Countries visited: Germany, Austria
Cycled mileage in April: 1,236.7km
Cycled mileage per country: 932.4km Germany, 304.3km Austria
Total cycled mileage incl. April: 1,236.7km
April mileage not cycled 5.1km (walking)
Days per country: 12d - Germany, 3d - Austria
Days cycling: 14d
Technical failures: N/A
Link to this month's route
Cycled mileage in April: 1,236.7km
Cycled mileage per country: 932.4km Germany, 304.3km Austria
Total cycled mileage incl. April: 1,236.7km
April mileage not cycled 5.1km (walking)
Days per country: 12d - Germany, 3d - Austria
Days cycling: 14d
Technical failures: N/A
Link to this month's route
We are on the road for more than two weeks now - time to think back to the first days of our journey. On April 16th both our families met in Dominik's birth town Langenfeld. We had an early breakfast together and quickly it was time to say goodbye. There were some tears and we left with rather mixed emotions. The journey had been planned for so long but still it felt surreal to think about where we were heading to.
There wasn't much talking as we set off and rode along all the places that we consider home and that we were about to leave behind for an unknown time. Eventually we reached Cologne and it was time for the first picture of the day.
There wasn't much talking as we set off and rode along all the places that we consider home and that we were about to leave behind for an unknown time. Eventually we reached Cologne and it was time for the first picture of the day.
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| Farewell Cologne! |
After Cologne the grey weather cleared up a bit and the remaining kilometres to Bad Honnef went by soon. We stayed with Simon's cousin for the night.
Our second day on the road was the first day that felt like travelling really. We enjoyed the ride along the Rhine with all its picturesque villages and called it a day when we reached Lorelei Rock.
Our second day on the road was the first day that felt like travelling really. We enjoyed the ride along the Rhine with all its picturesque villages and called it a day when we reached Lorelei Rock.
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| Bridge of Remagen |
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| Campsite next to the Lorelei Rock |
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| Lorlei Rock on a foggy morning |
After a foggy morning we reached Wiesbaden in bright sunshine. We stayed with friends of Simon in a pretty cool villa.
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| Cycling down the Rhine |
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| Pfalzgrafenstein Castle |
After the hills on the way to Wiesbaden the day before we opted for a rather flat and uneventful route along the Main river to historic Woerth.
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| Camping in Woerth, our first stop at the Main river |
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| Historic building in Woerth |
The next day we passed through famous Miltenberg. We kept on the touristy side from there and stayed in Wuerzburg for the night.
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| Centre of Miltenberg |
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| Lunch somewhere near Würzburg |
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| Old Bridge in Würzburg |
The next day we made it to picturesque Rothenburg. It was there that we decided to bypass Nuremberg and followe the Altmuehl Cycle Route instead. The Altmuehl is a small river that ultimately flows into the Danube - all set for the next days of cycling!
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| View out of our tent on the camp site in Rothenburg |
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| Strolling through Rothenburg |
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| Lots of medieval buildings |
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| Detwang near Rothenburg... |
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| ...old church and graveyard |
Unfortunately the weather got worse and worse with every day that we followed the Altmuehl. Not much to say about this stretch. In good weather it would have been an awesome ride though!
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| Somewhere near Gunzenhausen |
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| Castle Pappenburg |
Once we reached the Danube the rain turned into snow and hail and we decided to hide out in famous Regensburg.
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| Beautiful Regensburg! |
Two days later the weather had finally cleared up slightly even though it was considerably cooler than before. We bashed out the longest day so far with more than 100 kilometres and celebrated Simon's birthday in Deggendorf. After a short stop in Passau we crossed the German - Austrian border on April 28th. Quite exciting!
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| "Beer Cycle Trail" near Passau |
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| View of Passau |
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| Crossing the border to Austria |
In mostly sunny weather we made it to Linz on our second day in Austria.
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| Strolling around Linz |
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| Lunch on the camp site near Linz |
The next day was still sunny but with unrelenting headwind. When we reached the famous Melk monastery we were shattered. Melk felt like a good place to finish April, though.
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| Melk monastery |
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| Melk old town |
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| Camp site near Melk |
