Author: Brian Burger

The day started off with a very nice zooming ride downhill into Grein proper after our night at the guesthouse built into a long-ruined hilltop schloss, Burg Kreuzer.

Unfortunately the day also started with the abrupt death of my new bike computer. It popped off it’s handlebar mount just as I started rolling, as computers sometimes do, hit the pavement and was done for. Not impressed with the fragility – bike equipment should be more shock resistant than that!

Aside from that we had a good day riding, about 65km, with only a couple km of headwinds right near the end along the river, and an unpleasant taxi driver cutting us off as we rode through Linz to our hostel.

We spent several hours in the afternoon wandering central Linz – the Mariendom is a grand spikey Gothic pile, and there are lots of nice Baroque buildings in town.

Off to Engelhartszell tomorrow, another 65km or so and our last stop in Austria – we’re into Germany by the end of Thursday when we get to Passau!

Tonight we are staying in a guesthouse built into a partially-ruined schloss on a hilltop near Grei, Austria.

The bike ride up from the Danube was a bit staggering, the view is awesome, dinner was excellent and the castle bar has good beer.

These all combine to make this a short blog post. More tomorrow, when we are off to Linz.

Today’s terribly rough trip up the Danube from Krems to Melk:

Ride about 15km.

“Eine Espresso, bitte.”

Ride another 15km or so.

Stop for picnic lunch alongside the river. Admire ruined schloss above river.

Ride another dozen clicks.

“Yes, it is beer o’clock…” Watch riverboats go past.

Ride another fifteen clicks or so, arrive Melk. Drop bike at jungendherberge, see old town and massive palace/monastery.

The rain even held off until we got to town.

We’ve left the plains around Vienna and are into the dramatic hill country for now, towns and villages jammed in between the hills and the river.

Rough day, hope it stays like this the rest of the trip!

Quick post before 54km of riding and a litre of Austrian beer gang up to knock me out…

Weather started warm around 20 C, cooled to around 16 later. Very occasional light rain, just to make sure we didn’t get too relaxed.

Great post-ride walk through the old town of Grien, which is a suburb of Krems these days.

Off to Melk tomorrow, another fifty clicks or so.