Melk to Mauthasen (Sept. 23, 2022)

September 23, 2022

We awoke to significant fog so that we could barely see Melk Abbey, even though it was right outside our window. It was projected to be an 80k day, our longest of the trip. Dave started the day a little roughly by dropping his coffee cup in the bathtub - honestly, it could have been worse - it could have been his tablet. In addition, he misplaced his earbuds and the plastic sleeve that protects his camera and spent 20 minutes tearing apart his gear to try to find them; he did find the earbuds but not the camera protector. (Later update: he found the camera sleeve the next day.)

We got lucky on the weather, no rain and less wind and some sun! It was chilly but that was manageable. The ride itself was lovely, not quite as dramatic as the Krems to Melk leg with all the vineyards and the hills but very nice.

One glitch; as we were leaving, the lady at checkout strongly advised (in that Germanic way) that between Ybbs and Grein we MUST ride on the south side because the road on the north side was too busy. She got out her map and traced a suggested southerly variation and assured me there was a bridge in Grein we could cross back over to the north and then resume our original route. Based on her advice, I quickly revised my Komoot route in the bar on the way out the door (always a mistake because you just don’t drill down on the details when you are in a hurry…). We ran into the Utah couple on the way out the door and they were all set for the ride - having attached their carryon luggage to the back of their rental bikes - very creative.

We rode on the north side until Ybbs, which was great because the north was the sunny side of the Danube. Dave was cranky when we crossed over to the south side in Ybbs because it was shady and chilly and then to make matters worse, the route was on a road with a 70 k speed limit. There wasn’t a lot of traffic but it was going fast and we were hard to see given the shade. And, to add insult to injury, we could look over to the north side and see riders on a bike trail! So, if you do this route, I would question the advice we got and drill down a bit on the best route. THEN, when we reached Grein, there was NOT a bridge to cross back over to the north but a ferry crossing, which was not functioning. (Another tip: ferries don’t seem to be functioning — at least regularly — in the semi off-season, so don’t rely on a ferry to do a crossing.) We had to dismount and then spent 15 minutes figuring out next steps. Happily, there was a bridge just a few k down the road and we crossed over and enjoyed a 20 minute break in the sun on the other side. (So, as I write this I realize I sound like a total whiner, because even though we had some pretty minor challenges it really was a beautiful ride.)

There were a fair amount of riders at that point - mostly day riders and many road bikers. It’s clearly a great stretch of the Danube and proved to be for the rest of the ride from Grein to Mauthausen. While the EV6 is generally signposted on both sides of the Danube after Grein suddenly the north side was only posted as the Austrian R1 but it was great (we veered away from the river through forest and rural land). We stopped at this awesome Radfahrstation, a bike reststop with a bar, gelato, toilet, water fountain and picnic tables. We continue to be amazed by the bike infrastructure here in Austria. A beer for Dave and a gelato for Jill rejuvenated us for the last 15 k into Mauthasen, which was along the Danube.

S0 nobody really suggests you spend the night in Mauthausen but I scheduled our stop there so we could see the concentration camp in Mauthausen the following day. I had set this visit as a goal 3 years ago when I first outlined the trip but as it got closer I dreaded it more and more. I had seen Dachau in 2006 and remember how draining it was. Plus, I am pretty disturbed by the direction the world is going these days so when I see these camps I have no confidence that this isn't happening in places around the world and that there is the strong potential it is going to get worse. Last week I even looked at a some alternative routes but could find nothing that worked for our trip. So, Mauthausen it was to be.

Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 1,459 km (906 miles)

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