Day 14 (14. Tag) 14th September
Au an der Donau - St Nikola 37.4 kms (748.4 kms from start)
Au a.d. Donau - Huetting - Mitterkirchen - Mettensdorf - Eizendorf - Grein - St. Nikola
Click here for Day 15 - St Nikola - Willendorf
It was a very cold night in the tent. A massive front had come through and was bringing cold wet conditions. We set off just after 8.00 am after saying goodbye to Paul. We rode along the Treppelweg (levee bank) for about 16 kms. On the whole the surface was very good but there were a few rough patches. We passed the Wallsee-Mitterkirchen Kraftwerk and just before Huetting we noticed people filling water bottles at a spring. They explained that the water here was much better than in their village and they did this regularly. The water came from a spring and had less calcium than their well water.
We rode on through Huetting and Mutterkirchen and took the inland track rather than returning to the river bank. We were looking for a Gasthaus for breakfast and finally found one in Eizendorf. It was Sunday morning and everything seemed to be closed. By now it had started raining again and we needed shelter as well as food. The proprieters were lovely - we were the only customers but they prepared a lovely meal for us. After that we headed down toward the river again and rode along another Treppelweg but it deteriorated quite a bit. At Dornach we followed the road through to Grein where the track seemed to disappear. The road was also very busy. It was quite hilly in this area with not much room for the road and narrow cycle path on the left. We could have crossed the river again over a bridge just before Grein but decided to stay on the left bank. There were no townships on the right hand side and we were starting to get very wet and very cold.
This area is very picturesque biut the weather spoilt it for us. The hills are quite steep and there are several curves in the river. Ruins of castles dot the hillsides and it was a pity that we couldn't enjoy the views. After St. Nikola - Struden with its Burg Werfenstein we rode for a few kilometers until Don spotted an open empty private garage. He pulled in and started to change into thermals as he was getting quite cold. We resolved to find a room somewhere from now on. About a kilometer down the road we found what we were looking for. There was a cafe beside a walled stream and a sign saying Zimmer. I went in and asked if they had a room free and happily there was something available. The waitress took us to a nearby house with an apartment style room on the ground floor. It cost 40 Euros and was exactly what we wanted. We had coffee and cake at the restaurant while watching the boats travelling up and down the river. Then we veged out with the TV for the afternoon. The weather forecast was not promising which was a disappointment. This was the part of the ride we were really looking forward to. In the evening we went round the back of the cafe building to the pub for a meal. Again we were the only customers - the weather must have really chased people away. I rang my friend Ursula Rauchbauer in Vienna to let her know we'd probably be there on Wednesday afternoon.
