Successful castle visits do not feature prominently today. People on the other hand…
Last night while setting up camp I met Marcel, from Germany, another solo cyclist. He’s cycling to Vienna, and then spending a week hiking. He injured himself recently because he met a girl (isn’t that always how these things start) who happens to be the #2 Austria wake boarding contender, and asked her if she could teach him to wake board. That experience went less than optimally, and at the very least he bruised a rib. Marcel represents a company which sells a device much like the Kindle, but with a strong presence in the Eastern Europe and Russian marketplace. I found it refreshing to meet another professional instead of the usual myriad of university students. I wish he’d been headed the other way!
Having put off doing laundry for far too long, I also spent a large portion of the evening washing everything, which desperately needed it.
Rain fell on and off throughout the evening, but the morning started the day with sunshine! Ed, another solo cyclist from Scotland joined Marcel and I for breakfast. Ed’s headed the same way I am, but at a speed I can’t match even if he didn’t have zero interest in visiting castles.
The two castles I planned to visit a few km further down the path didn’t pan out, nor did the next three on my map, a combination of closed, private, and non-existent.
Progress slowed by wandering back and forth, the last 50 km of the day had few attractions, so I buckled down to the ride. After a brief photo shoot, I restarted to find Max at my side, cycling at an identical pace. Even with limited English, Max and I conversed for a while, stopped for coffee together, and given that he lives near the campground, added an extra 4 km to his day to ensure I arrived ok and checked in with no issues.
I’d actually been thinking I could stretch the day to the campground 20 km down the road, but Max insisted this camground was much better, and given his efforts it felt impolite to move on. At least here has wi-fi. Maybe an early start in the morning.
I pass playgrounds every day, and I’m struck by how much fun they appear, containing all sorts of amusements (including zip lines), and how they’d never pass in the US – too dangerous I’m sure.
