First day of riding! Between the briefing, the introduction to our driver Radic, and the bike fitting, we didn't get going until after noon. We crossed the Danube twice, once by bridge on the way out of Vienna, and again by ferry after a late lunch at the crossing. We rode along a canal on the north side of the river, and through fields with farms and windmills on the south side, and arrived at Hainburg late and in the rain.
The front door of Hotel Austria, where we've been for the past two nights |
our support van and bikes |
Tim assembles his bike |
the alley containing Hotel Austria |
almost rolling... |
rolling... |
rolling... |
away we go! |
still in Vienna, crossing the Donaukanal at the Urania building |
the Donaukanal, which we are crossing |
bike traffic light |
we leave Vienna center via a bike/walkway in a long park |
trees in the park |
BDan in the park |
David is ready to cross the Danube |
are the rest of us ready? |
looking at our maps to be sure |
okay, let's go! |
so this is pretty cool; it's a circular bike ramp heading down from the cycle bridge across the Danube, landing on Donauinsel |
tugboat on the Danube |
the group on the Danube bridge bike lane |
cable-stayed rail bridge across the Danube |
members of our group riding down the bike ramp |
Tim on the bike ramp |
Joe on the bike ramp |
reaching the bottom of the ramp |
looking at graffiti under the bridge |
we cross from Donauinsel to the north side of the river via this exciting circular ring bridge situation |
since you asked nicely, a closer look at the lizard graffiti |
more under-bridge graffiti |
side view of the yellow ring bridge |
canal and windmill |
Tim and Scott underway |
a floating bridge-dam thing across the canal |
our ride continues along a dedicated cycle bridge along this canal, part of long-distance cycling route EuroVelo 6 which we'll be following for most of our trip |
Tim, underway |
David, Tom, and Bill, underway |
Scott, on an embankment |
Scott, riding along the embankment |
Tim, yielding to a passing vehicle carrying a tree |
...possibly more like a convoy of vehicles carrying trees |
a pond |
riders approaching |
Bill, underway |
Brian, underway |
riders still approaching |
Joe and David, underway |
Lisa, underway |
Scott, not underway |
no one is underway because we are photographing this water feature |
it's nice, though, right? |
look at these marsh grasses |
trees by the roadside |
the road ahead |
snail! |
trees across a plowed field |
the road ahead |
At around 3pm, we finally approach our lunch stop at Orth an der Donau |
a restaurant, but i think not our restaurant (which was Humers Uferhaus) |
a map showing the bikeway we're going to be taking today |
we didn't actually get food for most of an hour after we arrived |
my soup |
fish and chips |
an umbrella stand shaped like a fish |
next up: our first ferry crossing |
my foreign-language victory, possibly of the entire trip, was calling this number and hailing the ferry to come pick us up, in what i expected to be German but turned out to be Hungarian |
the river |
Tim and Scott help load our bikes onto the ferry |
leaving the dock |
the river behind us |
bikes and people underway |
the river |
our ferry from the side |
the view back across the river |
and we're off again |
water and plants |
oh no, gravel |
we climbed a little ways away from the river |
roofs and plants and river |
riding by a field, with many windmills |
train tracks, houses, and the road ahead |
discussing the plan |
a train approaching |
still huddling |
windmills, though |
a church across a field |
riders underway across a field |
a church tower, in Scharndorf |
side of the church |
roofs and a street in Scharndorf |
another roof |
so many windmills |
also it is raining |
we stop to take pictures by these yellow flowers |
Bill and Brian |
Scott, photographing |
Tom and David |
me |
a windmill |
an arch |
part of an archaeological site in Petronell-Carnuntum |
Tim in front of the arch |
looking across a green field at a town in the foothills, probably Hundsheim |
more archaeological site |
the group on the side of the road, in front of the mountain we have to ride around to reach Hainburg |
we're down to eight riders --- David and Tom have gotten a ride to town because of the rain |
a ruined castle above a bridge |
a less-ruined church |
terrain |
another view of the ruins |
view from our window in Hainburg |
interior corner of our room |
a clock tower |
a street in Hainburg, down to a very blue tower |
plaque in Hainburg |
my appetizer, a goat cheese and paprika ragout |
the restaurant's kitchen technically closed at 9, but they were very nice to us |
my meal, a veal goulash with a very tasty sauce |
other people's food |
light patterns on our dinner table |