May 29, 1996
Aschach
With relief we awoke this morning and found that the day looked bikeable, although grey, windy and cold. After a great breakfast we departed one of the best inns we've ever visited. As a parting note, we found that the innkeeper had place fresh newspaper fenders on our bikes to replace the sodden ones we arrived with.
In addition to the much hoped for dry sky, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a strong tailwind. It blew us quickly upriver to Rozmberk and Vissy Brod, where we broke away from the river to climb to a modest summit at the Austrian border. Although dry, the day felt exceptionally cold for so late into May; but we weren't too conscious of it with the wind at our backs. At the border we converted our remaining Czech corona for Austrian shillings, and then descended to the pretty mountain resort town of Bad Leonfelden where we stopped in at a café for coffee and pastries. From here, we descended quickly to the Danube along the Muhl river, our descent intermittently broken by short but steep climbs over ridges or to towns above the stream.
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Once we dropped a bit from the summit the wind shifted 180 degrees and blew at us without abatement - both slowing our progress and exposing us to the full impact of the cold. It was with relief that we arrived at Aschach, a bit upriver from Linz, and called it quits for the day. From the information center we were directed to a small guesthouse a short ways out of town, where we were greeted by a chatty, rather eccentric proprietress and her terrier Charley. She showed us to our room, a lovely spot with an expansive view over the surrounding farmland; and after settling in we biked back to town for exploration and pizza.
Today's ride: 90 km (56 miles)
Total: 435 km (270 miles)
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