Euro Tour: Esztergom to Budapest//

I woke up bruised and battered from yesterday’s falls. Thankfully I only had about 50km left so I gave myself a pep talk and packed my panniers. I put on some make up because I’d been carrying it around so thought I should wear it at least once to make sure I hadn’t forgotten how to do it. I also wore the LBD that I’d packed. You know, to celebrate my last day of cycling.

Euro Tour: Gyor to Esztergom// Being scared of dogs and referring to my bike and I as 'we'

My penultimate day cycling, almost broke me. That Hungarian man yesterday was such a lying bastard. It rained ALL fricken day and I had a head wind. ALL. FRICKEN. DAY.

Euro Tour: Bratislava to Gyor // Not checking my feast days

Leaving Bratislava, the Danube trail splits. Go left and carry on along the Slovakian side or go right  into Hungary. 

Hungarians invented the Rubix Cube, safety matches, the ball point pen, vitamin c, excel and the atomic bomb. I have high expectations.

Euro Tour: Vienna to Bratislava// Five things to do that are not 'go on a stag do'

The 40 mile ride from Vienna to Bratislava is a really easy ride but not always the most exciting. 

Euro Tour: The Austrian bit. Not the Australian bit as autocorrect likes to think

Vienna

I’m grouping my ride through Austria together because it was my favourite and if you do it, you should do this whole bit. I can’t recommend cycling this leg highly enough. From Passau to Vienna it is roughly 200 miles and I can honestly say it was the sweetest ride of my life (so far).

Euro Tour: Wörth an der Donau to Passau// My last day in Germany and probably the sunburniest

Straubing

My last full day in Germany turned out to be one of my favourite days. I was alongside the Danube most of the day so it was really peaceful and calm. The river looked exceptionally beautiful today. 

Euro Tour: Regensburg to Wörth an der Donau: Pimping my ride and hunting down chocolate

A roadside inner-tube vending machine

It was due to rain today and I had a work deadline so I only planned a short 30km jaunt.

It’s actually a very beautiful ride out of Regensburg. You are close to the Danube for a while and go through a nice bit of countryside when the river is out of sight. You also go past Walhalla, a reproduction of the Parthenon. It’s way up on a hill and looks very striking, if a little random. The cycle paths today were 

Euro Tour: Ingolstadt to Regensburg// Bike drying my hair and putting bikes on boats

Regensburg

I should probably do a post on the importance of rest days and say how you should refuel and reserve energy but I run around like a loon and try on dresses. I did, however, eat lots of vegetable because I felt like I was getting scurvy. I also had to do some actual work to justify carrying around a laptop and to pay for all this hostel high living. Seriously, being on tour is cheaper than being in London.

Euro Tour: Ulm to Ingolstadt// Bonking and trying on dresses

Der Schneider von Ulm by Johannes Pfeiffer 2012

I got told off at breakfast by a German lady in the hostel who said I was going too far and fast and not enjoying her beautiful country. She also proved that I had been hideously mispronouncing German place names and said I looked tired. THIS IS HOW I LOOK. I promised her i’d take a day off when I got to Ingolstadt and she said “Oh don’t bother stopping there.” 

I seriously can’t win.

Euro Tour: Bad Urach to Ulm// Bike dancing & holding my breath through tunnels

Out of office

 Sorting bike out outside with a mountain view, just realised it was Monday and I’d forgotten to put my out of office on. I wanted to put ‘Gone Cycling’. There is some kind of Summer Camp at this hostel for gifted child musicians so I fixed my bike to the sound of music, in the mountains, very Julie Andrews but without the nazis or nuns but even more creepy, musically gifted children.

Euro Tour: Stuttgart to Bad Urach// Legs Day

Racing up the Neckar

I woke up and everything hurt. Ok so I have a secret shoulder injury that i’m ignoring. I spent most of yesterday one-handed cycling but I’m just making other things hurt more like the wrist that was doing all the work yesterday. 

Euro Tour: Heidleberg to Stuttgart// Going into a tour-trance & being thankful for Pierce Brosnan

I thought that after yesterday’s short ride I could bang out a longer one today so I headed straight for Stuttgart.

Euro Tour: Mannheim to Heidelberg// Mad respect for the human body and Germany shaped butt bruises

This is me finally feeling some sun, not wearing ugly waterproofs

Just a short one.

After being so epically broken yesterday, I woke up this morning feeling invincible. I am, as always, in complete awe of the human body and its ability to repair itself and regain strength. That being said I thought I’d use this beautiful sunny day as an excuse to listen to my body and take it easy.

Euro Tour: Sankt Goar to Mannheim// Never trusting Google Maps and very nearly dying

Ass not gas. Mannheim 

The short version is Google Maps hates me and thinks things that are so not roads are roads. The long version includes me pushing my bike through muddy vineyards pretty sure I was trespassing swearing loudly at the rain. FYI scarecrows are really scary when you are all alone in a massive dark rainy field and there is no sign of life or modernity and your mind starts thinking maybe you’ve fallen through a time portal. AND MY GOD THIS RAIN. Oh and then I nearly died.

Euro Tour: Bonn to Sankt Goar// Hating wearing waterproof trousers with every fibre of my being.

Steeds, German Corner, Koblenz

Leaving Basecamp Bonn after doing the whole breakfast buffet rinsing, waterproofing procedure of electric taping sandwich bags over my socks and seethingly watching some Lycraed up dudes giving their parents their bags to drive ahead for them, I loaded up and made my way alongside the railway to meet the River Rhine. 

Euro Tour: Maastricht to Bonn// Being glad there aren't bears in Germany anymore

Basecamp Bonn

My phone told me that it was going to rain for the next three days so I did the whole two pairs of socks with a middle layer of sandwich bag electric taped around my legs. Sandwiched sandwich bags if you will. I’d divided my route and broken it down to stops in Aachen and Düren before arriving in Bonn. 

Euro Tour: Brussels to Maastricht// Realising my hatred for Hall & Oats and seeing a really old wall

Public book banks in Leuven

I met a couple of French guys on the Eurostar to Brussels who were going in the same direction as me so we agreed to cycle together. They had speakers and I’d had three hours sleep so I thought musical accompaniment might be welcome. It soon transpired that the only music they had was Hall & Oats and once you’ve heard three different versions of Maneater and decided that the instrumental version is your favourite mainly because you can make the words up in your head. All my words were ‘AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH’.