Day 29 - Ebersdorf to Altenberg (61 miles)

With breakfast starting late at my guesthouse and an anticipated ninety-seven miles to Vienna, today I elected to get within twelve miles of the city, leaving those last few miles for Monday and an early arrival. The morning would be on the north bank of the Danube before crossing to the south bank route some time in the afternoon and following the river to my accommodation at the small village of Altenberg.

The beginning of the day was fairly nondescript. A fast road separated my cycle track from the Danube as all three weaved their way along the valley floor. Apart from the occasional glimpse of the river there was little to attract the attention for the first few miles but the path was smooth and flat and allowed for good progress.

There was a small diversion through woodland, the air thick with the floating seeds of black poplar blown on the wind and the track lined with them, like drifting snow. It was then back to the valley, its slopes now less steep, less wooded and more agricultural, and its floor a little wider and a little more populated.  I was now in the heart of the Wachau area, slightly higher up the valley side and passing through a series of small villages -  Groisbach, Willendorf, Sankt Michael, Wösendorf, Weißenkirken - and as I left the narrow and bone shaking cobbled streets of one I could generally see the next in the distance. If I had not known this region was a producer of wine it would have been obvious that morning: each village was separated by fields of vine rows, some pushing further up the valley sides on terraces; in every village I passed a good few tiny wineries, their big doors swung open to the street, and inside small groups of people gathered round barrels wine tasting; and other people walking the street carrying or pushing carts of wine boxes to their waiting cars. It was Sunday I guess, but it was barely 10.30 in the morning.

I was sorely tempted to stop and join in if I could but I still had a way to go so my short stop extended only to coffee. It was then onwards, past the village of Dunstein - overlooked by the ruins of its castle where Richard the Lion Heart had been imprisoned by the Duke of Austria for dishonouring the Austrian flag and only released after England paid a ransom of thirty-five tons of silver -  and shortly after that to the town of Krems an der Donau and the end of the Wachau region.

Dunstein and Castle

Krems was a town it took little time to get into but a long time to leave as I cycled out past its modern industrial outskirts. But eventually I reached the Danube once again, enjoying a long twenty miles cycling along what was now a wide and relatively straight river. There was a little more of the touch of man upon it here over the touch of nature: wide, concrete cycling paths rather than tracks; more shipping in the form of large barges; and the barrier of the Alteneworth hydroelectric station.

This is third hydroelectric station I have seen as I cycle the river, long, low barriers across the Danube controlling her flow and removing her energy; apparently twenty percent of Austria's electricity is generated by hydroelectric stations along the Danube. Here the powerplant dam provides my route to the southern bank, the cycle path passing over the spillways that guide the speeding water from the high side to the low, its raw power and energy obvious as you pass only feet above it. Once across the river I continue along the bank to the town of Tulln.

By two in the afternoon I have passed through Tulln, having been aided by a one legged cyclist on a reclining bike; our inability to speak each other's language meaning he failed to understand I was aware I had taken a wrong turn and my navigation app showed me where I needed to go, and me failing to appreciate that he turned around in order that I could follow him and get on the right course. As I leave Tulln I have an unexpected but pleasant surprise: I am expecting this next section to be my penultimate leg of twenty-eight miles before the last section to the small village where I have booked accommodation. But as I join the Danube once again I see a sign telling me Vienna is less than twenty miles away: the final leg. It seems that when working out the 'mix and match' of north and south bank routes for the day I double counted one of the legs. This is good news in that instead of arriving at my destination some time about six I get there at three, although I can’t help but think of the places I passed through where I might have explored a little more (or tasted a little wine…).

Once I am settled in I cycle through the village in the afternoon heat to the one place open nearby where I can get food on a Sunday. It is little more than a cafe by the river but unfortunately takes only cash, which today I have only a little of in my pocket. So I sit on the terrace eating a bowl of chips for my dinner and drinking a glass of apple juice before cycling back to the cool of my room and thoughts of breakfast.