Autumn is here: Tulln - Melk - Say hi to the elephants, and hope the weather improves

October 3, 2012

Autumn is here: Tulln - Melk

Waiting for the ferry; the EV6 jumps sides of the river now and then

FALL HAS FALLEN. There was a cold mist on the fields this morning and a dew that soaked the outside of the tent. It was a cold night. I rode today on a carpet of sodden leaves, the wind dislodging fresh supplies that flitted yellow and lazy in front and beside me.

That wind has been against me all day, determinedly so in the afternoon. There are still a few fully-loaded cyclists heading the other way, determined to get to Budapest and even to Istanbul. The rest are more lightly loaded, with two small rear panniers that reach halfway to their hubs and

This woman had just turned 40, so as a special treat her family arranged this outside her house

carry the name of a tour company. They ride uncertainly, not weaving but grim-faced in concentration when their path is suddenly halved by my panniers. But they are riding downhill and with the wind. They should count themselves lucky!

I admire and envy them. They are discovering the world by bike as I did in my teens. It doesn't matter they're doing it in middle age - that just shows their courage. What matters is that they are enjoying life on a bike, even if their grim expressions - what Victorians used to call Bicyclist's Face - suggest otherwise.

I wave as we pass. Usually they can't work out why. Car drivers and other pedestrians don't wave, so why should an unknown cyclist? So generally they stare, puzzled, and let the moment pass. Or, if one

waves back, it will be the man. It's the man who leads, the woman who follows. Always. And the woman looks as though she wonders how she got talked into all this and her husband will cop a mouthful when they stop for the night. But I bet he never does.

I am in the prettiest stretch of the Danube now. The flood walls have gone and I'm beside the river rather than above it. The villages are self-consciously pretty, houses lined up like little girls in party dresses. Melk is another place I've explored before. I'll content myself with a few pictures. And I shall camp beside the river, and next to an inn, for the demanding price of eight euros.

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