The most beautiful cycle path in the world: But the least used?

November 27, 2013

I said goodbye to Michael in the morning. He had electrified some fish the night before and was off on a boat to see what was swimming in the Danube. He told me that if you set up two electrodes in the water and pass an electric current between them, the fish get stunned and like zombies will automatically swim towards the negative one and they will swim right into a net or something and you can see whats there. Apparently no one really knows why the fish do this. Its quite a common technique for scientific research but when I asked Michael why people didn't use it for fishing he said because it wasn't 'sporty' enough. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure sitting on a chair by the side of the river for hours on end and occasionally throwing or reeling in a piece of wire on a stick really falls into the category of 'sporty' either, but there you go, each to their own.

I continued on my merry way and soon came to a section of the river that Michael had told me would be really nice and it sure was. Luckily for me the sun was shining low in the brilliant blue sky, which made the hillsides reflect in the river with mirror-like clarity. The path I was following was on the side where there was no road, so I was basically all alone to enjoy the incredible scenery. At points I would stop and realise that around me there was absolute silence, absolutely not a sound, and the air was crisp and cold and fresh and the views, well, you can see for yourself. Austria was coming good again.

The river looking like a lake looking like a mirror

At this point I stopped and listened to the silence and breathed the fresh air and thought 'golly goodness it is a beautiful world'

One of the great bicycle paths of the world

Michael had told me that the Danube path between Passau and Vienna is the most popular bicycle touring route in Europe, but he must have been mistaken because I was the only one cycling it. I did, however, meet one other traveller. I had just passed through Linz, which is Austria's third largest city and has a nice town centre and a not-so-nice-but-really-rather-massive steel works on the south side of the river when I saw a guy walking the other way with a large backpack on. I stopped and said hello.

David was on a long walk from the east of Austria to the west, carrying with him his guitar. He was playing concerts along the way and walking between them. His inspiration was a song cycle by Schubert called 'The Winter Journey'! I thought it was a brilliant idea and David was a really happy enthusiastic smiling chap. It would have been cool to spend some more time with him but he had to get on and walk the rest of the way into Linz and it was already almost dark. So I went on alone in the opposite direction and set up camp by the river.

David prepared for the winter, with his guitar and his umbrella

Today's ride: 110 km (68 miles)
Total: 10,029 km (6,228 miles)

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