An excellent day, probably the best since Schaffhausen.
Today had hills, open vistas and pleasant, shady deciduous woodland , paved
secondary roads and gravelled off-road tracks, beautiful villages and the city
of Donauwurth.
The Marktplatz in Gunzburg was sparkling in the early
morning sun and after an excellent breakfast we were away before nine, leaving
Katherine and Magali to send the blogs and answer WATU emails in the hotel.
We opted for the south side of the river and climbed out of
Gunzburg, enjoying wide views over the Bavarian forests but also in the
distance the (to me) ominous dome and looming cooling towers of the Gundremmingen
nuclear power station. We skirted Gundelfingen , passing through high corn
fields into Lavingen, a much bigger town than I had expected with a bustling
main street. We descended to the Segrepromenade which wound through the trees
on the very bank of the river as far as Dillingen, a spectacularly handsome
town.
At Hochstadt it was
tempting to follow what we assumed was a cycle track by the side of the main
road, 9 kms shorter than the “cross country” route. We were glad, though, that
we resisted the temptation, as the longer route by Gremheim, , and especially
the empty country lanes through Rettingen and Zusum passed like a flash as we
enjoyed a friendly tail wind.
Signposting, almost for the first time since Schaffhausen,
leaves something to be desired in Donauwurth, but we followed the main road to
Merxheim with its excellent cycle path, except that a few kilometres short of
the town we nearly came to grief as, assuming our right of way at a junction
with a road coming in from the left, we were very nearly hit by a car. I had
been thinking that sooner or later something like this would happen. Cyclists
cross these junctions often at speed and without looking. An accident waiting
to happen; ironic considering the cycle paths are intended to make life safer
for cyclists. Two more incidents before Neuberg: first in the woods on a wide
track after Merxheim a 4WD came upon us at speed round a sharp bend, and then
later on the more open but narrow farm roads through the high corn a similar
vehicle with a similarly impatient driver, squeezed passed us almost without
slowing.
We thought we would take a short cut through the woods after
Merxheim but became inexplicably lost only to find ourselves on the levee, the
Eurovelo 6 route along the north bank of the river. We were suddenly conscious
of how the river had grown since Riedlingen. It was certainly no longer innocuous but scores of metres across moving
surprisingly quickly towards the Black
Sea. The remaining kilometres passed swiftly as we approached Neuburg with its
impressive castle rising above the other buildings.
Postscript: our campsite in Neuburg is acceptable but no
more than that. Much the same as our previous two. Where have those magnificent
French campsites gone?
105 kms Total from
Schaffhausen 335 kms Total from Galway
2241 kms
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