July 9, 2011
Schwandorf - Kelheim: Hello, old friend Danube
Now that we were closer to home, we were travelling paths that we had cycled more than once. The bike path along the Naab led us to the Danube. This time around we weren't as excited about the Naab River Valley as on our previous trip when it was a discovery. The bike path is still lovely, but the day was hot, the dirt paths slowed us down and there were many cyclists out, it being a Saturday. We wanted to cover ground.
Today's highlight was finding the shortcut between the Naab and the Danube, thus avoiding a detour into Regensburg. Either you cross the Danube on a bridge in Regensburg or you find the steep little path leading up to the railroad bridge that has a narrow passage for pedestrians and cyclists. On our previous trip we didn't find it but this time I was determined. I saw on the open street map for cyclists that it should be possible to cross the Danube near its confluence with the Naab. A small sign pointed to the path leading up to the bridge. It was steep and using my motor support in level 4 (which I had never had to use), I made it to the first hairpin bend. I couldn't navigate that and had to get off and push to the top, fortunately not far. E-bikes are not meant for pushing.
Now we were sailing along on the Danube Bike Path, or maybe sailing isn't the right word since we had a hefty headwind to contend with. I don't know how many times we have cycled on one part or another of this bike path. At any rate, we weren't taking many pictures.
I had secretly hoped we would make it to Kelheim but was still surprised that we actually did get that far. Can we make it to Munich from here in two days, I wondered. One day more or less shouldn't be important, but I had a few reasons for being in a bit of a hurry. One was that I had a toothache, not seriously painful but worrisome. I knew I had to have it looked at soon. And I thought it would be nice to be home for my birthday in three days.
In Kelheim, we headed for the friendly hotel with the excellent breakfast which we knew from our last time through. Too bad, they had no vacancies and we ended up at the Hotel zum weissen Lamm, 70€ incl. breakfast. A little expensive, but our room was spacious and we had a balcony. We decided to enjoy our little luxury.
Today's ride: 83 km (52 miles)
Total: 2,549 km (1,583 miles)
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