Day 5 (5. Tag) 5th September
Guenzburg - Donauwoerth 68 kms (288 kms from start)
Guenzburg - Offingen - Gundelfingen - Lauingen - Dillingen - Steinheim - Hoechstaedt - Blindheim - Rettingen - Donauwoerth
Click here for Day 6 - Donauwoerth - Neuburg
It was a sunny warm day. We had breakfast in the hostel at 7.45 am then packed up and said goodbye to the Kiwis. We rode along a few streets until we reached the bike shop which I had found the previous evening. I wanted to buy a basket for my front handlebar. The assistant assured me it could be fitted straight away so I wheeled it round the back and found the technician. He wasn't happy as he said he had a pile of bikes to repair. I twisted his arm with some firm persuasion and he relented. Don stayed at the bike shop while I walked into the town square to get money out of an ATM and some filled bread rolls and drinks for lunch. When I returned, Don was sitting with another customer. They'd had a roaring time using body language to communicate. We left Guenzburg and took the alternate route to Offingen then crossed the Danube and joined the main route through fields and forests and industrial areas following the railway line which we crossed at Gundelfingen. Bavaria is very Roman Catholic and there are overt religious elements everywhere, such as the statue of a saint at the entry to a bridge. We also marvelled at the huge number of buildings with solar photo voltaic arrays. We had heard that Germany had encouraged solar in a big way and this was proof of the seriousness of the people to increase the use of green energy.
Near Lauingen we were stopped in our tracks by a masonry yard which featured huge statues of Stalin and other communist Russian dignitaries. They had obviously snapped them up when the Berlin Wall came down and Russia opened up to the West. We parked our bikes and took a walk through the yard taking several photos.
We headed off again through Lauingen and into Dillingen, staying on the left bank of the Danube the whole way. We got lost in Dillingen as there are alternative routes through the town, some of which are not marked on the map. It was always hard to find the right Radweg signs especially in towns as there are many other signs at corners. We decided to stay on the main road and follow this through rather than taking the other route along the river. The afternoon was long and hot and time was running out - we still had a fair distance to cover. There was a straight stretch of road through Steinheim and then into Hoechstaedt and Blindheim. It wasn't too bad along the road as there were cycleways in parts and the traffic wasn't heavy. Occasional signs along the river indicated the distance from the sea.
From Blindheim we headed towards the river again and crossed it then rode inland through fields and farmlands making a sharp left turn at one point. The Radweg now headed northeast towards Donauwoerth. We stopped at a farmhouse/dairy at Baeldlesschwaige to talk to an old man. What attracted us there was a huge bell hanging from a timber frame. This was a gift from his grandsons. He rings it each day at midday.
The ride into Donauwoerth was somewhat complicated. we stayed on the right side of the river then crossed it near Staustufe Donauwoerth. The track then went over a main road and under the railway then over another bridge and into the town. We had found a large town map near the entry to the town and this helped us locate the Youth hostel, which was modern and beautiful. We had to take a 4-bunk room on the 2nd floor for the night but that was OK. The hostel wasn't full and we had the room to ourselves. The Kiwis arrived at much the same time so we caught up with some of them. We had dried a lot of our things the previous night so didn't need to do that again. I washed the usual undies and Nicks (padded bike pants) and put them around the room to dry along with clothes that hadn't quite dried the night before. After showering and changing we walked into town taking photos in the late afternoon light. We found a Bavarian restaurant where I had Schweinebraten with dumplings. We really enjoyed the traditional food and tried to order it at every opportunity. Don was excited at all the numberplates beginning with Don (for Donauwoerth).
