Bridge over Meuse in Ardennes
Bridge over Meuse in Ardennes
  • All roads lead to somewhere
    • 18/06/2022
Turns out that today I'm on or following the route of the via Claudia Augusta, a Roman road stretching from northern Germany to Verona.

Setting off with thunder approaching, first rain drops falling, a single cuckoo calls out from nearby, mocking.
Donner and blitzen, very exciting, but soon passes and all dried out within no time, back to the baking sun.

Next village has a trail of grass clippings from church to Christ on a cross, brass band ready to go. Is it a wedding tradition or is there a Jun 16th something else? Oh. Its a south Germany public holiday, Corpus Christi. All shops are closed, and the entire population seems to be riding towards me on their electric mountain bikes... Annnd a dodgeball tournament?

Saw a bloke walking down the street with a surfboard the other day, which I thought a bit odd, but now understand why - can surf in rivers by holding onto a rope hanging from a bridge

The river still being the Lech -
Escape the baking sun with a jugenherberge in Augsburg, a city with UNESCO recognition for its use of waterways to power mills for its fabric industry - rather than benign canals, water rushes through the city centre at high speed along a network of channels.

Onward scenery is fairly unremarkable countryside. Pick your own strawberries.
A hare.

Cigarette machines everywhere, and they even sell them at the checkout at lidl

May poles, blue and white stripey everywhere

Storks on pole, storks on roofs, storks in fields, carefully stalking through the crop stalks

New babies announced by huge proclamatory placards outside the houses

Still sunny
Reached Danube. Got in it. Very refreshing

Free campsite by the river, supposed to be just for canoeists and cyclists, but unfortunately the campervan brigade has found out about it.

Bloke with electric bike also heading for Sweden, he has a trailer for luggage with a big 150w solar panel on it to charge the spare bike battery as he goes (while its sunny anyway)

Catalogue of other long distance cyclists met so far: (not including those just following rivers)

Dutch lady bikepacking to venice
Lyon guy on way home
North German on shakedown with too much stuff, belt drive
Munich guy going to Madrid heading for klausenpass
Austrian lady recently set off for 3 months to Baltics and back
German guy also bike packing to Venice

Saturday
Still sunny.
Along the river, with detours to a couple of breweries, and a small boat ride to get down a bit where the Danube goes through a scenic gorge, with people diving in from weathered cliffs and sunbathing on pebbly beaches


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