Danube Bike Trip — Day 3

Linz to Grein via Mauthausen

I might have found the perfect way to travel. It's relatively guilt free and it's good exercise.

The regime: bicycling between high end hotels where the staff falls all over themselves taking care of you, eating great food in those same hotels in the mornings and evenings and, last but not least, traveling light because a touring company moves your baggage for you while you're pedaling.  This makes for a nice vacation, especially if you choose the right trip and the right outfitter. The one I picked is Eurobike's Category A option — which means I stay in 4-star or better hotels and get breakfast. Throw in the bike rental, an extra night in Passau, etc., and it came out to about $1,000. Early April is officially the off season and prices are slightly higher later on.

Anyway, the Arcotel-Linz hotel is definitely a 4-star hotel and the breakfast they put out was an amazing affair. They had everything you could ever want in a breakfast; lox and cheeses, all kinds of pastries including the famous Linzertorte, strange and exotic tepenades and salads, a zillion kinds of breads, rolls and jams to anoint them with, the de rigueur coldcut platters, fresh fruit and yogurt, even a roast of beef! The tables were laid with fine linen and each had a stainless thermos of coffee waiting.

I left the hotel at about 8:30 in bright sun and I was looking forward to a pleasant day at last. Alas, it was not to be. The weather turned ugly almost immediately. Dark clouds scudded across the sky and when I reached the open river bank, the wind, luckily a tailwind, kicked up. I hurried along because I wanted to visit the Mauthausen Concentration Camp, one the most infamous of the Nazi death camps built during World War II and in which thousands perished under the most horrendous conditions imaginable.

Leaving Linz

I arrived in the pretty little town of Mauthausen at about 10 o'clock and was immediately struck by the fact that many of these same homes were here in 1938 when the camp was being built and afterward when it was the scene of the most barbaric cruelty in modern times. The Wikipedia article estimates that between 120-320 thousand people died there. What were these people thinking when they performed services for the SS troops who garrisoned the prison? When they celebrated Christmas with their families?

I have to wonder how these ordinary people could come to accept what was happening up on the hill above town. It must have happened gradually, this acceptance, this feeling that what was happening was deserved by the victims. Most of the people who died there were Jews who were historically reviled in much of Europe and even in the United States in the early 20th century. Adolph Hitler, a charismatic and deeply sociopathic leader, came to power and put forth a theory that these people were the cause of Germany's problems after WWI and in that process intentionally dehumanized them, making them seem to be animals, "the other". The Nazis weren't the first political group to operate this way; Europeans did it with native Americans, the American leadership did it with Vietnamese and Iraqis, but they were more determined and far more thorough than any regime before them.

Entrance to Mauthausen

As I entered the camp, the wind picked up and a cold rain began to fall. Here are a few photos of the entrance area, where new arrivals were brutalized, beaten or even killed instantly for the merest offenses. We will never know how many people died in this spot but it is surely a very large number.

The prison kommandant stood in this pulpit 

Prisoners in Mauthausen

Entrance area — pulpit at left center

"Stairs of Death"

Prisoners were made to carry huge blocks of granite from Mauthausen's quarry up these stairs. If a person couldn't do it or faltered he was severely beaten and often killed in his tracks.

Stairs of Death

If the work and inhuman living conditions didn't kill them, there were the gas chamber and ovens waiting.

Stone tablet in the Room of Names

Book of Names

Mauthausen was only one of hundreds of such camps that were build during World War II. Many of the towns I visited in my travels had camps either in them or nearby: Passau, Linz, Amstettin, Gusen, Melk, and Vienna.  A huge and efficient infrastructure was required to kill 6,000,000 people and these camps were a part of that. After seeing some of the heart rending exhibits and gruesome photos in the museum days later I find myself waking up at night thinking about the camp, wondering how it would be to spend a winter there, naked, starving, beaten, weak, alone, and only sure of one thing; that you would never leave Mauthausen alive. It gives me the shakes.

There are many other photographs in the links at the end of this post. I took in as much of the museum as I could endure but after seeing the Room of Names I was finished. I rode quickly down the steep hill I had walked the bike up two hours earlier and through Mauthausen, this time without without stopping. I reached Grein 3 hours later.

Entering Grein in light rain

I had to wait a couple of hours in Grein for a shuttle to take us up the 5 km long climb to the Hotel Aumühle, the only hotel in my tour that was not close to the Donauradweg. I walked around the pretty little town taking photos in the occasional sunshine.

I was ready to move right in to this little cottage

By the time I got to the hotel and unpacked rain had started falling steadily. I was happy to stay inside. I had stopped at a Hofer supermarket where I bought some nice takeaway food; herring in sour cream, cheese stuffed chili peppers, yogurt and sparkling water. I had biked 70 km (43 miles) in 5 hours and 15 minutes.

That night whenever I woke up, images of Mauthausen and what happened there 70 years ago flooded my mind.

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Links:

Wikipedia: Mauthausen Concentration Camp

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Reading: Wild, from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed (Kindle ed.)

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Danube Bike Trip — Day 2

Hotel Donnauschlinge to Linz

The first part of the day was bicycling at its best. I left the hotel after another sumptuous breakfast and started south along the Donauradweg. It was cool and overcast but quiet and calm, perfect biking weather. By my calculations the day's run to Linz was going to be roughly 56 km, about 35 miles. Back in the day that would be a piece of cake for me. I used to do the 29-mile North Fork Loop in just a few hours. and it involves some big hills. These days I'm used to riding a bike with a big comfortable seat, and a motor, not to mention being 10 years older, so I worried that 35 miles might present a bit of a challenge. After a few minutes riding though I felt that all was right in the world. I was zipping along listening to the birdsong and going with the flow, literally, through some country that, while not as wild as Alaska, was agreeably rustic and quite beautiful. Heavy forest rims both shores of the Donau along here.

A very pleasant bike path

Smooth running

There are a bunch of us doing the same tour with Eurobike and we pass one another now and again, exchanging hellos and see ya' laters when we do.

Fellow travelers

View of Untermuhl, Austria

The 20 km from the Donauschlinge south to Aschach has got to be one of the nicest pieces of cycleway in the world. I enjoyed every second of it. At Aschach I crossed the river again to proceed along the north shore to just before Linz where I crossed it again. The Eurobike staff provide a guidebook and maps and make suggestions about which side is most scenic or easiest to travel. That means we often find ourselves on bridges, taking a ferry or crossing at one of several power projects that span the mighty Donau. The second part of this day's travel wasn't in the same class as those first 20 kms. The path traversed some farm country and a few long, straight stretches that were a bit of a slog. The last 10 km were predictably unpleasant as traffic intensified the closer we got to Linz.

A gravel forest road runs alongside the bikepath here

I had a good tail wind on these straight stretches and that really, really helps. The few riders I saw going the opposite way were fighting for every inch of forward motion with heads down and clothing slapping in the fresh breeze. No thanks. Been there, done that.

I had been noticing a smaller gravel road, a forest service road, paralleling the bike path. I decided to ride it for a while just for a change of scene.

Out of the wind — a good place for a rest

Just as I hopped on the bike after this break a few raindrops began to fall. I got back on the main bikepath and kicked the pace up a notch. The rest of the ride was boring and noisy — lots of vehicular traffic, all of it going fast.

The last few miles before Linz

I found my hotel, the Arcotel Nike-Linz, which is a ritzy high-rise in a lovely green area of Linz. I was tired from the trip, and my butt was sore but I thought I should check this city out, a city much loved by Mozart, and Hitler, but just as I was getting ready for my shower I heard the wind just howling outside. The rain which had held off all day was slashing down, blowing horizontally in a torrential downpour. I had unwittingly beat it to Linz by just 15 minutes.

I decided to stay in the hotel for the rest of the evening. I had traveled 56.6 km in 3 hr 49 minutes ride time, 7 hours door to door.

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Audio equipment: iPhone 5, PanApp music player, Mighty-H Bluetooth headphones
Today's Playlist:
Beck : Morning Phase
Beethoven: Piano Trio, No. 1 Op. 1 No. 1
Massive Attack: Heligoland
The National: High Violet
Radiohead: In Rainbows
wind noise
birdsong
traffic noise 

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Danube Bike Trip - The real Day 1

I woke early this morning, at 6 am, to a chilly, grey day, a rainy day. I had not checked the weather report because I was committed — what was I to do about it if it was bad? I've paid for the entire trip, my next hotel is 25 miles away, and I have the bike. Rain will just have to be dealt with. It is spring after all and it rains in the spring. April showers ... etc.

I decided not to get too bummed about it and went to breakfast. The accommodations that come with this tour package, which is Eurobike's mid-priced tour, are all 4-star hotels and the Hotel Weisser Hase certainly met my expectations in that regard. You can pick a full-board or a half-board tour. Half-board is cheaper and with that choice you get breakfast only along with the room. Well, the buffet breakfast at the Weisser Hase is something to brag about. It is a huge spread with assorted pastries, cereals, fruits and juices, eggs and bacon, breads, croissants, and because it's Europe, there are big trays holding various cold cuts and cheeses. The tables are set with Germanic precision and everything is spotless, impeccable.

By the time I got back to my room and divided my stuff into what I was taking with me on the bike and what I was leaving for the Eurobike staff to shuttle to my next hotel the overcast had lifted. A little later the sun glinted brightly out of the heavy overcast. It only showed itself for a moment but it made me anxious to get a move on. I attached the handlebar pack holding my cameras and other ready access stuff and the single pannier holding my raingear and extra dry clothes to the bike and off I went.

As I left Passau behind and hit the bike path I started to get excited about the ride ahead. The path follows highways sometimes, other times it's unpaved, but most of it is a smooth asphalt path that you have all to yourself. And it's easy pedaling. After only 5 km the Danube Cycle Path, or Donauradweg in German, enters Austria. The border between the two countries follows the Danube here with Germany on the north side and Austria on the south. It's nice to be able to hop back and forth between them with no border crossing guards or immigration officials to contend with. Hell, since 9/11 Americans can't even go to Canada without a passport.

Leaving Passau, south side of Danube

A little further on, the pavement stops for a short stretch

For a few miles the path runs alongside of route B130, a major 2-lane highway, but it was Sunday morning and there was practically no traffic. The Donauradweg crosses a languid clear water brook on this little covered bridge.

Almost before I knew it I came to the power project where we were to cross back into Germany. I rode across the coffer dam and stopped for a cuppa in a small cafe. Half the total distance for the day was in the bag already and it was only 11 o'clock!

My ride — a nice 21-speed tourer from Eurobike 

Not a bright day but a day without rain

Old building along the way

Before long my hotel swung into view on the Austrian side of the river. I hitched a ride over on their little shuttle ferry and when I stepped off its deck had reached the end of Day One of the tour. I had biked a total 42 km or 26 miles and it was only 1 o'clock — a pretty good start.

The Hotel Donauschlinge - my home for the night

Tour boat on the Danube at sundown

Time for a movie or a little reading and then to bed.

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Danube Bike Trip — Day 1 — Passau

The actual bicycling part of the trip won't start until tomorrow but I am in Passau, Germany, trying to get myself psyched up for it. Various things have brought me a little low and I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll have got past them and will be happily winging my way along the Danube Bike Path on my way to Vienna. Part of it is that I'm missing Nut and my home in Thailand. Part of it is that my 97 year-old mother, who we always describe as being strong and healthy as hell, has experienced some setbacks and has been in and out of the hospital several times in the past month. And I just learned that my cousin Audrey suffered a massive stroke and died only a few hours later. Our once large and boisterous family continues to shrink, one notch at a time. I wonder is my mom getting ready to leave us? How many more years will I be healthy?

It was with those things in my mind that I set off for a little walk this morning. A walk should do me good, I thought. Passau is a scenic spot where three rivers meet —  the famous Danube and and the smaller Ilz from Germany, the Inn River from Austria — and this makes it a popular tourist destination. The streets are crowded with cafes, shops, and people, the Danube riverside lined with big tour boats. I walked along the Inn river to its confluence with the Danube and then walked along the Danube Bike Path for a short distance taking in the sights and sounds. The day was pleasant, cool and cloudy, perfect for walking.

View north to Veste Oberhaus

The Schaiblingsturm - Inn River

I decided to cross the Danube and climb to the Veste Oberhaus for coffee and a view of the city. The Oberhaus is a fortress that dates from 1219 and was the stronghold of the Bishop of Passau for centuries. Situated high on the hill, it dominated the ancient city of Passau. Of course there's a restaurant there now, and a museum. After coffee and sacher torte at the Burg Cafe I walked beyond the fort to an observation deck and took a couple of photos. A path leading into the woods looked interesting. Leaving the other gawkers behind I followed it as it wound its way in and out of the woods and fields. Very pretty back here, I said to myself, my mood improving as I walked. This was more like it. The whole hillside is laced with these rustic walking trails. I seldom walk in forested country in Thailand. It's ominously thick jungle and it's usually much too hot. And then there's the insects and poisonous snakes to think about. But this was forest I could deal with.

I had been listening to music on my phone, Beck's newest album Morning Phase, which I love. But this is Germany and I thought something German would be more appropriate so I switched to a favorite collection of Beethoven's piano trios. As I walked I became aware of birdsong and the spring flowers just coming into bloom here and there. The path grew more rugged just where it began to double back to its start. Very pretty.

Benches were placed here and there along the path

View of Passau from the bench

I sat there for quite a while with the Archduke Trio playing softly in my headphones. At noon the bells from three or four old cathedrals started up. I pulled the headphones away from my ears to better hear the bells echoing off the hillside, to the birdsong in the forest, and noticed that it was a fine spring day. There were dandelions and rose campion blooming nearby and trees I recognized, beech and oak, unfurling bright new green leaves all around me.

There's no rush, I thought, to get back to town.

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Thailand — April 2014

It's been a hell of a pleasant winter here in Chiang Mai — the coldest in many years. A lot of Thais, including Nut, were adversely affected by the cold — it affected me too but in the opposite way. I've totally enjoyed the uncharacteristically cool weather and can only hope for more of the same next season.

I'm a bit blue these days because it's almost time for Nut and I to say our farewells. I'll return to the states, visit family, then head north to Kachemak Country for the summer months. This is always a bittersweet time. We've been hanging together for four years now and I still feel lucky to have her in my life. There's excitement ahead and maybe even a few adventures but I'll be solo and I'll miss her.

I've been busy. Too busy to blog, almost too busy to answer emails. Mapping on OpenStreetMap (OSM) has become an obsession and takes up almost all my time. The deeper I get into it the more time I invest. I am still thrilled to be able to contribute to something I see as incredibly worthwhile and that fits so well with my own aptitudes and interests. At the same time, like all addictions, it has its down side: I sit in front of the computer for way too many hours every day. I take breaks for tennis, meals together with Nut, an occasional movie or TV show and sleep but otherwise stay busy with the mapping. Nut thinks I'm crazy. She asks, "Who pays you to do this?" Nobody, I say. She only shakes her head and walks away. And who knows? Maybe she's right.

Naturally, I've invested considerable energy working on Thailand because I live here eight months of the year. But lately I've been doing a lot of work on Alaska projects. As big as Alaska is and as interesting geographically there are very few people mapping it. Consequently, vast areas are empty of details and the highways and geographic features that are present often aren't very accurate. Yes, I know, many people use Google Maps and are happy with them. I was totally captivated by Google Earth for years. But Google controls the use of Google Maps and has a tight copyright grip on every aspect of them. This goes against my grain and is one reason I embrace the open source software movement. OpenStreetMap is, needless to say, a completely open source project and whomever wants to use the data we gather and organize can do so with no questions asked. I like that. I am quite sure that OSM will eventually come to replace proprietary maps, Garmin maps come to mind immediately, the way Wikipedia has replaced conventional encyclopedias, and for the very same reasons — rapid updates and solid factual knowledge supplied by an intelligent and highly motivated user community — and the data is completely free with no strings attached.

In the past few months I've mapped Adak Island, completely reworking the streets in Adak town and most of the gravel roads north of the city, enhanced the Denali, Parks, and Richardson highways as well as the Nenana River, enhanced portions of the Copper River, added hundreds of lakes and a canoe trail to the Swanson River area north of Soldotna, and spent a ton of time adding details to the southern Kenai Peninsula and the mountains across the bay from Homer. One of my first projects was fixing up and adding names to the roads in the City of Homer and out East End Road, a project that was mostly finished last year but which I still return to now and then.

I also spent a bit of time adding information to the Yasawa Island group in Fiji, a place I visited in 2009 and about which have some useful knowledge. Another favorite haunt is the Adirondacks in northern New York State. Hiking there in the 60s helped develop a love of wilderness areas that eventually resulted in my move to Alaska n 1983. So now I am mapping those mountains from my armchair, as it were, using aerial imagery and information gleaned from the Internet. Lately I've been adding hiking trails, lakes, streams and the locations of Adirondack shelters, called lean-tos, to the High Peaks Region and the Northville-Placid Trail. I will probably never backpack there again but I will always love that forested eastern country and enjoy adding to the map of it.

My mapping work will continue until I grow tired of it, or find something else to fascinate me and absorb my attention. I don't see that happening any time soon and there is just so much to do. Because I'll be in Alaska soon, I reckon I'll continue mapping there and might even talk myself into a trip over the Denali highway to witness in person once again the incredible majesty of the Alaska outback.
(Oct 15, 2014 : I made the Denali Highway trip in July. Read about that here.)

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This winter was busy for other reasons too. We had visitors, many visitors, some from Homer, some friends of friends and one from Oregon, my son Tuli, who came over for two weeks in February. And of course, I bought a new motorcycle last August so we made quite a few tours around the country. I didn't blog about all of them because frankly I don't think writing about yet another motorcycle trip makes very interesting reading for most people. But I do want to include some photos of a few of the more memorable moments of 2014.

Homer friends Tracy and Olga came to Chiang Mai in early January. As always, I suggested renting a scooter so they could get around. But Tracy has a bike in Homer and immediately opted to rent a CB500X like mine. We did some great rides with them and took them to a few of our favorite restaurants where they caught me up with Homer events and gossip. Here we are riding the Samoeng Loop. DC was nearby and he joined us at the Wawee Coffee shop on Route 1096.

Me and Nut with Homer friends DC, Tracy and Olga

Later in the week, intrepid world traveler and Alaska neighbors Sally-O and her son Alex stopped in Chiang Mai for a few days. They were on a big trip — to India, Laos, Cambodia, New Zealand and god knows where else. That gal gets around.

Sally-O and Alex visit Chiang Mai

We, Nut, Daniel and I, took a trip to coffee country later in January visiting the Doi Chang and Wawi districts north of here. The weather was cold in the mornings (7°C, 38°F) and Nut was beside herself trying to stay warm. I caught this photo of her actually sitting in the sun, possibly for the first time in her life, and drinking coffee too. She's not a coffee drinker and hates being in the sun. The cold weather must have made her a little crazy.

Nut catching some rays — Ban Doi Chang

Nut checking out the "cherry blossoms" along the road to Ban Wawi

View of tea plantations and poinsettias — Ban Lao Lee

And then Tuli arrived. Years ago, just after he had graduated from high school, I had this fantasy of someday making a trip together. It never happened. The years flew by and he's a grown man now with a child of his own. It had often occurred to me that Thailand would make an ideal getaway vacation and a way to fulfill that travel fantasy, so when I floated the idea of a visit to Thailand, he jumped at it. He loves Thai food and has been hearing about Thailand from me for years, so ... We were able to set him up with an apartment in our building for the whole two weeks he was here. It was very convenient, and being Thailand, very cheap.

I knew we'd want to travel on motorcycles and Tuli had never ridden one before. I wanted to start him off slow — riding Nut's Click and after a while, when I was sure he was ready, maybe move him up to a Honda PCX. Well, he loved riding right away. Being the car and driving enthusiast he is I knew he'd like motorcycling but he really liked it. The Click was definitely too small for his 6'4' frame so the next day we rented a Honda CBR250. That bike too was derided as being "too damn small" and he started pushing to rent a bike like mine.

Whoa! I said, my fatherly instincts taking over. "That's too much bike for a beginner. I don't want you to get killed over here!" But he had already ridden my bike, loved it, and thought he could handle it. After a lot of hemming and hawing I finally let myself relax about the idea and, as it turned out, his riding went extremely well. As we were saddling up for a trip to Nan I said to him, "Now, don't feel you have to keep up with me. Ride your own ride. Don't take any chances, etc., etc."

Long story short: before too many miles he was passing me. He took to motorcycling like a duck to water. We did quite a bit of riding that week. We had company for part of it, Homer friends Phil and Al, and our good neighbor Daniel.

Tuli and me at Lake Phayao

On the road to Nan 

Coffee break with Danny, Phil and Al — R101 Pua

Tuli on the CB500X at Nan

We had a ball. I think it's fair to say Tuli loved Thailand and that he'll want to come back. I hope he does.

I was gonna waffle on about tennis because I have lucked into a coaching situation there that is pretty damn cool, but I'll save that for another post. Right now I'm packing for my return and for what should turn out to be an interesting side trip, a 12-day visit to Austria, where I'll ride a bit of the famous Danube Bike Path. I start in Passau, Germany, on the 12th and will bike, as in ride a bicycle, about 230 miles to Vienna over a period of 8 days. I booked the entire trip though a tour outfit called Eurobike. They will put me up in 4-star hotels along the way and schlepp my luggage so I can travel light, as light as a 240 lb, 70 year-old geezer can be, on the bike. I picked this trip for several reasons but perhaps the most important of those were that I'll be following the Danube downstream and, unless rivers can flow uphill, my journey should be all downhill. Plus, the prevailing wind is from west to east so, if I'm lucky, any wind should be at my back. My 1600 mile bike trip in New Zealand 10 years ago made me promise myself never to attempt to ride a heavily loaded bike again, and especially not in hilly terrain.

I'll let you now how that trip turns out.