Days 34-38

At the start we stopped little, and not for that long
For fear our bodies would freeze,
Now we must scoff and just pedal off
In the hope of catching a breeze.

Gunzburg to Linz via Munich

So, there you have it, it's too bloody hot now! There's just no pleasing some people... but a little adjustment period might have been nice...

Anyway, less moaning about the weather, and more about Munchen.
What a great city! Unknowingly, we arrived on a public holiday, so the city was deserted making it ideal for a bike tour with our friends, and the banks of the Isar river and the beer gardens were rammed so we got right into the local way...

Now, being so far from the coast you would think that surfing was out of the question. But not in Munich! You can surf on the canal right in the middle of the city - and I'm not talking about the internet...

The Viktualien Market, selling all sorts of Bavarian commodities, had Steve smiling all day with its vast selection of food stalls to choose from, and add to that a scrumptious BBQ and lots of local beers and we were more than well fed and rested. Kristin and Tobias certainly treated us well, pictured below with their daughter Lucia (blondie) and her friend Emily.

We even got invited with them to a Congolese first Communion ceremony - spoken part in Conglose, part German and the odd bit of French, so as you can imagine we had very little idea what was going on, but were made very welcome. The drum replaced the organ in the church and the singing was very gospel. Afterwards at the party we sampled some tasty traditional dishes, (catfish in a spicy sauce and cooked plantains being among the favourites) and music and dancing.
As you can imagine, it was very hard to leave our friends. Thank you guys for a wonderful stay!

We picked up the Danube again at Regensburg - a UNESCO world heritage site since 2006 due to its array of medieval buildings and bridge, built 1135. There was also a marathon going on so lots of atmosphere and street music to enjoy too.

The towns along this part of the Danube, like Straubing, Degendorf and Kunzig, are lovely to visit and have a coffee or ice cream and take in the atmosphere, but they all look spookily similar to one another. Typical Bavarian pastel coloured buildings, decorated clock towers, and cobbled, pedestrianised market centres may have you wondering if you've just cycled around in circles.

Not far from Regensburg, perched dominantly high above the Danube, is the Greek looking temple called Walhalla. Inspired by the ancient Parthenon in Athens, this was in fact built in the 19th century by the Bavarian King Ludwig 1st, to remember great German speaking men and women and to inspire the nation.

We free camped two nights along the river - in what we thought we're idyllic spots: beaches for dipping in the water, trees and shade. Even the Bavarian shepherd agreed..

that was until...dusk. Now, we've both visited our fair share of tropical countries, but neither of us have encountered such a viscous and frenzied attack from so many mosquitoes at once, and dusk only lasts for half an hour there. Within seconds every inch of skin was covered, and clothing didn't stop them either. With one slap of the hand you could eliminate at least ten of them. The only respite was to put up the tent and sweat inside it until about 10pm.
I have to plug a product here -Incognito mosquito repellent. All natural and won all sorts of awards and better than deet products, so they told us, and really, these mozzies didn't like it at all, so I highly recommend it.

Passau, the city on three rivers, is near the Austrian and Czech border. The Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers meet here, as do the many river boat cruises that pass up and down. And somewhere beyond there we entered into Austria, but there was no fanfare, flag or even sign, so we're not really sure where it happened...

Hair Care 3

Hello.
It's been 36 days since my last hair wash.
I have to inform you that last time I misinformed you.
My hair was not at its most mankiest. It got mankier. It became more of a thick, sticky mess, harder to brush and definitely benefited from a good rinse due to the hot and sweaty weather we've been experiencing. Steve even noticed a faintly unpleasant odour emanating from it if he got too close. I overcame the urge to wash it - mainly due to the fact that I am not carrying any shampoo - and I think we've finally turned the corner now.

I have once again proved my dedication to the cause whilst staying in Munich, in civilization, with clean, fresh smells and hair products to hand, and have resisted all temptation to wash those so called self-cleaning oils down the plughole.
I will continue to persevere...

Steve on the BBC (Bavarian Bicycle Culture)

 This guy has definitely been riding too long...

Now we are following the Danube and experiencing some tougher riding conditions, ie hills, it has become apparent that the German equivalent to a French "Peleton" is oh so different.
They can be spotted ahead. Usually in groups of four or six, going your way.
Small, smart clip-on boxes, upright riding position, all fingerless gloves and deck shoes. Chattering, seemingly unaware to our approach.
No way through as they spread out. A quick "parp" on my newly acquired horn. A gap reluctantly opens and we slip by.
As we pass the free bus-pass gang, we note soft pastel colours with the odd splash of sensible dayglo, no spandex or Lycra, but still evidence of one or two Bratwurst lunches too many, blue rinses and flowery blouses - and that's just the men...
As we round the next bend - disaster strikes.
A hill!
OK, not too bad. Down the gears and get into it, bottom gear, steady climb.
Then it happens.
1, 2, 3, 4.
One by one the new hip gang slide past, triumphantly. Effortlessly pedalling. Is that smugness I detect?
How can this be?
Here we are, legs and lungs straining, youth (ahem) on our side.
There they are, old enough to prefer cocoa and a custard cream to beer and crisps. But, wise enough to have embraced the new era of riding...
Electric bikes!
Every man and his dachshund has got one. It's amazing what a plug socket and half a dozen triple A's can do for you. The epitome of two wheel motion has arrived, along with it feelings of jealousy and loathing.
Five minutes later, still gasping, we catch them up. There they are, spread out, breathing normally, pulses steady, discussing prescriptions.
I "parp" my horn again...

Days 28-33

If I asked you where
Albert Einstein was born,
I bet you wouldn't say
In the city of Ulm.

Schaffhausen to Gunzburg - kms - who's counting?

As we continued from Schaffhausen, the painted houses in the town of Stein-am-Rhine were spectacular.

We followed the ever widening Rhine into Lake Constance, and stumbled across a campsite on the lake with a flea market in full swing and a band called the Rockadiles about to start their set, which lasted about 5 hours! It was a no-brainer to stay there. As seems the theme in Germany so far, we were the only tent and camping bikers, everyone else staying in large caravans or guest houses.

The source of the Danube is in Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest, and we picked up the trail a little further along in Tuttlingen, where the Danube is still little more than a stream.

Now, I know I said way back in the Loire Valley that I wasn't going to harp on about the stunning scenery, but this part of the Danube Valley is something else. The trail alone is exciting, cutting through forests with some very decent climbs (some even had Steve pushing his bike due to lack of bottom gear), and freewheeling down the other side to join back up with the babbling river, and the dizzying cliffs that surround you. Truly spectacular.

Fairytale towns like Sigmaringen are dotted along the route, with houses more like you'd imagine in Switzerland - long, sharp-angled roofs and painted wooden beams. Or maybe that's just more Bavarian?

After one month puncture-free, Steve had 3 in 2 days. Two within an hour of each other! The area is full of bike and hiking trails, and canoes are for hire for those who prefer to travel on the water.
The Swabian Jura is a range of karst-limestone mountains riddled with caves, where the very earliest art objects and musical instruments known to man were fashioned. It is a bit hard to take heavily laden bikes up to caves, so we're just taking their word for it!

Further along the Danube you come to Ehingen, famously known as the beer culture city where you can take a tour around the breweries and beer shops. We arrived with the afternoon heat and most things were shut until later, so we sampled a cold beer, (I'm learning rapidly this is NOT a good idea when you've still got pedaling in the heat to do), and we went on to find somewhere to camp, with access to a quick dip in the chilly but refreshing river.

And so onto Ulm. Home of the tallest church spire in the world. 161.5 metres high. 768 steps take you to the top level at 143 metres. And I know, because I climbed it! Steve's knees, which are of a slightly older generation than mine, decided (probably wisely) against it. But honestly, what an experience.
The narrow spiral stone stairs make you dizzy and slightly claustrophobic as they wind their way up to the heavens. And just as I passed the bells, they chimed midday! It was deafening, and the vibrations nearly knocked me off my step!
Right up until the very top, this Gothic style Lutheran church has intricately carved stonework, and is unimaginable as to how it ever got built. The main steeple was finally finished in 1890 - 613 years after building began!
Photos do it no justice, but here's one anyway.

We are now taking a little detour from our route, and going to visit our dear friend Kristin and her family in Munich for a few days. We will have a much needed rest, and we've got a good few years to catch up on!

Steve's Musings...

In the last month, whether we visited a campsite or free-camped beside the river, I have to report increasing cases of undesirable visitors to our tent. All manner of unwanted local wildlife seem to want to share our living space. The pesky creatures start to arrive at dusk and continue their attempts until dawn. Desperate for a dry shelter, eager for a warm fold of sleeping bag or skin, or a tuft of hair to nestle in. Midges, beetles, caterpillars, ants, spiders, flies...oh, and slugs.

Slugs can be a particular problem as through their folly they can meet their untimely demise after being rolled on by a heavy, warm human. Peeling the soggy remains from ones clothing or skin can be a rather unpleasant task.

Most of the interlopers have checked out by morning, with just the odd carcass remaining.

And talking of wildlife, did you know that France has a bird that will seek out your tent, perch in the nearest tree, wait until about 11pm and start singing until dawn. Not an unpleasant little ditty at first, its cheerfull tune lasts around 9-10 seconds. Then it repeats it. And again. And so on...
Now, as most people know, I appreciate music, but in my waking hours I've worked out that by 7am it has tweeted its poxy tune 2160 times. A bit like being Robinson Crusoe with only one Justin Bieber record to play. The worst part is, the same bird follows you all day, and hides, soundless until 7pm the next night, when it fires up again.
Anyone got any earplugs?

 I'm not even going to mention the hitch-hiking moles...

Days 20-27

Finally the sun came out
And blimey, did it shine.
Two hot and sweaty cyclists
Had to cool down in the Rhine!

Dole to Schaffhausen - ? a lot of kms. Total so far +/- 1200kms!!

First, a little comparison on the rivers...
Our first river, La Loire, as I've mentioned, is wild and untamed - slightly furious perhaps. La (feminine) Loire could definitely be thought of as a little premenstrual and unpredictable at times.
La Saone could be her younger sister, but we only crisscrossed her for a few days -not really long enough to get to know her very well.
Le (masculine) Doubs on the other hand, is like a kind, comfortable old grandad. Sure and steady he bumbles along, big, heavy and slow. So gentle, lily pads grow along his waters edge. He generously nurtures the canal that runs parallel to him, sharing his water as they join together often,ensuring the canal is always full enough for its many locks to function. However, we have left him too, and now greeted the Rhine.

The scenery changes dramatically down this end of France. It's a lot more "Sound of Music" with hills covered in wild flowers, mountains carpeted in forests, more rural and sparsely populated.

Besancon is quite a stunning town in its architecture, with its citadel -a UNESCO world heritage site- perched precariously high above the town, but unfortunately the thunderstorms prevented us doing much more than having a tram ride and a beer.
The weather is still making things hard, but not as hard for us as the Dutch couple we met who are also biking and camping with their 3 year old son riding in a trailer for 3 months. All credit to them!

We finally enjoyed our first T-shirt day and the novelty of packing up a dry tent and taking a leisurely lunch in the shade, and after a long, gradual climb we free-wheeled down 15 or more canal locks before finding a good campsite along the canal.

We headed into Mulhouse the next morning so Steve could visit the world renowned car museum. It is home to the world's biggest collection of Bugattis, and also houses cars from their very conception from the late 19th century, throughout the last century, including road-going vehicles and racing vehicles.

The weather got ridiculously hot as we crossed the Rhine into Switzerland, or was it Germany? The border between these two countries is very confusing, and we continued crisscrossing between these two countries for most of the day.

The Swiss part from Basel was slightly disappointing, traversing through chemical factories, recycling centres, quarries, industries, agriculture and a nuclear power plant!

But the forested parts were lovely, and we found a great spot on the Rhine to camp, and bathe in the icy water to cool off our overheated and sun crisped skin!

We are now in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, home of the Rhinefall, Europe's largest waterfall. Did you know that the eel is the only fish that can overcome the obstacle of the falls when swimming upstream? No, I didn't either!

We are in a very nice (but expensive, as everything is in Switzerland) campsite and have had a much needed rest day. Of course it turned cold and rained all day, but Schaffhausen and its beautiful buildings kept us amused all day.

And an even greater surprise was meeting up with our friend Dave, who managed to arrange his business trip around our route so he could come and visit us, and restock our energy levels with good food, drink and chatter. Cheers Dave!

Hair Care 2

Hello.
It's been 24 days since my last hair wash.
I feel OK. My hair feels OK too. Thicker than normal (which is no bad thing), and a little sticky to touch, but no unwanted smells or wildlife.
I have wet it a few times in the shower now, where a good old head massage feels great.
I bought a cheap Tangle Teaser brush before we left, and in the old days -when I shampooed and conditioned my hair and it was soft and fine - it's unforgiving (and unbendable) teeth would bring tears to my eyes. Now I find the scalp-scraping a rather pleasant sensation.
If my 6 week reckoning is correct, then I'm just over halfway, meaning my hair should be just about at it's most mankiest.

Now you make your own minds up, but I know I've had a lot worse bad-hair days when it was clean.
I will persevere...

Steve's Observations

So there we were, warm and sunny for a change. Cycling along the flat, smooth, undulating, beauteous canal towpath in the region of Burgundy. Several canal bridges to see, plenty of locks to observe, meandering along enjoying the moment.
Then we saw them. Coming towards us.
Winding, snaking, like a train. At speed.
Ten, maybe twelve cyclists, legs pumping, arms tucked in, handlebar moustaches resting just above their handlebars.

Le Peleton. Mon Dieu!!

French culture. An obsession?
We sat up, anticipated, raised a hand in a gesture of two-wheel allegiance.
"Bonjour!"
Nothing. The merest glimmer of acknowledgment - a faint nod. Concentration and determination on their faces.
Then they were gone.
A blur of Lycra and carbon fibre. A flash of a paunch. A whiff of eau de cologne in the slipstream.
We settled back to our normal pace, wondering which one of us would be wearing the yellow jersey tonight.

Other characters we've encountered include the middle-aged single bloke, looking to intimidate us as he approaches with his vast array of state of the art equipment. Side bags, top bags, under bags, over bags, waterproof this, digital that. We shrink back, feeling like Steptoe and Son.

The young couples; organised, equipped, ache-free.

The day-tripper; silver-grey haired couples, matching branded gear, upright bikes that look like Brunel designed them, happy to talk about their 2km ride to the vineyard that day.

Then there are matching Lycra couples, couples on tandems, men on tandems, trailers, two-wheeled trailers, one-wheeled trailers, homemade trailers, pets in trailers, kids in trailers.

And finally there is the John Candy look alikes, who have forced themselves into Olga Korbut's leotard, perched on a knife-edged seat, all bulges and straining spandex. Distorted logos stretched across pulsating flesh.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the roller- bladers...

Days 13-19

When you drink your pasteurized milk
Semi-skimmed or whole,
Remember Louis Pasteur
Cause he was born in Dole.

Sancerre to Dole - 372kms

Well, what a week it's been, and this is the first chance to update you.

They call La Loire Europe's last untamed river, and in the eastern section you can see why. She's wide and strong, depositing sand where she pleases creating islands, then sweeping them away at her will. She is unforgiving in her path, and swimming is strictly forbidden due to strong currents.

We were amazed to see our second canal bridge - almost as spectacular as the first although nothing was made of this one at all.

However, we soon lost count of the number we crossed, and now we barely raise an eyebrow - oh how familiarity breeds contempt!

I won't go into detail of the first 3 long, hard, cold days in the saddle, but just know that a lot of detouring took place looking for shops that were closed and campsites that didn't exist. Very short lunch breaks were taken to avoid fingers freezing onto camembert as the icy wind blew head-on.

We said au revoir to La Loire, and followed the Canal Lateral de La Loire for 3 days. One whole day climbing with the locks, and one day downhill all the way.

It is wide and meandering and full of large, interesting barges; some holidaying, some homes and some businesses.

The eurovelo 6 trail can be sketchy at times, especially with distances; sometimes halving or even doubling what the signs say, so we've taken a mixture of long, straight, endless roads, canal paths and the trail.
The weather continues to be horribly unsettled, so has also had a bearing on whether we take the shortest route or the scenic one.

After a freezing night under a canal bridge the skies cleared and the sun came out.

The wind was behind us for a change and we decided to make the most of it as the next day was forecast rain again. It was our fourth long day, but as we crossed La Soane river, our sweaty, pounding hearts leapt at the thought of a campsite, finally, a hot shower and a cold beer.
Our sweaty, pounding hearts didn't imagine the campsite hadn't opened for the season yet!
We holed up under a huge weeping willow, sad in the knowledge that tomorrow wasn't going to be the pleasant rest day we had planned.

We managed to stay fairly dry for most of the 30kms to Seurre, and the next campsite, but had to shelter for 2 hours in a cafe until the rain eased enough to venture to the campsite.

Again today we arrived in Dole, just as the rain started.

It's not been all bad though, we've been luck enough to see beavers in the canal, and black bass, and have experienced 2 incredible acts of kindness that lifted our spirits:

1) Whilst having lunch one day a man came up to us carrying a box. It was a strawberry tart he'd bought that morning. He patted his tummy, said we looked like we needed the calories more than he did, and selflessly handed over his scrumptious cake. OMG it was DELICIOUS!

2) After walking half an hour from a campsite to the supermarket in heavy drizzle, we finished shopping and looked with dread at the now torrential rain. A woman approached us, babbling in French something about a boat. When we told her we we're camping she ushered us into her husband's car and they promptly drove us all the way back to the campsite. Neither party understood the other, but we parted like old friends!

Steve's Technical Talk

Without too much thought because of budget, and what we already had, decent hard tail mountain bikes seem almost perfect. Although there are plenty of smooth tarmac trails there are enough rougher tracks to warrant fat tyres and a bit of suspension. The stability is also good with the extra weight being carried.

Julia's bike is running 3×9 gearing, whilst mine has 1×10, which is proving fine, rarely needing more gears for uphills, as there aren't many (yet) or for going faster as you never seem to hit fast stuff either.

Although we've already replaced a tyre from a split, (I think it could have been there before we left), amazingly no punctures yet!!

Regular maintenance has been spoke tension, chain lube and checking free play in wheel bearings, bottom bracket and headstock.

To try to charge the phone I fitted an old fashioned dynamo with a handlebar mounted USB charge adaptor, theory being to charge whilst cycling. After fitting a second dynamo because the first one seized up, I'm still not getting a charge. Tried everything so far so rather frustrating.

It's going to be interesting what sort of tyre wear we get, along with disc pads and chains. We've done about 500kms so far so too early to say. We're averaging about 50kms a day, which doesn't sound too much, but by the time you de-camp in the morning, fire up the old girl, cycle, lunch, cycle and start looking for a good place to camp, the day is done. With some better weather we may improve. I'll keep you posted...

Days 8-12

Some days when you sit, you're bits seem to fit,
Some days they sit just to the side.
On the days that they fit, you can comfortably sit,
On the others you get a raw hide.

 

Amboise to Sancerre - 236kms

(And remember, I'm giving you the official distance on our map. We've obviously cycled A LOT more what with detouring, searching for food and campsites, and losing the trail!)

The route continues to be stunning, with lilac and wisteria still scenting the air, and scenery so idyllic you could almost be fooled into believing that the world is a perfect place, and the motor-car has yet to be invented. Only the weather is letting it down, and you can imagine the swirling dandelion seeds really are snowflakes!
We've been quite lucky so far in avoiding actually getting soaked, but sheltering in bus stops and under trees is not much fun, especially not with an icy wind.

We arrived in the town of Blois, and stopped for lunch in the square where there were some big trees, (just in case), and bought some homemade cakes of theses lads who were raising money to enter the Muguet 4L Trophy. Its a race from here to Morocco in a Renault 4 (or similar old banger) and taking needed equipment for schools down there.

(The one in the fancy top is Moroccan, the others dressed like Frenchmen, were French.)
As we ate our cakes the trees came in handy because it hailed, yes HAILED on us! The boys made a hasty retreat in their car.

Our eurovelo 6 guide says that the city of Orleans is uninspiring, I beg to differ. The immense cathedral, built to commemorate the victory of Joan of Arc here in 1429 during the 100 Years War between England and France - is absolutely breathtaking. Did people in the middle ages do anything other than dedicate their lives to building numerous incredible cathedrals and châteaux?

Later, Steve decided to take us on a shortcut. It started out like a great idea...

...but the path got narrower, the camber got steeper, and as we went further off-piste my bike went off-path, and I went off-bike, and we both landed in a bed of thick brambles and stinging nettles!

Don't worry, nothing that my faithful salt water and calendula cream hasn't sorted!

Now, here is something pretty incredible (not just because it was our first hot, sunny day) - the canal bridge at Briare. Yes, that's right, a bridge built in 1894 to carry the canal over the river Loire! Quite a feat of engineering, by none other than that famous architect/engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.

Today we are holed up again, waiting for the rain to pass. We did manage to cycle the 5kms uphill to the ancient town of Sancerre, the centre of the Sauvignon blanc wine growing region, and got to sample some very tasty regional wines.

Fingers crossed for some dry weather tomorrow.

Hair Care

Hello.
I'm trying out the not-washing-your-hair routine, so it can supposedly self clean.
It's been 13 days since my last hairwash.
I'm feeling OK about it at the moment.
In fact, I haven't even wet my hair under the shower, because it's too cold for wet hair and I didn't see the point if I wasn't shampooing.
I don't know if that's right or wrong, it's just what I've done.
It's looking pretty greasy...well, call it slick if you like, but the helmet keeps it hidden for most of the day.
The brush glides through it easily (not surprising) and I plait it everyday to keep it out of my way. There's no itchiness or bad smells, (not from my hair at least).
I've heard it takes about 6weeks before you get luscious locks.
I'll persevere for now...