Trix MM and CS recently embarked on a cycling trip to Germany and Austria with hire bikes you could ride through a brick wall, panniers and a bob yak we set off from Passau in glorious sunshine heading towards Vienna.  The first 25m leg took us to the infamous Schlogen Schling, a beautiful ride alongside the Danube on a dedicated cycle path.  On arrival at Schlogen we took a walk up into the hills to view the Schling and have a photo shoot.  Day 2 was a 36m ride with a good head wind all the way into Linz.  There was plenty of battery powered bikes buzzing about and this did seem like a favourable option at some points.  Linz was a busy city and had fantastic food.  I’m not sure its PC to go for an Italian in Austria but the food was brilliant. In the morning CS had to be dragged away as a salami and sausage fair was being set up down the main street into the City. On day 3 en-route to Grein we took a detour up a 1 in 14 hill to visit the Mauthausen concentration camp.  It was a harrowing experience ( the hill and the concentration camp) and somewhat poignant that it was September 11th.  Whilst technology advances at a scary rate, our ability to massacre other members of the human race appears to remain a constant.  It was a sobering and long day and we covered just over 43 miles.  Grein had the oldest theatre in Austria with a commode on one side of the seats so you didn’t have to  miss any of the production whilst doing your business.  It also had a pretty amazing castle. Day 4 was a ride to Ennersdorf where we stayed for two nights as we wanted to visit Melk abbey, so a sedate 31m with a few hydro-electric dams thrown in.  Day 5 coincided with the Wachau marathon, we watched the start which was exciting, but later found out two people died on the course, which put a bit of a dampener on things.  They should take up a sensible sport like cycling.  Day 6 took us to Durnstein and Weissenkirchen, Dunstein was full of American sightseers  from the Danube boats and the only place which was horribly commercialised.  Weissenkirchen was a beautiful village and  we had the best hotel of the two weeks.  We could have spent more time here amongst the vineyards but CS may have ridden into the Danube if intoxicated.  Day 7 was a 28m to Tulln – a pretty ride with plenty of nice villages and coffee (wine) stops en route.  Tulln was an okay town with plenty to do in the evening, if you are not sad over 40 and have just biked along way.  A meal out and another early night.  Our last day cycling took us to the outskirts of Vienna.  It was sad to leave our trusty hire bikes, panniers and bob yak, mainly because we then had to carry our luggage ourselves.  We clocked up 220 miles in 8 days, which was a real first for CS.  His sore bum has now recovered and he wants a turbo trainer set up…… have we got another addict in the house?  We spent the next four days in Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest dodging asylum seekers, eating good food and enjoying the sights.  The Danube is a great ride, a very popular one through beautiful countryside, villages, towns and bypassing Cities.  The food was great and apparently the wine was as well.  I would definitely recommend it!