But the overall theme (if there is one) was waterways. Cycled the Rhine and Danube as well as Belgium, Dutch and English Canals. With Debbie and Aaron we toured the Loire Valley by car – can’t really say I cycled it as 10k in Samour doesn’t count.

Met some interesting and great people along the way, too many to mention. Only used my “cold weather” gear 3 times as the temperature was consistently hitting 30C + all the time.

In the spirit of today’s trend of having the “Ten Best of…..” My top 10, in no particular order are:

• The cycle paths of Belgium, Holland, Austria, France. (Worst by a long shot were England and Hungry)
• Madeira – very pleasant surprise
• Best Bridge – the wooden bike/Foot bridge near Kelheim
• Best Campsite. – Vilshofen an der Donau, totally geared for cyclists
• Bad Days – None, well there were some not so good days but then without them the good days would be ordinary
• Accident free days – all except one – when the bike and I parted company on a bridge
• Punctures or mechanical failures – none
• Best piece of gear – My ultra light weight camp chair with the Brooks Saddle coming in a close second
• Best website/app – hands down Komoot.com in combo with the Garmin Edge.
• The people you meet along the way.

Last time here, it was all about hi brow culture – see the opera house, listen to the Blue Danube etc etc. This time though it was about the Prater. Also sad to say goodbye to Tommy and Teresa. After passing and re-passing each other for 3 days, we ended out at the same B&Bs three times! and so travelled the 8 day from Ulm. They go back home to Ulm and I go onto Bratislava. Why the way, that’s my beer not Teresa’s.

Even the now daily thunderstorm only caught up briefly

It was funny when I’d pass places and think, I remember that from when we cruised past 6 years ago. Sure enough, this evening when I looked at photos from back then I found some ‘duplicates’ The main different was the time of year – autumn vs late spring.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end and the path into Linz, beside an autobahn, against screaming traffic and a strong hot wind, did nothing to make me warm to the city of Linz. I didn’t really care for it last time so I kept on going.

Twice so far this trip I’ve gone a pedal push too far. This was the second time. As the afternoon drew on, the wind increased and my pace slowed. Google maps would tell me it was maybe an hour and 20 minutes to my next point. My legs told me 2 hours. At least the thunderstorms managed to avoid me – just. There are no photos of the second half of the day as my only view was limited to the 20 metres of asphalt in front of my bike.

But even the bad times stop and I ended up having a great supper in the backyard of a hotel (resturant wasn’t open) but the host put on food for myself and two other travellers. By the way Thressia (age 10) had just cycled 110 kilometres today. That put things in perspective. She and her father were cycling from Ulm to Vienna.

One benefit of the tour groups is that I didn’t need to read up about the sights, churches or the last great flood. I just evesdropped from one group to another.

Then it was onwards into Austria. Who could complain when you have bike paths like this?