Off on the Bikes

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We left Prague behind on the Kakfa Express (yes, that is really the name of the Prague-Munich train) with our bikes stowed aboard near our reserved seats. We arrived in Regensburg, a German town on the Danube, four hours later. Regensburg is a beautiful old town that survived World War II without damage to the medieval center from bombing. The cathedral dates back to the eighth century. We walked by the remains of a Roman wall built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The town was full of German tourists, and we joined several families at a picnic table on the banks of the river for a dinner of the local sausages and sauerkraut (Kit added beer as well). Even with the language barrier, we managed to establish that Germany has the best sausages and beer and Seattle has the Seahawks.

The next morning was our first day on bikes and the skies were not sunny and clear. As afficianados of Northwest weather with an extensive vocabulary to describe less than optimal conditions, we were at least hoping for the optimistic forecast of "rain followed by showers." However, the day could best be described by the old standby, "rain." Other than the water from above, biking down the Danube was a dream. The trail is well marked with signs, the routing takes back roads through towns, and there are bike lanes along roads and over bridges. Most of the trail so far has been off the road, along the river and often atop the dikes. And most of the trail is paved with the rest hard packed and easy to ride. For those of you who have biked in our home of Skagit County, imagine a continuous signed trail along the dikes and connecting with the Centennial trail to the south and the Cascade trail to the east. We have world-class scenery but we can't begin to match Europe's biking infrastructure.

On Sunday we biked 35 miles to Bogen with church bells ringing as we passed through small towns along the way. Today we rode 39 miles to Vilshofen, stopping for our picnic lunch by a beautiful old church with a bakery conveniently located across the street for after lunch treats. Tomorrow will be a short ride to Passau which should leave time to explore after we arrive.

Kathy

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Photos

First day rest stop between Regensburg and Bogen
This section was on the dike and went through a nature preserve full of birds, including swans.

Route signs in Bogen
The bike routes are incredibly well marked.

Rathaus tower in Regensburg
These towers with the clocks are everywhere. We love them all.

Remains of old Roman fort in Regensburg
The building around it is a hotel where Kit stayed with hs parents in 1968 and his mother stayed with her parents in 1939.

Bikes loaded on the Kafka Express
Our seats were just on the other side of the wall behind the bikes. Wish we had this setup in the US.

Comments

[liza westphalen]

Loving your Blog
Those Romans knew how to build!

[Sara wilkinson]

Trail
We were there two years ago and told that trail was originally built for horses to pull boats down the river . Find out if there's any truth to that. Sounds like a wonderful trip

[Katherine Rawson]

The train looks very nice, though I think I would hesitate to get on a train called the Kafka Express. I would wonder if I would ever get to my destination.

[STEVE AND DIAN JAHN]

MEMORIES!
So fun to follow your blog....our bikes have traveled similar paths and you express the thoughts we experienced...WONDERFUL! STEVE AND DIAN JAHN

[Troy]

Kafka Express
The Kafka Express - hmmmm . . . . I'm not sure if that gives one confidence. The trip so far looks and sounds amazing. I concur, the US could learn a lot from Europe: Whenever I'm biking down Highway 9 anticipating the next car speeding by or biking in the valley with the unused dikes holding back the Skagit River winding along beside me, I wish we were investing in bike lanes on all or most of our roadways & utilizing the dikes, ah well. Hope the skies clear for you as your journey continues. I love the bike carriers on the train.

[Todd Edelman]

Trains + Bikes best practice
Amtrak is starting to slowly roll out more trains with capability to roll on normal sized bikes and stand them up like this. I see that I can't post a link so people will just have to Google it up...