12 June, 2015

What a perfect day for a bike ride.  The sun has been streaming in through our hotel window since before 6am.  When we get going we find that there is no wind at all.  The cycling feels easy because we have got used to battling a headwind.  We snap a picture of the Neuburg Palace and the Grünau hunting palace as we leave and head towards Ingolstadt.

The first 20 kilometres or so fly by as we ride through magnificent mature, deciduous woodland dappled with sunshine.  We arrive at Ingolstadt and follow the riverside path which takes us past some beautiful gardens with herbaceous borders in full flower.

We crossed a bridge of locks, where couples lock engraved padlocks to the ironwork as a love token, before continuing along the riverside.

The remainder of the ride is spent alongside the Danube riding on top of the flood defence dyke, giving great views of the river and the surrounding countryside.  As we pass through one village we see a maypole of gargantuan proportions;  we have seen many of these as we have cycled through Germany, but this definitely takes the prize for the tallest.  They consist of a pine tree trunk stripped of its branches leaving just the very top portion of tree, with decorations hung below.

As the day wears on the temperature rises, hitting something like 28°c. Fortunately, the hordes of mosquitoes seem to have dispersed today – there are a few but nothing like as bad as yesterday.

As we approach the last part of the ride we take the advice of our guide to the route and take a 5 kilometre boat ride on the Danube up the gorge, the Franconian Jura, giving the best views of the dramatic scenery.  It is possible to ride the bikes around the gorge on a rough forest track up over the mountain, but with heat of the day building up, the ride on the water made a welcome change.

Once off the boat we immediately saw a signpost which showed a campsite 5 kilometres down the cycle path.  We decided to take a look.  It seemed relatively free of mosquitoes; my legs are in no state to face any more mosquitoes.   So we pitched the tent, bought two bottles of local beer from the farmer running the site and waited for it to cool off.  Unfortunately, we had been lulled into a false sense of security as far as the mosquitoes were concerned, the hordes emerged as the sun started to go down.  Having taken evasive action with long sleeved tops and long trousers, we got bitten on our faces and the backs of our hands.  Looks like gloves and balaclavas are required!