Landshut

August 12, 2017

Cold. Cold this morning! In the low 50s! And a light drizzle. Or at least it looked like that from our hotel window, which I promptly opened and tested. Well, not quite a drizzle. More of a spitting rain. Well, that would be an improvement at least.

And improve it did! It just took most of the day. This is our fifth day of overcast weather with threats of rain. All of Bavaria, essentially. But we have been lucky. We've had almost no rain days. Once coming out of the Jura Mountains, and another outburst right before entering Interlaken. And the latter we waited out! It was over in 30 minutes!

So I cannot complain!

We woke up early. Jerry and Happy and I were all on different routes today. And Jerry, with Happy in tow, wanted to be in Maria Thalheim by noon or 1:00 PM, a 34-mile ride. Happy would accompany him and then meet me in Landshut. And me? Straight down the Isar River to Landshut. Jerry will stay in Maria Thalheim until Monday, visiting friends, and then train to Passau to catch up with us. Happy and I will continue down the Isar tomorrow, spend the night in Deggendorf, and then bike to Passau Monday to meet Jerry. Then on to Vienna!

So, about today. Fortunately, I purchased leg warmers yesterday on my day off in Munich! Only 30 euros, marked down from 50. After all, who buys leg warmers in August? I now have two pairs, the last pair purchased in Savannah under similar circumstances. So I was hellbent on wearing them, and the cold temperatures (and rain) gave me additional reason. But I also knew we were headed north to Berlin . . . so who knows, right?

Leg warmers for today's ride. That and a long-sleeved base layer, a short-sleeved jersey, and my rain jacket (for warmth and visibility)!

Happy and Jerry were off by 9:00. I followed shortly thereafter at 9:30 or 9:45 and meandered out of town through the old city. It was pretty and not busy at all, even on the exclusive pedestrian venues. The weather was keeping people away. Good for me!

Today's ride to Landshut.

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Along the way, I decided to get some pictures of the bicycle infrastructure, especially the contraflow lanes, which are fairly common here. I have traffic engineering friends who don't think they are safe. Of course they are safe when you have properly trained road users!

But almost nothing here, yet they exist! And work!

And then down to the Isar River.

Heading out of town. Riding along the Isar after crossing the historic core.

And one of the flood control structures nearby.

It was easy getting to the Isar. Getting on the dedicated path to Landshut was a bit more tricky. But after a few false turns, I was on my way. In the Munich area, there are a plethora of paths down to the river. Some are exclusive to pedestrians, so you need to be careful, although no one lectured me . . . not yet anyway!

Initially, there were hard paved surfaces . . .

. . . and unpaved sections. But it eventually became the latter for most of the course.

But once on my way, it was smooth sailing. If not "rocky" in parts. So it turned out (as indicated earlier), the path is not paved! So thirty or thirty-five miles of natural trail. Given my average speed today was 11.6 mph, I think I did pretty well. The trail is heavily wooded and does not always follow the Isar closely. Sometimes it follows parallel channels and/or reservoirs. But it was serene and quiet the whole way. With many cyclists to meet, including one couple I talked with who were headed for the Baltic Sea. Plus, given it was a Saturday, there were many families and solo riders out today.

A pedestrian bridge across the Isar to the far side.

. . . where the path runs along the top of a levee.

And then, back into a wooded section with waterways on both sides of the trail.

Eventually, the trail breaks out into more open country north of Moosburg.

And then hard pavement, which would last into Landshut.

Don't count too much on going through any of the local towns or villages without a diversion. It wasn't till I was about twelve miles out of Landshut that I was almost solely on local roads and hard pavement, all of which wound through the adjacent villages. That really allowed me to pick up my speed, and I even had a tailwind. So I was doing 16-17 mph at that point!

And finally, the first spotting! I had beat the rain, if it were ever a real threat!

The world's tallest brick tower? That's what they say!

The main avenue with some raucous boys in blue pulling a beer wagon and running one of their number through some type of initiation ritual, pink tutu and all!

And street fairs at every turn, it seemed.

So nothing particularly notable along the way. It is a bit repetitive, so it would have been nice to have company to chat with. And I'm sure if it had been a bright and sunny day, I would have enjoyed it all that much more.

I arrived at 2:30 PM as I didn't stop for lunch. Happy arrived around 4:30 or 5:00, having left Maria Thalheim around 3:00 with 18 miles to go. We walked the city, had a few beers, and had a traditional Bavarian meal. Tomorrow we will bike to Deggendorf.

Today's ride: 49 miles (79 km)
Total: 987 miles (1,588 km)

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