Friday 29th August

I woke up today feeling very lucky. Lucky to be waking up and opening my tent door on to a beautiful view of the river Isar. Lucky that the sun is beaming down across the crisp morning water. And lucky that I now have a bike which has functioning brakes and I no longer have to bring myself to a halt using my feet.

I made it to a beautiful medieval town called Landshut last night. My route out of Munich was pretty easy going. I followed my instinct and took a mixture of tow-paths and roads. My bike is essentially more equipped to roads than tow-paths and whenever one got too much I'd retreat to the other. My not-so trusty steed has been riding beautifully thanks to its 2 day spa retreat being rebuilt, tuned, and pampered. If it could it would have worn a robe and slippers. The boys down Guten Biken were true pros and made sure everything was set perfectly for me to continue my journey. They also invited me for a beer after work and it was unfortunate that I didn't have time to. Maybe next time ey...

 I too was feeling duly refreshed. It took a few hours to work through the reservoir of Bavarian pilsner sitting in my stomach but it was a liberating feeling to be back on my bike after a 3 day rest.

After 80km I arrived at Landshut, just on the river Isar. There perched on top of the hill wad a great castle which peered down across the valley and the town and despite having to grind up said never ending hill, it was well worth it. Being down in the valleys for the last few weeks this was the first time I could get some perspective on my route and the enormity of the country..

Down in the town there was another Bavarian festival taking place. This like all other Bavarian celebrations was held in an enormous marquee, with rows of tables end on end, filled with men and women in full local costume, drunk to their eyeballs on litre pints. It was a rowdy affair with music I didnt know, but if I hadn't had spent the last 3 days marinating my liver in intoxicants I would have joined them for a couple of litres in my non-Bavarian Lycra. 

From the off this morning I felt strong. I slept beautifully in my sleeping bag. So much so it's becoming increasingly difficult to get up in the mornings. I was only woken when a dog tried to attack or make love with my tent. 

I followed the Isar river through nature reserves where other smaller tributaries joined and birds swooped over lakes. It was the most stunning scenery I'd seen so far. Eventually the river joined on to the Danube! My first sighting of my route for the next 1,800 kilometres. She's a beeeauty! A lot calmer, a bit like the Thames with rowers going up and down.

About 25km from Passau, the cycle path brought me to a dead end at the water's edge. The only way to cross was by ferry. So I did. Just me and a tiny craft pootling across. My 5 minute boat trip was most excellent, it gave my legs a rest and everything was peaceful.

So eventually after 140km Im here in Passau. its only 5km from my next country, Austria and only another 90km from Linz. They make that chocolate right?...

As a real final point, sorry if I've been rambling, this blog does sometimes take the form of a therapy session so I do apologise... Back to Germany, which is now behind me. My stay in Munich was perfect, its a great place, as is the whole of Bavaria. Take the time to visit if you can. Do not however try and visit the site of the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch as this is now a 5 story hotel. I do these things so you don't have to...

Til next time, Auf Wiedersehn pets! 

B Boy x