June 15, 2013
Vienna to Hainburg: OMG...are you really sure that swearing is not allowed on this site???!!!
We had a nice relaxing morning in Vienna and started out around 10:30 to beautiful sunny skies. The ride to get out of Vienna took about an hour, but is was wonderful...and we didn't get lost! We road along the Praterhauptalle, which is a beautiful 5 kilometre plus street lined with chestnut trees, where no motorized traffic is allowed. There were lots of people out cycling, running, walking, roller blading, and even horseback riding. This street passes by the Ferris wheel that we road by yesterday on our city tour. As I was riding along this wonderful street, I was thinking that I would write in our journal tonight that I was pretty positive that we had seen the last of the flooding and detours, after all, I did give our panniers a good cleaning this morning. Next we negotiated a bike only circular contraption that I was glad I wasn't going up. We then cycled a few kilometres on the beautiful Danube Island and over to a very wide bike only dedicated bridge. We were now on the north side of the mighty Danube and on our way to Bratislava. This area is obviously clothing optional, and VERY optional. Some we nice to look a, and some.....OMG, put some clothes on, already! After going inland for a short distance, past the OMV oil refinery, we were on a wonderful paved cycle path. We came to a section that had lots of debris, that was not negotiable, but fortunately, we just had to push our bikes up a short hill to a dyke that had a narrow, pebble path, but with the most wonderful display of wild flowers that I had ever seen. I missed it, but Ron saw the bridge off to the right, that we were supposed to take, but it was under water, so we continued on the safe, high dyke. Screech...again! It came to an end, with a wide, roaring creek, and no bridge. Other cyclists, were soon with us in the same predicament. The only option was to go back at least 15 kilometres and find a way around. When we came back to the bridge and it's washed road that was the intended route, we watched a guy take off his shoes, roll up his shorts, and take his bike across the approximately, 200 meter section. When we saw that the water didn't quite reach his privates, we decided that would be a better option, than going back. There was a young girl that was on her way to Hamburg, that decided to cross with us, so after taking off our shoes, and buttoning down the hatches on our gear, we were off. More fish, only this time we were pushing our bikes with them, not peddling with them. I discovered a new feature about my bike.....it actually floats, with the panniers on!!! When we got to the other side, the wet, sticky, deep mud was unbelievable! And there to celebrate our miraculous crossing, were millions of misquotes, just waiting to eat us alive! I had to push my bike up another 200 meters, walking in this muck. My flip flops kept coming off and getting stuck in the mud, as I i was trying to save some of my flesh from these monster blood suckers, all the while, trying to push the stupid heavy bike. This was the first time that i just about lost it!!! The best news is there was a Beer Garden at the top of the hill where we could clean up and have some lunch. The episode only took about two hours......but we didn't have to go back! I actually enjoyed the water part, as I had a nice visit with the young girl, and the water was quite lovely. The next thirty kilometres was on a nice paved dyke, but very straight and monotonous. We had planned to cycle to Bratislava today, but when we got to Hainburg, (about 17 kilometres short), we were hot, tired, and muddy. The town looks quite depressed, but we have a nice room in a new hotel, the shower was wonderful, dinner was good, wine was great and,......life is good!!! Tomorrow we leave Austria for the Slovinia. We had planned to get to Bratislava today,
Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 1,357 km (843 miles)
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