Eurovelo 6: Danube - German part

Interesting shelter

The weather is still not good, but better. The rain is not so cold any more... But seriously, once in a while I have a day with no rain at all. For example tomorrow the weather forecast predicts nice weather! I have been camping a lot the last couple of days and most of the days I can dry my stuff during the day. And I slowly find my cycling rhythm now. First of all I don't plan the day anymore. It is just too unpredictable - it depends on the rain and the towns I visit. Sometimes I look forward to visit a town like Ulm for example and then I get there and nothing works out. Although there were various Dachgeber hosts in Ulm I could not get hold of them or they had other plans. So I gave up on my rest day there and just left!

Obermarchtal

But sometimes I come to a town that sounds pretty uninteresting in my guidebook like Höchstädt and I discover an interesting museum (about the battle of Blenheim, that took place there in 1704) - and then I spend the whole afternoon there. The British won this decisive battle and built Blenheim Palace near Oxford is a reminder - but the name is just one big misunderstanding. The battle take place near the village of Blindheim, but the British could not pronounce that and mutilated it to Blenheim. Kloster Obermarchtal was another very handy sightseeing stop as I arrived there just in time for the monastery tour and helped me to get out of a heavy downpour.

Danube close to the source

The Danube has a very humble source and the first kilometers it resembles more a brook than a mighty river. As the river gets wider and the bike paths better the Danube becomes heavily touristed. Now it is still off season and therefore I usually have the choice of staying in a hotel or guesthouse if I can't find a camp spot or the weather is too bad. So I don't need much planning. I just leave in the morning and see how the day develops.

The only problem is my fingers: Now the fingers on both hands are pretty numb all the time. I changed the position of the handle bar several times but nothing works. I did some research on the internet and apparently this problem is quite common. The symptoms usually disappear, but it takes several weeks!!!! So even if I find a better handle bar position, I will not realize it because my fingers will be numb anyway.... If anybody knows a solution, please post a comment!