I felt a rather naughty and evil joy when i came across an e-biker whose battery had died somewhat far from town. It would be interesting to see how e-bikes have changed bicycling along the Danube. I suspect quite a lot as probably 70 per cent of the cyclists I saw were on e-bikes.

Tonight I’m camped right next to the Danube, just 30 is outside of Passau. It’s a campground run by volunteers Andy geared to cyclists – yeah! Across the river is a river cruise boat that’s probably headed to Regensburg later.

Anyway, here’s what my little campsite looks like. Cruise Boat is under the bridge. Time for a cup of tea.

The next dilemma had to do with making diversion. It had to do with a certain foot bridge that had been inspiring me for the last few months. It spanned the Mainz Canal and I’d wanted to cycle it ever since I’d started thinking about this trip.

On the basis that I’d only be here one (actually second time) I, of course, made the diversion. I found it quite interesting how these two events gave me both a sense of complete satisfaction and accomplishment.

Next stop was Regensburg, which was full of visitors, so after a coffee, I continued on. I prefer places like this one.

As I move thru different places, I always look at the signs by which towns announce themselves. Apart from the obvious stuff that is included – town name, maybe a twined city as well, they is always an image that promotes what the town elders think is their crowning glory. Normally this is a religious building, a castle maybe, the town hall or something similar. Earlier today it was simply an image of kids splashing in the river.

So far the routes I’ve taken have been well signposted and German signs are very precise, not necessarily accurate, but they are precise. – in fairness the route or path may have changed.

This was an interesting portal. I felt it had better be worthwhile as I’d had to climb a significant hill to get there. It turned out to be part of a 900 metre Monestery built in the 1700. Now it is a centre for Arts and Leisure. At least that’s what I gathered from the information board that showed people doing abstract painting and other people in leotards standing on one leg with their hands held above their heads.

And finally, the most impressive castle yet. It’s Schloss Sigmaringen. Check it out at .Schloss Sigmaringen

To start the ride was lovely, lots of other cyclists about and it seemed as if everyone was on holiday – unfortunately this turned out to be the case when I discovered all Supermarkets were closed and all the food I had was. – not much.

Any way, the land was flat and no hills visible, that is until the mist started lifting and then the hills started appearing. Even here there were castles. There had been some very busy people back in the day.

So as I continued, the hills started closing in a wee bit but I was able to block out the true nature of what I faced.

There are no pictures of the climb, I just kept telling myself, that it would be over at some point. When the gradient turned to 15 per cent, my bike finally became a push bike.

Luckily on the climb, thunderstorms started rolling in, when gave me the pretext to stop and shelter every so often but once I summited it was game on. The result was dead heat as I reached Donnaueschingen.

Now I knew that the Start of the Danube wasn’t a cute babbling spring in a grotto, but rather where two other streams joined together but,it could have had a bit more grandeur

Particularly as I’d cycled over 1000ks to get there.

Apart from that there was quite a few cycle tourists. Most were ‘day trippers’ but there was also a fair number of long distance cyclists heading northward.

The tour bus tourists were generally huddled together wrapped up against the cool wind and probably glad to get back on their buses.

The weather was cool, breezy and tended to be somewhat hazy so there’s no attention grabbing iconic photos of Castles, just one that look like they were shot thru a misty lens.

Tonight I’m camping at a unique spot just short of Mainz. For the princely sum of 15 Euros, I get a piece of ground (carefully cleaned of goose droppings). There no shower or cooking facilities but it’s right on the Rhine. There’s also a place within 50 metres that has Beer, Pizza and Chips so all is good.

Cheers