August 30th Stage 32 Passau to Au am Donau. 128 kms.
A long, interesting day of cycling maybe more difficult for
Katherine in the “vehicule d’assistance” than it was for me. Our first meeting
point was the bridge at Niederanna which required Katherine to take the south
bank route and enter Austria almost immediately whilst I cycled the much more
convenient north bank route passing through the border after the enormous
barrage at Jochenstein. The north
bank route follows the main road on a good cycle track for 10 or so kilometres,
then a minor road, finally crossing the insignificant border on a good track. I decided to cross to the south side over the
bridge at Niederanna which was probably a mistake, the Austrian road being
busier than I had anticipated with hills and roadworks to boot. The north side
route was clearly quieter with the attraction of the ferry crossing at Schlogen.
Being determined, as I have already said, to cycle the whole way to the Black
Sea, I eschewed all of the available river ferry possibilities today, and I
think I made the right decision because the thirty or so kilometres on the
south bank between Schlogen and Aschach (the famous Schlogen loop) were some of
the most delightful touring kilometres imaginable. The river twists and turns
on itself dramatically and the paved, traffic-free road hugs the shoreline. The
views of the wooded hills of the opposite shore, the tiny villages clustered at
the ends of the tributary valleys, and the occasional ruined castle is highly
romantic. I could have gone on for ever and was a little disappointed to leave
the pretty valley for the beginning of the open plains at Aschach, a town that
has clearly seen better times when barge building was at its prime.
The next twenty or so kilometres towards Linz were pleasant
enough along the track by the side of the river but just before Wilhering I
thought I would switch to the north shore. Dipping down into pleasant birch
woods I was soon at the Ottensheim ferry and pulled quickly across the river
which is surprisingly narrow at this point. It was disconcerting, though, to
ride through the suburbs towards the city of Linz, admittedly on a good cycle
track but on the left side of the road and, therefore, into the streams of heavy,
fast, rush-hour traffic coming towards me. I was glad when the city arrived and
a wide promenade gave impressive views
of the imposing, almost austere buildings of Linz on the other side of the
river. Once under the autoroute bridge the city showed perhaps its true face.
First a lively fair-cum-market and then an immense area of pleasing parkland in which people of all
shapes and sizes were engaged in all manner of physical exercise.
I met Katherine at the camp site at Pleschingersee but we
decided to keep going partly because tomorrow we will need to be in Melk in
good time to visit the famous abbey, and Melk was still more than 100
kilometres away. I was feeling fit and it would perhaps be as well to knock off
a few more kilometres before calling it a day. But the scenery was not conducive
to energizing the spirits. Across the river was the most industrial scenery
since Basle but, unfortunately perhaps, without the Swiss tidiness. I began to
feel tired when a large powerfully built man, half my age, cruised past me on a
mountain bike. I couldn’t resist tucking in behind him and for nearly ten
kilometres we tore along the top of the unprepossessing levee. It was just what
I needed to give me second wind and thanking my companion at Anwinder (where
evidently his regular training run finished) I completed the last 15 kms in
fine fettle. Katherine had found a lovely campsite at Au and we enjoyed large
beer gazing out over the immense river under a gathering full moon to the hint
of mountains in the far distance.
128 kms Total from
Schaffhausen 708 kms Total from Galway
2614 kms
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