This was the easiest day so far. We completed 62 miles by 13:30 travelling along the Danube all the way. This is the first time we have used this path except for a few miles on previous days. The path travels a few metres from the Danube all the way. The first 45 miles or so are along a gorge with buildings, chapelks and chateaus growing out of the rocks here and there. Its nice to be surrounded by steep hills knowing that you don't have to go up and over them.
It was pleasing to stay on a serene, traffic-free cycle path today. In germany we were not comfortable using them as we tended to miss important road signs, slow ourselves down and end up on gravel tracks or, even worse, muddy farm tracks clogging up our mudguards. However, when we travelled on roads with a cycle alongside, we got frequent beeps from passing motorists to point out that we were breaking rules.
On the Danube way today we saw a large number of cz#ycle tourists for the first time. We were all rewarded with impressive scenery. In 2 places we had to cross the river on a small ferry to stay on the cycle path. After one crossing we saw a lone woman goatherding her flock of a dozen or so. I was half expecting to see the Vonn Trapp family appearing over a hill singing "Doe a Deer". A few miles further on we saw a man with a catapult on the river bank firing shots at swans. Not sure what that was all about.
Arriving in Linz, we got the usual traffic dust that sticks to your sun-tan lotion and makes you think your tan is deeper than it really is until you see it disappearing down the shower plug hole. The buildings are starting to look more Austro-Hungarian [Hapsburg emipre?] with more bulbous shapes at the tops of the towers. This evening we will be searching out the famous Linz chocolate cake to go with a cup of coffee.
Barry
Friday 31 July 2009
Day 13 Straubing to Passau, 60 miles
Sean here again, back on the bike as it is my last day with the family. I've actually had a bit of an adventure hitch-hiking along their route but I guess all thats for another blog. This morning we breakfasted with some sort of German scout group who were staying at our hostel, then hopped straight onto the bikes. Our first task was to find a bike shop and get Kirsty's saddle to stay in one place. At this small shop in Straubing's old centre I just about understood what the man was saying, a true Bayerner his accent was the German equivalent of Rab C. Nesbitt with no teeth and a bellyful of Tenants Super. Still he sorted it out ok and off we went.
I find that cycling, like all sports really, depends mainly on how you feel on any given day. If you feel settled and comfortable, and if conditions go your way, it actually becomes quite easy, no matter how far you have to go. The longest distance I've ever done was a bit like this but today was the perfect example. From the start we sped away from Straubing, with its cobbled streets and Eastern looking towers, a new architectural signpost towards Turkey, and raced away through the countryside. I felt invincible on the bike, once we had secured the saddle at the right height. Our average speed for the first few hours was around 16mph, not bad with a heavy load. After a pleasant stop in Degendorf, where I again encountered a strange country dialect, we were off again through glorious landscapes. A mountainous countryside always looks impressive from a bike, but it looks even better when you avoid all the mountains.
On the last stretch to Passau we switched onto the cycle path, which we'd basically avoided. Most of the last 25km or so passed by level with the Danube; the various fishermen, waterskiers and general ambience more then compensating for the slower, gritty tracks. As with cycling alongside mountains, we appreciated the rivers majesty more as we rode closer to its banks. When we crossed to join the main road to Passau an anonymous brass band suddenly piped up from somewhere in an old nineteenth century factory building, or maybe a boat below. Either way it was a fitting fanfare to a great day which, sadly, is my last on this tour. Our hostel in Passau was a lovely old flat run by a friendly Hungarian lady and filled with her kittens and antique furniture.
As I finish writing this my parents and big sis are on their way through Austria, another day, another country, whilst I spend the morning in this small Prague-esque town (which also shares similarities with Gloucester according to Mum and Dad). From the banks of the river overlooking the pastel colours, church-dominated square and rolling hills I wish Mum, Dad and Kirst all the best for the rest of their big adventure. I'm proud that they have come so far and miss them already, I'm even somewhat jealous that the rest of those miles and all those small experiences will slowly unfold infront of them. Mach's Gut and Viel Spaß!
Sean
I find that cycling, like all sports really, depends mainly on how you feel on any given day. If you feel settled and comfortable, and if conditions go your way, it actually becomes quite easy, no matter how far you have to go. The longest distance I've ever done was a bit like this but today was the perfect example. From the start we sped away from Straubing, with its cobbled streets and Eastern looking towers, a new architectural signpost towards Turkey, and raced away through the countryside. I felt invincible on the bike, once we had secured the saddle at the right height. Our average speed for the first few hours was around 16mph, not bad with a heavy load. After a pleasant stop in Degendorf, where I again encountered a strange country dialect, we were off again through glorious landscapes. A mountainous countryside always looks impressive from a bike, but it looks even better when you avoid all the mountains.
On the last stretch to Passau we switched onto the cycle path, which we'd basically avoided. Most of the last 25km or so passed by level with the Danube; the various fishermen, waterskiers and general ambience more then compensating for the slower, gritty tracks. As with cycling alongside mountains, we appreciated the rivers majesty more as we rode closer to its banks. When we crossed to join the main road to Passau an anonymous brass band suddenly piped up from somewhere in an old nineteenth century factory building, or maybe a boat below. Either way it was a fitting fanfare to a great day which, sadly, is my last on this tour. Our hostel in Passau was a lovely old flat run by a friendly Hungarian lady and filled with her kittens and antique furniture.
As I finish writing this my parents and big sis are on their way through Austria, another day, another country, whilst I spend the morning in this small Prague-esque town (which also shares similarities with Gloucester according to Mum and Dad). From the banks of the river overlooking the pastel colours, church-dominated square and rolling hills I wish Mum, Dad and Kirst all the best for the rest of their big adventure. I'm proud that they have come so far and miss them already, I'm even somewhat jealous that the rest of those miles and all those small experiences will slowly unfold infront of them. Mach's Gut and Viel Spaß!
Sean
Thursday 30 July 2009
Day 12 Ingolstadt to Straubing - 70 miles
By far the easiest day of the tour so far, a sensible distance and an early (ish) start meant we had done 60 miles by a late lunch break and cruised into Straubing after a quick nap in the park. It was a very quick nap, as soon as we had put our washing out and fallen asleep the whole Giselhoring parks department descended to tidy the place up. They were very sweet about moving us on, when they realised how bad our German is they did hat tricks by means of apology. They all crowded round dad to shout encouragement as he tried to fix my bike - he probably found this less funny than me, it was swelteringly hot.
It was a pleasant day rather than spectacular one, rolling hills, gothic Bavarian villages and occasional views over the Danube valley. Not that we minded that at all, so far the spectacular days have all involved serious climbing which we are all enjoying a break from. This is what bike tours should be like, we got into town at 5, met Sean (who also got there easilly hitchhiking) and had a nice evening pottering around Straubing. It felt a bit more like a holiday.
Nancy is back down off Kilimanjaro safely, we look forward to celebrating with her when we get home.
Kirsty
It was a pleasant day rather than spectacular one, rolling hills, gothic Bavarian villages and occasional views over the Danube valley. Not that we minded that at all, so far the spectacular days have all involved serious climbing which we are all enjoying a break from. This is what bike tours should be like, we got into town at 5, met Sean (who also got there easilly hitchhiking) and had a nice evening pottering around Straubing. It felt a bit more like a holiday.
Nancy is back down off Kilimanjaro safely, we look forward to celebrating with her when we get home.
Kirsty
Day 11 Neu Ulm to Ingolstadt - 108 effing miles
Didn't really feel like leaving Ulm, the hostel was so lovely and it was such a treat doing normal stuff. I really could have spent the day shopping. However we were up and off for the next chapter in the Robert's cycle tour. Kirst was back in the saddle which was a relief and we now have an assortment of creams for every part of the body including a magic cream for her knee.
The cycling went well, in fact, our best day yet, this was partly thanks to a German family who helped us on our way through the maze of cycle paths. The weather was kind to us as well, being a bit overcast, it is usually hot hot hot here. There are times when we are feeling very wild and free and the kilometers are just whizzing by and other time, like this evening, when you feel every meter and you're just desperate to get there.
We are struggling at the end of the day - but once at the hostel sorted and showered you forget and start planning the next day. Sean is still with us and is doing a couple of days for Kirsty. His German is brilliant (or so it sounds to me) and he has taken all the stress out of sorting food etc out. God knows how we are going to communicate in Bulgaria, Hungary etc. Onwards and upwards.
Gill
The cycling went well, in fact, our best day yet, this was partly thanks to a German family who helped us on our way through the maze of cycle paths. The weather was kind to us as well, being a bit overcast, it is usually hot hot hot here. There are times when we are feeling very wild and free and the kilometers are just whizzing by and other time, like this evening, when you feel every meter and you're just desperate to get there.
We are struggling at the end of the day - but once at the hostel sorted and showered you forget and start planning the next day. Sean is still with us and is doing a couple of days for Kirsty. His German is brilliant (or so it sounds to me) and he has taken all the stress out of sorting food etc out. God knows how we are going to communicate in Bulgaria, Hungary etc. Onwards and upwards.
Gill
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Day 10 Balingen to Ulm
Here is a proverb for cycle tourists: 'A mile in the wrong direction is not helping your journey'. As we didn't have a detailed map for this stage, we had a go at following google's directions. Never again! After cycling for five miles we went past the hostel where we started from. After about an hour we were only about 2km from our starting point. Kirsty's knees were hurting so she decided to cycle back into Balingen and catch a train to Ulm. Sean ended up hitch-hiking so we were in three groups. Gill and I cycled through the heat all day. When we stopped for lunch there was nowhere open so we settled on finishing out water bottles with a couple of energy bars.
The journey seems like a long slog with a few more long slow hills going on for 1-3 kilometres. Seeing the Danube on the outskirts of Ulm was exciting and we met a very friendly lady out for an evening stroll who took it upon herself to help us find our hostel.
The tiredness and confusion was getting to us. After her shower, Gill put toothpaste on her bottom instead of her special saddle-soreness cream.
In the evening we had a fantastic meal bought and made for us by Sean and we chatted till late with a lovely German couple, who were also on a bike tour. We talked about our cheese-rolling and their greasy-pole-to-get-a-sausage-at-the-top races.
Barry
The journey seems like a long slog with a few more long slow hills going on for 1-3 kilometres. Seeing the Danube on the outskirts of Ulm was exciting and we met a very friendly lady out for an evening stroll who took it upon herself to help us find our hostel.
The tiredness and confusion was getting to us. After her shower, Gill put toothpaste on her bottom instead of her special saddle-soreness cream.
In the evening we had a fantastic meal bought and made for us by Sean and we chatted till late with a lovely German couple, who were also on a bike tour. We talked about our cheese-rolling and their greasy-pole-to-get-a-sausage-at-the-top races.
Barry
Day 9 Freiburg to Balingen
Sean here, taking over blogging duty for a day. My tour started really when Mum, Dad and Kirsty lurched into view at 8.30 or so in Freiburg. After a quick dinner and all to brief a sleep I was on the road, slotting in for Kirsty whilst she nursed various bumps and scrapes.
My substitute appearance fell on the Alpine ride from Freiburg (a pretty little town steeped in history, elegance and antiquated Germanness) to Balingen. The day started in a pattern that, I imagine, has become fairly familiar to the others: aimlessly riding through an unknown town trying to work out where to go. By the end of the day this was also fairly familiar to me. Eventually we found a couple of maps and pointed ourselves in the right direction, and soon bumped into a Frenchman and his wife aimlessly riding round trying to work out where they were. It must be contagious.
The first half of the ride was mountainous but stunning and ultimately rewarding. We zigzagged up Alpine roads, sheltered by the huge firs and spruces embedded throughout as the sun shifted through the gears towards its zenith. Halfway through one of the many climbs I paused to wait for the others and turned to face the scene. Hundreds, thousands of these tall trees spread ovwer the valley like summery Christmasses. I was enjoying this thought when Mum and Dad cranked into view, Dad a picture of toil and sweat, Mum with half her energy devoted to riding, the other half wildly gesticulating up the mountainside in my direction. In moments of harmony and tranquility there is always a Roberts waiting round the corner.
The descents were even more fun, long, winding, cruising smooth dashes into villages. Every so often I'd hit a pocket of cool air hiding in a dip and feel refreshed, ready to take on the next climb. I felt lucky to be on this tour, however I think much of my excitement was due to knowledge that it was a one off, I didn't have the weight of hundreds of miles to Istanbul pulling me down. During these early Sunday morning miles we were accompanied by Jeremy Clarkson's nemesis: the Sunday Cyclist Lycra Brigade. Have to say that on the whole they weren't overly friendly to us. Maybe it was our lack of professional cycle gear, or it would have taken their average speed down. Maybe, though, at a speed roughly three times ours they didn't even notive us crawling along.
Our Alpine section ended with a late lunch in Villingen, by which point I think the hills were getting to us all. For me when the terrain flattened out the whole thing became a bit dull, attritional, and I was beginning to feel it a bit. The afternoon and evening were very different to the morning, those Christmasses turned into horrible hungover Boxing Days where everyone starts getting at each other. I really can't remember any place or incident of note, whilst there were too many to write about in the morning. When we eventually rolled into Balingen at 9.30 we were glad to get it over with, and limped off for a quick doner and falafel, the single thing so far in South Germany thats been anything like Berlin.
Sean
Saturday 25 July 2009
Day 8 Epinal to Freiburg
Lots of miles again today, 105 all told with a 4 mile and a 12 mile continuous climb thrown in. We climbed right up to a ski village in Alsace! The views on the way down were quite amazing, I struggled to keep an eye on the road though I hit 40 miles an hour and the tandem must've been going much faster. We had lunch in a village filled with storks, there were 7 nests in sight and the air was full of these rather graceless birds. We were so out of it we only noticed halfway through lunch, then saw that we were eating at the stork hotel bar on stork road to it's hardly a well kept secret. We met Sean (my brother) in Freiburg, he is joining us through Germany. My knees are totally shot now so am having a rest day tomorrow while he rides my bike. He can't really do the kind of distances we are doing on a crappy hire bike so maybe we'll alternate days for a while. So tomorrow holds a lie in and gentle potter around the town for me.
Kirsty
Kirsty
Day 7 Chalons to Epinal
Things turned out very well today. We decided against setting off at 6.30 with a broken bike and went to a cycle repair shop in Chaumont instead. Though the shop didn't open until 10am he took the tandem into the repair workshop at 8, replaced the bottom bracket and fixed our back wheel so it rotated freely again. After thanking him profusely we set off only 3 hours behind schedule. After another long day in the saddle (98 miles) we arrived in Epinal in the rain soaked twilight.
Our route through France has been determined by the location of Formula 1 hotels and by the shortest route between them on minor roads. Without knowing anything about the places, their history, culture or famous sights, I feel we have been lucky to see a large sample of France. This has included: agricultural landscapes; commercial and industrial zones; picturesque towns and villages; war memorials and plaques reffering to Joan of Arc and Edith Piaf. I don't suppose many of these places would appear in tourist brochures but it has been a privilege to sample a slice of France and meet some of its charming, cultured, decent people.
Barry
Our route through France has been determined by the location of Formula 1 hotels and by the shortest route between them on minor roads. Without knowing anything about the places, their history, culture or famous sights, I feel we have been lucky to see a large sample of France. This has included: agricultural landscapes; commercial and industrial zones; picturesque towns and villages; war memorials and plaques reffering to Joan of Arc and Edith Piaf. I don't suppose many of these places would appear in tourist brochures but it has been a privilege to sample a slice of France and meet some of its charming, cultured, decent people.
Barry
Day 6 Chalons en Champagne to Chaumont
We can sum up today in one word..."Bummer!" We Started in the lingering rain from an overnight thunderstorm. Our tandem was making a strange noise but I foolishly ignored it. It is always difficult to find minor roads out of cities and today was no exception. We spent about 30 minutes looking at our map wondering where we were and which way we were turning. I'm proud that we remained civilised and avoided coming to blows. After wasting about half an hour and a couple of miles we found the minor route out of Chalons en Champagne. Mid morning we saw a couple of men walking along the verge of the road with baskets and the types of sticks for picking up rubbish. We were surprised to see their baskets were half filled with snails - presumably bound for a local restaurant to be served as escargot.
At our 50 mile stop I started to investigate the strage noise my bike was making and found that the rack bolt had dropped off, the result was that trhe rack was pressing in on my rear disk brake so we had been riding with the brakes slightly on. I made a makeshift repair and resolved to find a bikeshop asap for spares. When we started the bottom bracket started to make cracking sounds. It sounded awful so we limped on at a very slow speed in low gears for the next 50 miles to try to avoid further damage.
About 25 miles from Chaumont we saw a huge black cloud in the near distance with a wall of rain coming down from it. An old lady in a country chalet asked if we wanted to come in and shelter but we said we'd better move on. Within a short while we were totally drenched with thunder and lightning raging all around us. We arived at Chaumont around 8pm, 13 1/2 hours after setting off having completed our first 100 mile stage. We are in the Formula 1 in Chaumont eating pizza, drinking wine and trying not to worry about the large cracking noise coming from my bottom bracket.
At our 50 mile stop I started to investigate the strage noise my bike was making and found that the rack bolt had dropped off, the result was that trhe rack was pressing in on my rear disk brake so we had been riding with the brakes slightly on. I made a makeshift repair and resolved to find a bikeshop asap for spares. When we started the bottom bracket started to make cracking sounds. It sounded awful so we limped on at a very slow speed in low gears for the next 50 miles to try to avoid further damage.
About 25 miles from Chaumont we saw a huge black cloud in the near distance with a wall of rain coming down from it. An old lady in a country chalet asked if we wanted to come in and shelter but we said we'd better move on. Within a short while we were totally drenched with thunder and lightning raging all around us. We arived at Chaumont around 8pm, 13 1/2 hours after setting off having completed our first 100 mile stage. We are in the Formula 1 in Chaumont eating pizza, drinking wine and trying not to worry about the large cracking noise coming from my bottom bracket.
Wednesday 22 July 2009
Day 5 Soissons to Chalons en Champagne
I've always thought that cycling might be the key to happiness, I was having serious doubts about this during the first days of the tour but now we are all fit and working again I'm sold. We've started getting up at disgusting hours (5am) to miss the heat of the day. Spent most of the day winding through the vines in Champagne, slept in a park by a river whilst the washing dried (we looked like a right bunch of old tramps), all very nice. We are staying in Formula one's throughout France, they are all in business parks on the edge of town, we are far too tired most days to make it into town in the evenings. Last night we ate at an amazing place, from the outside it looked like a little chef, inside it was a temple to high modernism (it looked like a cross between Prove's maison tropicale and the set of Tati's Playtime - industrial design here has style). Through my rose tinted cycle specs I've started to fetishise the concrete jungle of the business park, we are off to drink champagne there now.
Kirsty
Kirsty
Day 4 Beauvais - Soissons 78 miles
Start the day in a positive frame of mind, it's early morning and it actually feels good being on the bikes. I'm enjoying northern France much more than I expected to. I like to see the way the French work the land and I'm being very nosy from the bike, most gardens have these amazing veg plots and I'm starting to plan mine. By the end of the day I was really peed off, it turned out to be 78 miles when we were expecting 66. We think Istanbul might be 2500 not 2000 miles away.
Gill
Gill
Day 3 Dieppe to Beauvais
The day began on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry trying to grab a few hours sleep on an armchair. After getting off the ferry, we started riding at 04.15 (continental time) in the pitch black. Strangely I felt this was the most enjoyable moment of the tour so far. We had survived a showery cold blast of rain and we were getting into a steady rhythm enveloped by darkness. As dawn came up, we started to notice details in the Normandy countryside - like stunning gardens and floral presentations and very different architecture. At the first town we went to a cafe with no food followed by a boulangerie with no drink so we had a disjointed breakfast. For a nation of 60 million we couldn't help wondering where everyone was. The towns and villages were all deserted.
The need for a decent sleep was growing and I have a picture of Gill and Kirsty sleeping on a mound of grassy earth by the road beside their bikes. This is proving to be a challenging tour. I see Gill and Kirsty's weather beaten look and bloodshot eyes showing dehydration and then look in the mirror and see the same look in myself. I've always thought that there are four big threats to cycle tourists : saddle soreness; dehydration; sunburn and low blood sugar. All of us have the first 3 to varying degrees. I also think after day 4, a kind of fitness will kick in and make us stronger. Day 6 will be over 80 miles with a good few hills thrown in so we will be able to test whether this theory is accurate.
p.s We were deeply touched when Richard and Caroline jumped out from behind a bush on Bafford Approach to cheer us on our way as we set out on Saturday morning, and by all the texts we have recieved supporting us
Barry
The need for a decent sleep was growing and I have a picture of Gill and Kirsty sleeping on a mound of grassy earth by the road beside their bikes. This is proving to be a challenging tour. I see Gill and Kirsty's weather beaten look and bloodshot eyes showing dehydration and then look in the mirror and see the same look in myself. I've always thought that there are four big threats to cycle tourists : saddle soreness; dehydration; sunburn and low blood sugar. All of us have the first 3 to varying degrees. I also think after day 4, a kind of fitness will kick in and make us stronger. Day 6 will be over 80 miles with a good few hills thrown in so we will be able to test whether this theory is accurate.
p.s We were deeply touched when Richard and Caroline jumped out from behind a bush on Bafford Approach to cheer us on our way as we set out on Saturday morning, and by all the texts we have recieved supporting us
Barry
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Are keeping to schedule
Are keeping to schedule, but haven't been able to find an internet cafe. Will catch up soon...
Sunday 19 July 2009
Brighton
We are in Brighton, most of the way through day 2. Yesterday was hard, we got lost a few times, ended up cycling almost 90 miles. Had a nice detour through the ancient monuments of Salisbury Plain though - almost worth the extra miles. Silbury Hill threw us, Mum thought it might be something for Paragliders to jump off, Dad suggested that it could be a slagheap. England is mad, we've been passing signs all day for a 12 hr lawnmower race and we had lunch in a town that had painted all the window frames the mustard yellow of it's gold cup sponsors. The wind was at our backs and we were blown into town happy and ready for an impromptu farewell party.
kirsty
kirsty
Thursday 16 July 2009
tour prep
Just getting ready to pedal off, trying to get all our junk down to 3 panniers and a handbag. Watching the heroics of the Tour de France I'm slightly worried that my legs still ache from last week's ceilidh, but am sure we'll get there ok. We will try to post odd notes when we reach internet cafes along the way.
kirsty
kirsty
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