I have received company...

I went to bed early last night, so I woke up refreshed at 6.30 this morning and was pleased that I could stay in bed for a while. After all, it's Sunday.

But we set off at 09:10 in a cool 4 degrees Celsius. And today was the first time I rode without sunglasses. After a few kilometres I had to take off my rain jacket because otherwise I was too warm. The roads rolled well but suddenly I got a bit confused: soon I was supposed to cross the Danube but there was no bridge. Shortly afterwards the mystery was solved: According to the official route of EuroVelo 6, a ferry crossing was planned here. A cyclist who happened to be standing there said that the ferry wouldn't be leaving until later. I thought I was too early, but then he added: «Probably in April». Okay, that's later too. He said there was a bridge downstream where I could also get to the other side. I briefly orientated myself with the available aids and then chose a road that led to the bridge in question, and there was indeed a crossing. Now I was back on the «original» route and the diversions was ultimately even shorter than the planned option.

After just under 40 kilometres, I stopped briefly to take a photo and have a snack when another fully packed cyclist came along the path and asked me if I was OK. I said yes, but we got talking anyway. It was Ties from the Netherlands. From then on, we cycled along the Danube together and chatted. Time flew by and we were soon in Passau, the last town before the border to Austria, where we took our lunch break.

Passau is also the place where the Inn flows into the Danube, so the water from the Engadin all comes here. Shortly afterwards we were in Austria. Apart from the sign on the side of the road, we didn't notice anything about the border. The Danube now flowed in a kind of valley or gorge, with steep climbs on both sides. This meant that the road also went up and down a bit, but not as much as my GPS thought - and the stretch was super beautiful, the water very calm and the reflections clear. This was the best part of my trip so far.

In Schlögen, at a beautiful spot where the Danube makes a U, we took another short break before setting off on the last 25 kilometres to Aschach. What we didn't expect were the roadblocks that suddenly appeared in front of us. After some back and forth, we decided to lift our bikes over the barriers and ride the road despite the blockage. The diversions back again and then on another road to Aschach would have been considerable - unfortunately, we hadn't seen any indication at the relevant point that the road would suddenly be closed x kilometres later. Luckily there were two of us, as it would have been impossible to get past the metre-high blockades on a bike alone. In the end, we arrived in Aschach at around 17:30 and I was glad to have arrived after this adventure - not with sunshine, but it wasn't raining today either.