May 10, 2013
Au to Persenbeug 50km (748 km total)
Sunny Morning - Rainy Afternoon
Pension Mileta, € 56 ( $73) double including breakfast


 
May Pole Weather
 
After a picture of the beautiful May pole our Gasthof had up, we were waved off by the owner. We have been seeing a lot of those decorated poles with pine wreaths and tree boughs on top in villages and next to businesses. They are put up the first of May and taken down at the end of May.
 
From Passau to here, it has been the easiest ride and very beautiful. We have been extremely lucky with the weather. Weather does fluctuate. Today, it started cloudy but warm enough for t-shirt & a shirt.
 


Crossing the Donau
 
While crossing the Donau at Grein, we met a group of 5 seniors (+\- 70) from Vermont on organized cycle tour. Their luggage was hauled destination to destination to their next hotel every night. Hotels are all booked for them. They were having a great time. I see no reason to not organize it on your own though, especially if you can do it this time of year when accommodations are plentiful.
 
 
 
Dodging the Rain

As we rode the right bank, the one virtually without automobile traffic, the clouds socked in. We had another nice picnic lunch on the river as rain was threatening. 

We arrived in Freyenstein at a Gasthof with terrace when it started to rain at 1:30. We thought we go inside before the clouds let loose. It turned out to be too much money (€29 pp) for what it was (worst we've seen so far). We decided not to stay after we dragged our luggage upstairs. Normally I check the room first. This time I didn't because it was raining, and they were still cleaning when we got there, and we were anxious to get settled. We told the owner we changed our minds and that he was too expensive for what he offered. He shrugged and rubbed his finger and thumb together to indicate that the other places were even more expensive. He helped us bring our luggage back down the stairs. We loaded our bikes and left. 
 
 
Pit Stop on Way to Touristy Melk

The rain threatened  more, and luckily subsided. It got pretty chilly. We rode for another 6 km and found nice private pension through Tourist info in Ypps for Persenbeug across the bridge over Donau. Pension Mileta, € 25 pp. plus tax. A nice Romanian lady ran the clean place which also gave us use of private kitchen. Wifi didn't reach our rooms. We settle in as a steady rain began. We needed our umbrellas for the walk to a restaurant. We picked our next Guesthouse in Melk based on internet review and called for a reservation. As we read more about Melk over dinner, we called them again and said make it two nights!

It rained lightly into the evening.


From here, it is only 25 km to Melk. We better put the breaks on and spend a few days there. 
 
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References: 

....1) The Danube Cycle Way; Donaueschingen to Budapest by John Higginson
... 2) Bikeline Maps & Guides; Donau-Radweg 1, (5 books in the series)

Our plan in a nutshell; 2900 total kilometers at 50 km per day - 2 days riding for 1 day off for a total of 58 riding days & 90 total days - April to July, 2013 :)