So how about swapping the South Circular or the East-West Super Highway for the traffic-free bike lanes of Holland, Germany and Austria on a ride to the heart of Vienna alongside the Rhine and Danube rivers, taking in two UNESCO World Heritage Sites and enough breathtaking scenery to make even three-times Tour de France winner Chris Froome want to slow right down and take it all in? That’s exactly what I did when I joined a group of cyclists for the final stages of their epic 17-day journey of over 900 miles, starting from the UK port of Harwich, arranged and supported by travel company Pedal Nation, the cycling division of Sheffield-based High Places who have been organising walking, hiking and photography holidays all over the world since 1987.
Tour leader Nick Mitchell, who is also the author of three long-distance cycling guide-books, told me as I arrived in Passau on the German-Austrian border to catch up with the group: “This is an ideal trip for recreational cyclists who don’t like riding on roads. It’s a total distance of 904 miles over every kind of terrain but less than 10 of them are on vehicular carriageways. The route follows European cycle routes that are nearly all on completely separate bike paths far removed from even the sound of traffic, and the small remainder are on distinct sections that are well protected from cars and lorries”. Safety aside, the scale of the tour is still daunting for someone like me who feels pretty pleased with himself after riding just 30 miles between country pubs on a Sunday afternoon. Nick, however, reassures me again: “We average a speed of 8-10 mph and stop regularly for coffee breaks or to take photos. The furthest distance we cover in a day is 68 miles and the shortest is just 35.”
So, as I don my helmet and climb aboard the Ridgeback Velocity touring bike which Pedal Nation have lent me, I’m introduced by their Operations Manager, Sunny Wattal, to my fellow riders and am surprised to find that many of them are over 50, with the oldest being a spritely 68. Sunny explains that the make-up of every tour group is different with varying ages and backgrounds. Most of this group have completed at least one Lands End to John O’Groats jaunt (or ‘LeJog’ as veterans like to call it) but I am amazed when Karen, a 59-year-old farmer’s wife from Warwickshire, tells me that she only started cycling two years ago, having given up two-wheeled transport since she was a small girl. “Age is no barrier” she proclaims confidently.
–
Inspired by her example, I set out on my first day’s riding which will see us complete 53 miles from Passau to Linz, a Roman city and the third largest in Austria. The great thing about the section of the route I am doing is that it follows a river, the “beautiful blue Danube” as the composer Johann Strauss called it — although it looks more of a pale green to me — so I am saved the kind of hill-climbing exertions that my fellow riders had gone through already as they negotiated the beautiful but more challenging scenery of Bavaria. That’s not to say that the route I’m following is completely level, however — as the bike lane occasionally diverts away from the waterside, for example to circumvent a marina or small ferry station, it undulates, sometimes rising up into the small hills neighbouring parts of the Danube. The pace is relaxed, though, and the ‘peloton’ (as we jokingly refer to ourselves) adjusts its speed to accommodate the slowest of the group; there is nothing rushed or pressured about this holiday. “We are motivated by enjoyment of the journey and the achievement of reaching our destination at the end of the day, not by speed or getting there quicker than anybody else” Nick tells me. Although he adds “We can, if asked, put together bespoke holiday packages for any kind of group, including more competitive cyclists who want to wrap themselves in Lycra and hurtle full-pelt on super-sleek carbon-fibre machines.”
With a comfortable 25 miles under our belt by midday, we stop for lunch on the bank of a double bend in the river which seems to have leapt straight out of a list of “10 most ridiculously pretty places to stop for a picnic”. Sunny arranges the catering and the food is good — a healthy spread of locally bought salads, meats, cheeses and breads served with a range of fruit juices and mineral water, followed by fruit and chocolates for dessert— but it is the lush views of the surrounding countryside which we really gorge ourselves on: dark-green forested hills sweeping down to meet Hansel and Gretel-style cottages that overlook small wooden boats plying the rickety home-made jetties which line both sides of the river.
After lunch, we pedal on towards Linz to arrive at our accommodation for the night, the well-appointed Arcotel Nike Linz, where we are reunited with our luggage which has been transported by Sunny in the support van that also carries a spare bike and basic tools in case of mechanical problems. With a backside aching from hours in the saddle, I am glad that there’s time for a restoring steam-bath and sauna in the hotel’s luxurious spa before dinner. I notice that some of the overnight stops on this tour are chosen for their convenience as a break in the mileage and their proximity to the cycle route (which makes perfect sense when you’ve been pedal-pushing all day), rather than for their entertainment appeal or nightlife; but this one seems to tick all the boxes, with Linz’s numerous pubs and restaurants, as well as the historic Altstadt’s many photo-opportunities, being just a short stroll away. All that fresh air and self-propulsion has taken its toll, however, so after a Weissbier and a plate of Würstel, I hit the sack early so that I’m well rested and ready for the 8:30 push-off the following morning.
–
Day 2 (for me, but day 14 to the others) is one of contrasts as we divert slightly away from the pleasant riverbank to visit Mauthausen, the site of a notorious concentration camp used by the Nazis from 1938-1945. The pristine, almost clinical, preservation of the camp and its grounds make it all the more chilling and it’s a relief, after spending an hour or so in a place where murder was committed on such an industrial scale, to remount our bikes and head back to the welcoming waters of the Danube. Forty-nine miles later, we arrive at the village of Persenbeug-Metzling where our party decamps to three different guest houses. Space is limited as it’s high season and this tiny place is chock full of cyclists, all on similar tours — although, from talking to a handful of them, it becomes clear from their gasps of admiration that few are undertaking expeditions of such epic scale as us (forgetfully, I omit to tell them that I am only there for the last third of the journey, happy to revel in the shared glory of the group)! Strolling into the village in search of dinner, I manage to walk the entire length of it in less than five minutes and find only one restaurant open. It is then that I notice the signs hanging in the windows of the closed shops, cafes and pubs: “Donnerstag = Ruhe Tag” (Thursday = Quiet Day). From the look of things, it is hardly a buzzing metropolis on any day of the week so I join Nick and Sunny and we head across the river to Ybbs An Der Donau, a smart market town on the opposite bank. Nick tracks down an excellent hostelry with a shaded beer garden that he has taken groups to in previous years and I gratefully tuck into a fine Wienerschnitzel washed down with a pint of the local Dünkelbräu.
Next morning, we meet for breakfast and enjoy one of the finest scenes that I have ever looked out upon from a hotel dining room; there are views along the length of the river for miles in both directions: imposing Teutonic castles to the left of me, gorgeously romantic chateaux to the right, and here I am stuck in the middle with a Bratwurst in my mouth, just staring in awe. The penultimate day’s ride, whilst shorter than the others at only 38 miles, promises to reward us with some of the finest scenery of the whole tour. It is also the busiest stretch of the route and, unlike the last few days, there is rarely a moment when we are not sharing the track with other two-wheeled tourists who stop suddenly and without warning, prompting a few near-misses and at least one minor crash, in order to photograph the lush vineyards and towering escarpments of the Wachau Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site, before they whizz by. This is a famous wine-growing region and it’s novel to see ‘honesty-boxes’ outside some of the residents’ houses offering bottles of home-produced wine with handwritten labels for sale next to dishes for depositing payment. You really can’t throw a stone around here without hitting a scene of outstanding natural beauty and it becomes almost pointless to keep repeating “Ooh, isn’t that lovely!” with such an abundance of visual delight all around us at every turn.
We reluctantly leave all this splendour and power on to our overnight stop in the city of Krems which, on this hot and humid summer evening, has a sultrily relaxed feel to it. I find a quiet park, not far from the city’s main touristic attraction, the Steiner Tor— an ornate Baroque-style gate dating back to the 15th century — and recline on the grass to write up my notes on the trip so far. Before I can put pen to paper, however, I’m surrounded by fifteen or twenty locals, ranging from teenagers right up to forty-somethings, staggering silently around in circles with their heads drooped over their phones which they hold with both hands as if in prayer. I think that I am caught up in some kind of Austrian zombie apocalypse until I realise that these are Pokémon Go players and I am slap-bang in the middle of a Pokémon ‘Gym’ where they have met to do virtual battle with each other.
–
The final day of the trip begins early with a team talk from Nick outside our hotel and it is a bittersweet moment. There is satisfaction at having nearly reached the final destination combined with a sad realisation that this is the end of a holiday on which firm friendships have been formed between hitherto strangers over the many miles on the road. We follow the Danube out of Krems and the scenery becomes increasingly urban over the course of 52 miles as we approach Vienna. The temperature has risen to an energy-sapping 38° Celsius by the time we reach the capital and some of our riders’ tempers are beginning to fray in the heat. We wish we could join the city dwellers who have jumped into the Danube to cool off or others who sunbathe (some of them totally nude) on its banks whilst the glass and steel skyscrapers of Vienna’s business district tower behind, lending an incongruous touch to this city centre beach scene.
Before we completely boil over, though, we leave the riverside track and head downtown towards our hotel, the luxury Arcotel Kaiserwasser Wien, still keeping to the safety of dedicated cycle paths that completely separate us from the heavy inner-city traffic. As we arrive at the hotel’s plush-carpeted entrance, Sunny is there to welcome us with certificates of completion and much-needed bottles of water in lieu of the champagne which such an achievement rightly calls for. High-fives, group hugs and photo’s completed, Sunny and Nick take all the bikes down into the secure hotel car-park and lock them in the van ready to be transported back to the UK for collection at the riders’ convenience or, for some of them, delivery to their homes.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my section of the journey and, judging by how elated the other riders are, I wish I had joined the group for the whole trip. Cycling is the perfect way to see a country; it is slow enough to let you take in the details that are impossible to enjoy from a speeding car, yet rapid enough to make decent progress over a large distance. An organised trip such as this one takes away the headaches of getting your bike overseas and back and transporting enough heavy luggage for a two-week holiday; it also negates the need to worry about what happens if something goes wrong. For some of the female riders on this trip, it affords them a feeling of security and confidence gained from having an experienced cycling tour guide with them, yet still allowing them the independence and satisfaction of making progress under their own steam.
We celebrate with a final group dinner at a typically Austrian restaurant in the shadow of the famous Prater Wheel, where Karen confides to me: “I wouldn’t dream of making a trip like this on my own but, as part of a group with all the logistics and back-up taken care of, I feel totally safe and am able to just concentrate on enjoying the ride”. I concur and raise a glass to the whole group before heading back to the hotel where I must say “goodnight Vienna”.
Do’s & don’ts:
- Do bring waterproofs and suntan lotion for protection from the weather
- Do drink plenty of water to keep hydrated and avoid the onset of muscle cramp
- Don’t undertake this trip unless you feel comfortable riding long distances each day — a good way to tell if you’re fit enough is if you can cycle for at least 40 miles, three days in a row
words & pictures by Russell Higham
