Day 14

31/08/2011 – Day 14

Hӧchstӓdt to Ingolstadt – 99km

Breakfast was arranged for 8am and we thought it was coming to us, wrong! It was waiting for us in the kitchen of the main house. At 8:30 we had the landlady banging on the door asking where we were, a minor communication problem. Having said that, breakfast was filling and plentiful, she even laid out a small lunch for us to take.

Our objective today was Neuburg about 80km away so we set off at good pace. The first problem we came up against was the route had been closed for maintenance. This would normally be a disaster but here they put up diversion signs and plan a route round for you, it is so easy (apart from the usual problems of the signs being small and on posts hidden by bushes and only at the point of turning).

Once again we had the problem of finding somewhere for a coffee or something and it wasn’t until late morning that we arrived in Donauwӧrth where we were taken directly to the town centre. Here there were plenty of places to eat so we decided to stop. As we ordered pizza and beer another couple who we had been running into all morning pulled up and sat at the table next to us.

As with every stop I checked the map to see how far we had come and the way we were going next. In most cases there is not much detail but that is never usually a problem as the sign keep you right. Today it did matter, as we left the restaurant the route went through the town centre but there is a point where the road forks and nothing to tell you which way to go, so we cycled to the top of a steep set of steps, right in front of a crowded restaurant. Oops!

Have you ever noticed when it all goes horribly wrong there is always a crowd watching?

The next 20 or so kilometres were a series of steep up and down hills all next to or very close to a major road. With the bikes loaded with enough kit for a 3 month, 2500km journey there is a lot of first gear cycling. The down side of which is there is not much breeze to keep the sweat out of your eyes. The good news is that once you get to the top you can freewheel down and recover until the next big climb. There is little time to look around here as you are concentrating on the top of the next hill, but there is also not much to see as the road is there next to you.

We reached our objective, Neuburg, about 4pm and as we crossed the bridge there was an ice cream café right in front of us. Yippee! Stopping for a welcome rest we watch other cyclist pulling in and by the state of them they have come the same way we did. At one point a guy in his 70s or 80s stopped (wearing baggy lycra) and parked his bike with the rest. An electric bike loaded like all the others but at his age what can you say? You have to admit, when we are his age will we be able to still ride a bike, let alone tour on it!

The road out of Neuburg runs due east straight as an arrow, the plan was to stop at any house on this road to ask for rates and pick the best. And that was the end of that plan, at some point we took a wrong turn and ended up on the river again, without any houses. Once we realised the mistake there was no way out except to carry on to the end and try to re-join the route.

Looking at the map there was no option now but to make for Ingolstadt another 20km away, the only place we were likely to find somewhere to stay, but by the time we got there it was already getting dark. The easiest thing to do was to make for the campsite which we had been given directions too and pitch the tent. We had just enough light to put it up before we made our way to the restaurant for dinner. This time the site was very basic with no internet and little in the way of facilities, but they did have crazy golf (which seems to be very common here for some reason). So having eaten and had a few beers we settled down to feed the mosquitos for the night.