Imagine cycling up a hill. You’re out of puff longing for the road to smooth out, but at what looked like the top there is yet another upward slope, far steeper than the one you’ve just conquered!
Or imagine being bounced around like a pea in the pod on a mountain bike dirt track: then suddenly finding yourself on a tarmacked road surface!
Or again imagine cycling against the wind struggling to get faster than 10 m.p.h./ 16 kms p.h.-depressed at your lack of progress you suddenly notice that you are one day ahead of schedule.
These are just some of the ups and downs of a cycle marathon.
I shouldn’t really be depressed by a lack of progress, although it sometimes seems that I haven’t improved on last year’s performance – I have in fact met my minimum target of 80 miles per day / 130 kilometres per day.
I have been told that lots of people manage over 100 miles per day, but that is of very little interest to me, what is important to me is that I am improving on my previous performance.
I am at present being wined and dined at Frédérique’s, a one time colleague of ours from Billericay School. This not far from Linz in the middle of Austria. On the menu tonight was spaghetti with prawns and really tasty pork chop + a delicious apple tart swilled down with some yummy locally made apple juice! She wishes the language department all the very best and in her lounge she has a wooden set of lockers all bright and shiny, a set of lockers that used to live in A4 classroom at Billericay School!
Tomorrow I have gained an unexpected ”Ruhetag” (rest day”) !!
My progress so far:
day 12 to Ingolstadt 79 miles/ 128 kms.
day 13 to Regensburg 73 miles / 120 kms.
day 14 to Passau 88 miles / 138 kms.
day 15 to Kronstorff 80 miles : 130 kms..
day 16 day off.
Barely 3 days to go, but I feel less strong than before, finding it more difficult to concentrate.
With such a heavy load of 47 kilos (it needed two strong people to lift it down the stairs at Laindon station!! ) and with persistent head winds all along the Danube, I shouldn’t feel too bad, I suppose.
The continued help from locals has been very gratefully received and has cut down the number of miles I have needed to do.
Without the local knowledge most Rhine and Danube cyclists end up going the long way round or getting lost.
A little time and patience to ask the locals really pays off.
The racing bike fraternity are especially helpful in this respect - tonight on my way to Frédérique’s a polite enquiry to one of them resulted in being taken on a 15 km. short cut from near Mathausen to Thaling – this has happened to me on a number of occasions.
Any difficulties are off-set ten fold by the fantastic emergence of spring, the colours and the fragrance and the huge river Danube dragging billions of tons of water from mountain to sea.
I have raised the Red Cross target to 5,000 pounds – as the previous target has been surpassed.
Liebe Oesterreicher und Oesterreicerinnen!
In fuenf Tagen komme ich am Ratshausplatz an – viel geschwinder als erwartet.
Wir sollten stolz auf das Europa, in dem wir leben, sein! Im Moment so gruen mit herrlichen Dueften von Blumen und Erde. Der Radwegbelag kann manchmal nicht so gastfreundlich mit den vielen Kiessteinen und Loechern, aber am Rhein und an der Donau herrscht Transportordnung: auf beiden Seiten Zug und Strasse, dann grosse Boote und Schiffe im Wasser und dzu auch der Hubschrauber am Himmel – sehr eindrucksvoll§
Wie quaelend das Radfahren manchmal auch sein mag, muss man sehr von dieser menschlichen Schoepfung beeindruckt.
Und der Fruehling! die Sonne scheint fast ununterbrochen, lasst mich an diese Zeilen denken:
“Die Eier werden billiger,
Die Maedchen werden williger,
Es stinkt von den Aborten,
Kurz Fruehling aller Orten!”
Hoffentlich sehen wir uns an diesem kommenden Samstag am Rathaus Platz! (11.30)
Kind Regards, Nick Ullmann
In April I am cycling some 1400 miles in aid of the Red Cross -from London to Vienna solo -
http://www.justgiving.com/NICK-ULLMANN
Also copy, paste and hear all about it here – from BBC Billericay School:
http://vimeo.com/21478655
