Sunday riders – an easy 37kms.

Bikes were comfy last night.
Just getting Kamoot working before we head out of town.
We crossed the new Rhein-Main-Donau Canal in Kelheim as we were leaving town.

The 171km canal connects the Rhine in NW mainland Europe with that of the Danube in the SE of Europe enabling boats to cross the continent from the North Sea to the Black Sea.

The new canal opened in 1992. It carry’s 7.5million tonnes annually and saves over 250,000 truck trips by road every year.

A piccie of the canal. It goes up to an altitude of 406m, the highest point on earth reachable by ocean going vessels.
This is a picture of the original canal attempted by King Ludwig in 1846 – it proved difficult and too expensive and was abandoned after extensive damage in WW2. However, the old quays and locks remain in the centre of Kelheim.
This was our track for all of today. Flat and closely following every bend of the river until emerging into Regensburg, one of Europes best preserved medieval towns.
Coffee and apple strudel today for morning tea.
It was hot and there were sunbathers and swimmers in spots all along the river. So in he went for a cool off.

It’s Sunday and every man and his dog were out cycling on the track – You really had to have your wits about you.

This tractor was waiting to cross the river on the cable ferry.
We arrived at our hotel – it was closed (their check in time was 3pm)
So we sat at this cafe for an hour or so before we realised we were at the back of the hotel.🤦🏻‍♀️
And we could have checked in a lot earlier – here at the front.

I know we have a lot of photos of the town – but everywhere you look is just amazing.

My absolute favourite thing is sitting in a cafe/bar and imagining what life must have been like in this same spot Centuries past.

The Stone Bridge, built in 1146 was the first bridge built over this section of the Danube.
The Romans built a large fort here. This is The Porta Pretoria. It is one of two remaining Roman gates in Germany.

As we are sitting down for dinner, I realise I only have an hour before ‘deadline’ – my early rising NZ subscribers will be having a moan if I don’t get the blog out by the time they wake up😉

Leave a comment