EV6 day 24

Rest day over and all rejuvenated! Regensburg is a lovely place and I have enjoyed strolling around in the sun. My hotel had a gym too so I took advantage of the opportunity to work my other muscles! I am not sure that was a good idea.

well equipped gym but I didn’t feel I needed these! Rest day leisurely food. That helped!

I can’t remember if I have mentioned this in previous a blog- but I have developed an unjustifiable hatred- based purely on jealousy- of all electric bikes. The smug devils cruise up hills and into the wind whilst I, and the other idiots on traditional bikes, drop a gear and sweat more. That said, I may look at getting one in the future in the unlikely event that I ever get on a bike after this trip.

Another thing I reflected on as I was looking around Regensburg is how not only are there many really good sports facilities available – most even very small towns, have a decent football ground with spectator seating, and there are lots of tennis courts- but there are lots of people running, sports cycling, and fitness training in different ways. Further East no one seemed to have the time or energy to get involved in such things. It makes you realise how lucky we are in the West.

By the way- this is the view I have had of most of the ride!😳😂

Standard start for this trip. I am in hotel in Regensburg, Passepartout is with van and bikes some 40 kms away. We will link up this morning at the hotel as the route leaves from within 1 km of here. Van won’t start!!! Immobiliser won’t turn off. After some considerable incompetent attempts to make it work, Laurel and Hardy discover that we have a fancy pants app that can override the immobiliser! Trip back on – just a slight delay.😂

Straight out of Regensburg following the Gpx. Straight up a hill that goes on and on and then the track stops dead and disappears. I do what those who have gone before me have done and search around. I find a muddy ‘path’ that I follow across a busy road onto a farm track. The gpx likes that and we are back on- across the rolling hills of Regensburg. Later I meet with other cyclists on the route who seem to join me from a flat route along the river from Regensburg.

I can see from the lovely countryside that we are in wine country. What do we know about that boys and girls? Vines like, to grow on slopes- slopes = hills. Cyclists don’t like hills – unless you are Mad Tom from PT Troop but he is so bonkers that doesn’t count.

I am cycling along minding my own business when a bee gets itself stuck in my cycle helmet. Not really his fault just an unfortunate collision. But he panics and stings me on the forehead. I stop, rip the hat off and he falls to the floor. I am about to angrily squash him when it occurs to me that neither of us wanted this. I didn’t want to be stung and he didn’t want to be scared witless. I have no idea if stinging me killed it, as with a big bee- it was a lot smaller and a different type, or if it was a wasp type sting. I had no residual sting in me. Karma, I hope he survived, I survived the sting so I wasn’t going to kill it.
Next I come across more road works. They really are everywhere. These were more fun. A bridge across the river on a minor road was being repaired, there was no road surface so it was closed. However there was no advance warning so what small amount of local cars did use that road pitched up to find it closed so had to turn around and find their own alternative route!

I made the mistake of stopping in a patch of shade so I could see the map on my phone and work out next waypoint. Immediately 50000 starving ninja mossies leapt out at me. I fled but not before a load of them had dinner at my expense. I hate them and now itch like mad. I don’t feel the same empathy with them as my mate the bee.

I don’t know what I expected when I got to Ingolstadt but it wasn’t this bad boy. They like their power stations and no matter how nice the town it has an industrial side.
Campsite tonight was remote but with excellent facilities- and a stream full of more mossies!