Keeping abreast of things...

And so I finally threw all my toys out of the pram, amongst them the dynamo, which you may remember was originally employed as a source of power to charge my rather thirsty phone whilst cycling.
No medals or awards have been forth coming for my ceaseless efforts in trying to extract the odd volt, amp or watt from this miserable device, but someone still might recognise my efforts...

So it was our saviour, and very own man from Del-Monte, Dave, who swooped into Vienna in his large silver bird and like a caped crusader brought the solution in his gloved hand.
No, not an enormous extension cable, but a shiny new portable, foldable, carriable, put-in-the-panniers-able solar panel charger.
And hey ho...it works a treat! Well, in the sun, of course, and we do seem to be getting our fair share.
Cheers Dave!

Talking of Vienna, our final approach into this astonishing city occurred on a Sunday, when every Austrian in the whole country got their bikes out and took a ride on the Euro Velo 6 in the opposite direction to us.
Mums, dads, kids, grannies, dogs, 3-wheelers, 1-wheelers, tandems, skaters, all charged towards us with no particular lane in mind. An endless army of Sunday thrill-seekers.

If you've ever watched the slalom on ski-Sunday, well, that was how we rode. 10kms, 20kms, it's a blur...

To compound the hazards in our path and also enjoying the Sunday route, are the great clouds of midges that hover at head height, temporarily blinding anyone travelling through them. Also, if the unprepared rider has failed to do a spot of man-scaping, and shaved his arms and legs, these tiny aerial annoyances will stick like chocolate sprinkles on a Mr Whippy ice cream, especially if you've liberally smothered on the old factor 30 prior to leaving.
I observed many a serious rider sporting the fashionable trend of shaved limbs to avoid this phenomenon.
(I'd always assumed it was to gain speed...)

I arrived in Vienna looking like Velcro-Man.

Mind you, by the look of the hairy bikers we shared that night's campsite with, I think man-scaping could be a good topic to bring up over the campfire.

Now, where did I put my razor...?