I could ride 500 miles and I could ride 500 more

With apologies to the Proclaimers

The Danube river. We are going to be following it now until the end of the trip. We know this river: second longest in Europe (2850km), runs from Germany right through to the Black Sea. Neil and I rode around 1000km along the Danube in 2015 in what was, until now, our most epic bike trip.

But did you know that of the ten countries this river flows through, none of them call it the Danube? In Germany/Austria it is Donau, in Slovakia/Ukraine, Dunaj, in Hungary, Duna (my personal favourite), in Serbia/Croatia/Bulgaria, Dunav and in Romania/Moldova, Dunărea.

Yet we call it the Danube, as do the French (Le Danube – but I bet it doesn’t sound anything like the way we say it) while the Spanish and Italians call it Danubio. Why can’t everybody get together and call it the same damn thing?

Today is more of a commute day (getting from A to B) with a minimum of fuss. We have a rest day coming up in Ulm which is well-needed. We mark yet another milestone today – passing the 1000 mile mark. We are now in territory we’ve not been before, distance-wise.

Today is also a real-life example of “net down”: We end the day lower in altitude (478m) than when we started (540m), but it takes an awful lot of uphill to get there. It seems that every cute little village, with its cute church and cute houses and cute cobblestones, is set on a hill and we have to go up into and down out of each one of these villages.

There are heaps of cyclists out today. It is Saturday so people are out enjoying themselves. And lots of people are on e-bikes. There is one particularly nasty little hill that pops up with no warning and honestly it is almost vertical. Even Neil walks up this one. While we are clomping up it there is the unmistakable whirr of electric motors and two e-bikes sail up as if they are on a flat road. Not only that but a skinny road biker on a bike that must weigh less than a feather also rides up effortlessly.

E-bikes are great. They give people who would not ordinarily be out cycling the chance to do so, and being out cycling is better than sitting on a couch or driving a petrol guzzler around – right? One day perhaps I will be a proud e-bike owner.

But some e-bike riders can be a real nuisance. Today we are caught behind a group of e-bikers as they dawdle along a narrow and flat path which leaves no room to pass. At a traffic light Neil and I sneak past them only to find a hill around the next bend. As I’m working my way up slowly the e-bike group passes with the lead rider throwing me such a smug look that I want to poke a stick through his spokes. Failing that I wish him a flat battery and get on with my own job.

We arrive in Ulm in the late afternoon and I spy a Mexican restaurant right near the apartment where we are staying. That’s dinner sorted! We are staying right near the centre of town where it all seems quite lively with people going about their business beneath the looming Ulm Münster – known to be the tallest church in the world with a spire rising to more than 160m.

Ulm seems to be a fine place for a rest day. I shall make the most of resting ????

Stats for today:

• Distance: 70.29km
• Climb: 263m
• Average speed: 17.2km/h
• Average temperature: 24C
• Moving time: 4:05:21
• See our ride on Strava

The beer picture

At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken at a cafe in the Munsterplatz in Ulm with the Munster just barely visible in the background.

Along the way today:

Not much!