Biking along the Danube ~ A Life Metaphor

Biking the Danube ~ A Metaphor for Life? 

Amazing Views

John can’t imagine his life without biking ~ but perhaps I can, or, 

can I?  Taking up a self-guided biking tour after a 10-year post bike accident hiatus was invigorating, life affirming, scary, exhausting, butt aching and a bit of a love-hate relationship. 

In Passau Before Starting with Some Trepidation

While John clearly loved this biking adventure, he did not appreciate his heavy tank of a bike compared with his sleek, light Davidson bike at home which makes it easier to climb hills. This morning he told me that next time he would reserve an e-bike! Wow does that mean there is a next time? Interesting that he says this after bragging each day on the trip that he was doing “real exercise” while I was coasting along on my e-bike. Comments like this would inevitably infuriate me to turn off my bike electricity so that I could prove to him that I was really working too. Actually I found that turning off an e-bike is more work than riding a regular bike because these are incredibly heavy bikes due to their large batteries.  I found it is better to be in the “eco” electricity mode and use  the “maximum power” option primarily when too exhausted to keep going up a steep hill.   In any case there are four options of level of electricity support to choose from. For me just being “back on the saddle” and staying balanced was good enough.  It seems there is a bike metaphor here. How about this, "while struggling is said to be important to achievement, one doesn't just have to endure but also enjoy oneself. Support can make a difference." 

You may remember after our New Zealand bike trip, I agonized over whether to have an e-bike next time.  However, despite my feelings of guilt that I was cheating, it was a great decision.  I could put my bike into “advanced mode” and bound ahead of John on hills (first time ever) and then stop to take pictures of his struggle, or, when I lagged behind to chat, or enjoy the view, or walk off my dead feet, I could easily catch up and overcome my fear that I was lost and abandoned by John.  As many of you know, I have no sense of direction and clearly I was not skilled at reading my map accurately. However, later I found out that my paper map was outdated and it was not necessarily a brain deficit! John, who of course is at all times connected with technology was religiously following google maps on his I-phone.  “I need to check the data” was his motto. 

Check the Data 

As it turned out when I met John in Munich to start the ride, I was coming down with a cold that turned out to be a rather nasty one, keeping John awake at night with my hacking cough. I am not sure whether I could have actually done the trip without the extra electrical support.  

I had decided I would not do a blog about this trip because of my cold, exhaustion and jet lag plus work catchup. Moreover, I had taken many fewer photos than usual and they were usually taken hastily so I wasn’t sure they were worthy of sharing.  However, some of you have encouraged me to write something… and as I am always motivated and encouraged by my fans I decided to provide a brief blog. Anyway my children would tell me blogs are supposed to be brief  and they don't have time to read! 

Itinerary and 260 Kilometers 

Saturday: Flight from Ireland to Munich to meet John & train ride to Passau to pick up bikes

Sunday: Bike from Passau, Germany to Schlogen, Austria (42 kilometers)

Sunday: Bike from Schlogen to Linz (60 kilometers)

Monday: Bike from Linz to Stift Ardagger (60 kilometers)

Tuesday: Bike from Stiftt Ardagger to Melk (60 kilometers)

Wednesday: Bike from Melk to Krems (40 kilometers)

Thursday: Krems to Vienna (it rained, so we opted to take the bikes on the train!) Does this count? 

I thought 260 kilometers was pretty awesome especially as it was twice as long as our New Zealand trip. Moreover I was impressed with ourselves because we are no longer young bucks. (John keeps reminding me of my age.)  However, we were quickly put to shame when we met one couple (aged 73 and 70) from Amsterdam who were doing 1300 kilometers and last year did 1700 kilometers.  We met another couple from Australia in our age group who thought 75 kilometers a day was pretty typical!  In Prague we had dinner with a man who had done much more than 1700 km and put us to shame when he shared how much altitude he had done. He was on his way to northern Italy to bike the mountains. 

John "in the moment"

I reflected on how biking is like a metaphor for life ~ there will always be someone faster, fitter, and better looking on this journey. What is important is to keep your balance, relax and keep moving. I confess I did fall once (because I was distracted by a potential great photo) but I managed to protect my head. We did go off the recommended trail at least once to make up our own bike tour in an unauthorized and rough trail that was legally closed.

Following John into a closed  bike trail 

I think this was John’s favorite bike ride because it was unpredictable, “off label”, in the woods and isolated.  I realized we were incredibly lucky just to be able to do this.

Passau 

Passau to Schlogen to Linz: Our bike trip began in Passau, a Baroque style city in lower Bavaria, Germany. We biked along flat, paved trails without cars along the edge of the Danube. We passed beautiful vistas of castles and natural beauty.  

Bike Trail 

View across Danube River

We took a bike ferry across the Danube to Schlogen for our first night's hotel. 

We arrived the second biking night in Linz, the third largest city in Austria and capital of upper Austria. Hitler spent most of his youth in the Linz area, and considered this his home town. I was sorry to know this about this beautiful town (271,000 population) and wondered how the locals dealt with this history. 

Linz band outside our hotel

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Linz

Linz to Shelt Ardagger, to Melk, to Krems, to Vienna

Melk, situated along the Danube is a quaint village of 5,000 people best known for the massive baroque Benedictine monastery named the Melk Abbey. 

Melk Abbey

View from deck of our hotel 

View from Trail

Views just kept getting more magical

Site of my fall... too distracted by the Willy Wonka buildings
Get a bicycle..you will not regret it if you live.  Mark Twain

Krems is a town of 24,000 just 70 km west of Vienna and is known for its apricot brandy. We had beautiful warm sunny weather up until our last day of biking when it rained. While we had rain gear, we elected to put our bikes on the train and get to Vienna early. It was fun to be on the train and see many other bikers making the same decision.  I couldn’t quite imagine myself negotiating the Vienna streets and cars despite John’s excellent directions. I guess the life metaphor here is "courage is important but know your limits," or, "there is no shame in walking."

Vienna 

Vienna
Vienna is Austria’s largest city with a population of 1.72 million. It is regarded the City of Music or world capital of music because of its musical legacy. John was salivating at the feast of music to choose from; in the space of the 3 days we were there the Vienna Philharmonic was doing Bruckner, the Vienna Opera was doing 2 different operas, and the Cleveland Orchestra was doing Beethoven's symphonies 2, 8, 5 and 7 as well as innumerable other performances.  John managed to get us tickets for the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the Vienna Philharmonic and La Traviata at the famous Vienna Statsoper with Placido Domingo. I was interested that Vienna was said to be the “city of dreams” because it was home to Sigmund Freud, one of the greatest interpreters of dreams. Interesting as I had been having recurrent dreams of babies, perhaps this had something to due with the fact that we learned our son and his wife were newly pregnant and our first grandchild was in the making. 

Two days in Vienna where John biked and I walked and then off on a 4 1/2 hour train trip to Prague in Czech Republic for 3 days.  This city exceeded my expectations in terms of the beauty of the architecture.  John rented a bike for 2 days while I mostly walked except for one bike tour led by a cute Slovenian guide. I found that biking in a busy city with cars was not my thing and just too terrifying. "Why bike when walking is safer?" 

In Prague we also enjoyed the music in Mirror hall of a string quartet, and incredible organ player and opera singer with a presentation of the greatest hits by Vivaldi, Dvorak Slavic Dances, Mozart, Smetana's Moldau, and Pachelbel's Canon. 

Bike tour guide

 

City of Spires

Old Town Square

Prague 

Prague

Changing of the Guard at the Palace 

As I look at this female guard I am pleased that women are now being offered roles typically given only to men, however, I wish she would take the chance to smile and show how this role can be done differently from men.  

In reflecting about my love hate relationship with biking I realize that I have learned that as with life, biking can be emancipating, giving a feeling of freedom and self-reliance as long as you are going where you want, at your own pace and are staying balanced.