and life feels a lot better:) very up and down today with not much to see, but my arrival in Neuburg was a really pleasant surprise the old town is quite something it also heralds a couple of days of celebration for it is mine and Jane's Birthdays over the next couple of days!!
Well as night fell a Bavarian band struck up and the music could be heard all over the town it sort of drifted down the river and filled the streets really cool and quite a treat.

Day 25 Happy Birthday Jane

Day 26 Happy Birthday Me!
Kapfelburg 1918.77km
Had a nice day and the last 2 nights camping for free which was a bonus as the site was not fully open yet :) Easy day apart from one climb that they run a ferry to avoid but not running on that day:( You know when you are in the middle of know where when you have to open the level crossing gates yourself. Today I ran out of ran out of road, the river had burst its banks and left me with no path, so I had to ford the little stream much to the joy of the Germans looking on the water watching the crazy Englishman cycling through a 0.5 metres of water, was met on the other side by a group clapping and laughing Germans, only disappointed that I had not fallen off, I on the other hand was glad to have stayed on!

Day 27 Deggendorf 2037.76km
2000kms completed
Bright sunshine saw the arrival of shorts today, sunshine is a welcome change from the rain. Had my farewell meal to Germany

Day 28 Krottenthal 2120.4km
Austrian Boarder 5KM
Well woke to heavy rain today, which soon passed and was just showers on and off. Had to buy a new saddle today 75 Euros Brooks Professional an instrument of pure torture it will be till it is broken in! Slept in a nice camp site overlooking Austria weather really is improving

Day 29 Steyregg 2202.72km
2000kms completed
Really nice day in shorts again saddle is pure hell at present. Cycled with no map for about 15km as mine had run out. Cycled with a German for most of the morning he spoke no English but I was able to talk to him, so much of the German I had forgotten has come back so going through Germany has been a good choice for me. Picked up a free map of the Austrian Donau it takes me all the way to Bratislava so that was really cool. Saw the original site that Passua used to be on and life feels good apart from the new saddle. Austria is shaping up to be a top place like it a lot already, but a little more expensive than Germany but the scenery is stunning.

Day 30 & 31 Grein 2260.32km
1 Month of travelling
One month on the road and puncture number 2, drawing pin just outside the protected area! but hell who cares the sun is shining and life feels good, the only thing I can moan about is my new saddle, I can see signs of it breaking in but it is still very early. Grein the river has changed again and it is very nice once again can not believe I will be in Vienna in a couple of days Its strange you spend days heading toward a place and when you get there, its not what you expected, and some of the places are just stunning and you would have by passed in a car as they are not on the route.
Well its been a good month hard at times very wet and cold a lot of the time but good none the less, there have been times where I have missed my family and opening my birthday cards brought tears, but things are settling down in to a routine and I am having a good time.
Well day 2 in Grein has been a really nice day the weather is just fantastic. Went in to the town to post the some kit home and to buy a tyre and replace the mitts I lost, and ended up with a new stand for Gromit too.
Well went to the local imbiss for lunch and ordered coffee and Goulash and potatoes, I had to share a table with some Austrians as the place was very busy full of locals always a good sign in a tourist area. When up rocks a larger than life character Leopold Stahammer the local vineyard owner, clutching some of his wine, told me that I must drink wine with him and his friends as the weather is to fine for coffee and wine is for sharing. So I enjoyed my lunch with some very good local wine. When I said that I had not seen much Austrian wine in the UK he told me it was because along with the Swiss wine it is bottled up along with the Czech wine. So my lunch lasted a good couple of hours leaving slightly the worse for the wine but very mellow.

Day 32 Krems 2341.56km
Well I woke this morning to rain not the cold chilling rain that I saw in Germany but none the less heavy rain, but the motivation is now I am so close to Vienna. When I set off Vienna seemed so far away and strange and far away and now it’s less than a day’s ride away. To me Vienna is the first major mile stone to this trip, why? Don’t ask me it just seems that way!
Well into the Austrian wine growing area so taking all the culture on board :) But for all you wine lovers I am only drinking the Table wine, its cheap good and fits the budget, and it must surely be classed as one of my 5 a day:)
Well me and the new saddle are beginning to be come one with the bike again which is really nice. Don’t ever think of doing the as a pub crawl it would last you a life time every last bit of spare ground and any old building or just someone's garden is put over to being a place to sell you beer!
However it is easy to see why this is the most cycled route in Europe, its easy lots to choose from something for everyone, top route well marked or great warmer settler for a long tour or just a really nice active holiday with plenty of culture, good food and as much beer and wine as is possible to take.

Day 33 Klosterneuburg 2411.19 km Suburb of Vienna
Rained most of the night but bright sunshine in the morning, Had morning tea with a Dutch couple Ans and John, and was pleased to see them again this evening at the camp site its the first time in a long time that I have spoken English, it was quite funny we were speaking German to each other, when they asked where I had come from, when I told them England they said it would be much easier speak English!
Today seemed a lot cooler than it was as it has been very windy. Have stopped in the camp site just outside of Vienna as its nearly 30kms across and it leaves me set to arrive in Bratislava tomorrow night.
Tomorrow will be the first of the country's I have not visited before so a little tension is growing; perhaps the fear of the unknown or maybe I am just ready for a new country!
Austria has been great really rate it as a place to visit, people have been friendly the food has been good and the route is easy to follow and a pleasure to ride.
But one thing I am looking forward to is the end of the cycle routes! They are great but! you feel you must follow them as there has been a lot of effort put in to create them, and if we don't use them we will lose them and that would be a real shame, but I do object to being forced through every little hamlet that has a bar or room for rent, more so when the road is flat and you are sent up and down hills just because you might want a drink, I would rather make that choice myself.
It also makes me feel like I'm on a package holiday and I have always travelled independent, so that is not a good feeling for me. So after Bratislava it is all free running and if I make a mistake then that's my fault and I am OK with that.
I am looking forward to saying farewell to bicycle super highway and hello to the open road.