Day 20 - St. Georgen, Austria - Riding along the beautiful Danube Again

Tony's View

What a beautiful ride along the Danube today. It was a relaxing and scenic 62 miles. There were a few very steep climbs, but overall it was a wonderful day. To be fair, those climbs were the result of my navigation errors, not the route's fault.

For the first time on this trip, the wind was actually at our backs, and it felt absolutely glorious. After days of fighting headwinds, it almost felt like the cycling gods had finally decided to cut us a break.

But before I get too far into today's ride, I have to talk about the descent into Linz. Those 18% downhill grades were no joke. The steep drop, combined with tight switchbacks and occasionally rough roads, made for a very exciting ride, and by exciting, I mean slightly terrifying. I was squeezing the disc brakes so hard they were squealing loudly enough for people to hear us coming long before they saw us. Every pedestrian who turned their head probably thought a freight train was coming down the mountain. There were definitely a few moments when I was more than a little nervous.

And then there was Joan. Imagine being seated in front with no control over the bike and relying entirely on the person behind you to keep things under control. That's a situation nobody volunteers for, yet there she was trusting me not to send us both into the next county.

Another thing that comes to mind is Isaiah from Choice One. He talks about doing days with huge climbs and big mileage for fun on a Saturday morning. He's probably reading this blog right now and thinking, "What a couple of wimps."

Of course, to put things into perspective, Isaiah rides a super-lightweight Canyon road bike with no luggage attached. He's also lightweight, in great shape, and probably flies uphill faster than I ride on flat ground with a tailwind. Meanwhile, Joan and I are hauling ourselves, our gear, and enough supplies to survive a small expedition. Under those circumstances, I think we're allowed a little drama over an 18% descent!

As we were riding along the bike path, I spotted some wild hops growing nearby. Being a beer lover, I had no choice but to stop and investigate.

I picked a few cones and took a moment to enjoy their wonderful aroma. The sweet, familiar smell instantly reminded me of a brew day back home. For a brief moment, I considered carrying them with me for the rest of the trip just so I could enjoy that wonderful hop aroma along the way. In the end, practicality won out. As much as I loved the smell, I decided not to haul a handful of wild hops across Austria. They were returned to nature, and I continued down the trail smelling slightly less like a brewery than I had hoped. 🍺

Here are a few of the first beautiful views from our ride today. As always, the pictures don't do us justice... or the scenery, for that matter. We saw a lot of people fishing today. This must be a great fishing spot, Bud!

I talked Joan into stopping at the Mauthausen Memorial again, the one we visited the last time we rode this route. Since I hadn't added it to our Komoot route, I pulled it up on Google Maps when we got close. I handed the phone to Joan and confidently said, "Let's just follow the phone." Well, that brilliant plan led us up a steep hill... and then the navigation stopped making sense. While I was standing there trying to catch my breath, I looked at the phone and realized my mistake. I had forgotten to type in "Memorial."

Dang it. Wrong destination, one unnecessary mountain-climbing expedition, and a serious blow to my reputation as the navigation expert. After that little debacle, I decided the Memorial would have to wait for another day. My lungs had already visited enough historical sites for one afternoon. 😄

 While we were sitting at the top of the hill wondering where to go now, an older gentleman came out to help us. The only problem was that he only spoke German. Joan immediately switched into German mode and started chatting away with him. He listened to our story, then said, "Wait," disappeared for a minute, and came back with a map so he could show us exactly how to get to the Memorial. I told him we were going to skip it since we'd already managed to miss it and accidentally added a bonus mountain climb to our ride. Joan explained that we'd been there before anyway, and he seemed perfectly satisfied with that explanation. Yet another example of how friendly and helpful people are around here. The man didn't know us from Adam, but he was ready to become our personal tour guide.

We then started heading back down the steep hill, carefully enjoying our hard-earned gravity assist, only to have to stop halfway down to wait for a delivery guy. After all that effort climbing, it seemed only fair that something would prevent us from fully enjoying the ride back down! 😂

Here Joan is inside a fish, just like the one in the story below. So for today, she shall no longer be known as Joan. From this moment forward, she is Jonah.

After surviving wrong turns, unnecessary mountain climbs, and my award-winning navigation skills, it seems only fitting that she has now entered her prophet phase. Unlike the original Jonah, however, she didn't spend three days in the fish. She just posed for a photo and escaped before the fish started charging admission.

So today we ride with a famous prophet among us. Joan is temporarily retired, and Jonah the Cycling Prophet has taken her place. 😂

More beautiful Danube pictures that I'm sure you aren't nearly as impressed with as we are. But that's okay. You're getting them anyway. 😄

We came across this tower and Joan asked, "Do you want to climb it?" I immediately said, "Absolutely!" Not because I had any special interest in the tower, mind you. It was because there wasn't a payment kiosk at the bottom. Up I went, huffing and puffing my way to the top. Joan stayed below long enough to preserve her energy, then took a picture of me standing at the summit looking much more athletic than I actually felt.

Here's a picture of me looking down at Joan from the top of the tower. From up there, they had one of those really cool telescopes that identified all the mountains in the distance. You'd look through it, and instead of just guessing what you were seeing, it would show the mountain names right on the view.

Of course, the first thing I started looking for was ski areas. I would bet there are some great ski slopes out there, but I didn't recognize any of the mountain names. Then again, Dan and I will be skiing in the Swiss and French Alps this coming January, so those are the names I'm trying to memorize.

I had to take a picture of this because it was basically an advertisement for a contractor who could install one of these towers for you.

That's right. If you've ever looked out into your backyard and thought, "You know what this place needs? A giant observation tower,"apparently there's a guy for that. "See this tower? We can put one in your yard."

I have to admit, I was intrigued. Imagine the possibilities. Instead of asking the neighbors over for a barbecue, you could invite them up to your personal observation deck to survey the countryside.

We found a great Biergarten about halfway through today's ride. It was located right next to one of the many hydroelectric plants along the Danube, complete with the massive locks that help all those cruise boats make their way up and down the river. The real selling point wasn't the engineering marvel. It was the picnic tables in the shade.

After spending hours on bikes, shade instantly becomes one of life's greatest luxuries. Forget five-star hotels. Give cyclists a cold drink, a picnic table, and a tree blocking the sun, and we'll rave about the place for years. So there we sat, enjoying our refreshments.

This is the same place that we ate 6 years ago, so we had to stop. We were on the top deck and the bike was on the edge of the bicycle path. I am getting up so often to keep an eye on it.

Here is the beautiful view from our table

While we were eating, there was a cruise ship docked nearby. At some point it pulled away from the dock, headed upstream around the bend, and then apparently changed its mind. A little while later it turned around and started heading downstream. We finished our lunch and generously gave the boat a head start. That was very thoughtful of us. Unfortunately for the cruise ship, we had a strong tailwind today. Before long, we caught up to it and blew right past it like it was standing still.

There is something deeply satisfying about passing a vessel carrying hundreds of people while riding a bicycle. I can only imagine what the passengers were thinking:

"Look, Martha, we're being overtaken by cyclists."

"Not just cyclists... senior cyclists." 😆

For a brief moment, Joan and I felt like world-class racers. Never mind that our amazing speed may have been sponsored almost entirely by Mother Nature and a strong wind at our backs. We still counted it as a victory. The cruise ship had engines, a captain, and a crew. We had sandwiches, determination, and a tailwind. Advantage: senior cyclists. 😂

This truck was completely blocking the bike path. The driver was actually trying to get out of our way, but traffic was so heavy that nobody would let him pull out. So there we stood, waiting patiently while he waited patiently, and the cars kept rolling by as if none of us had places to be. Joan then pointed to the name on the top of the truck and said, "Get a picture of that!" The sign said Lucky Luke. Naturally, that caught Joan's attention. After all, her grandson Luke seems to be a pretty lucky guy, since he beats Grandma in games and cards 😂

After we got settled into the Airbnb, I decided there was one more important mission for the day: finding a good local Austrian wine. So I hopped back on the bike and headed into town in search of liquid refreshments and cultural enrichment.

Since I was up on the hillside road, I had a great view of Melk Abbey, and I managed to get this picture of it. We toured the Abbey the last time we were here, so it was nice to see it again from a different perspective. The Abbey is impressive enough when you're standing in it, but seeing it perched above the town from a distance really reminds you why it's one of the most recognizable landmarks along the Danube. Of course, while the Abbey was the official sightseeing objective, the wine search remained my primary mission.I'm happy to report that the expedition was a complete success. The bike survived the trip, I got a nice picture of Melk Abbey, and most importantly, I located a good local Austrian wine.

Some people end their cycling days with stretching and recovery exercises. I prefer to support the local economy. 😆

All in all, it was a very productive day. History, culture, exercise, and wine. That's what I call a well-rounded day. Cheers! 😂

Joan's Extras

Plenty of sights looked familiar today, but it is a different perspective from last time. We have so many more cycling experiences under our tires now that we can appreciate this area even more. 

We passed probably hundreds of roadside shrines the last few days. I sort of remember this one from last time, but we didn't stop. I got Tony to do a fast brake today so that I could climb up and check this one out.

Tonight our place is up this steep hill the small town of St. Georgen near Melk. We had to lean back to get down the hill for dinner at one of the only restaurants nearby, and then lean forward to get back up the steep hill. The houses are ancient and my thoughts go to the poor horses that had to pull wagons full of farm supplies up these hills. There had to be a valid reason for someone to build these houses up so high.

Our place tonight is very unusual comparing it to all the Airbnbs that we have used over the years. We have most of this really old house, with steps up or down to every room, and it's decorated to look like a castle. I'm grateful there is a St. Francis hanging on the wall. 💟