Biking in Lower Austria

 Monday, September 28

We were up and at it again this morning to hop on the bus to travel into Vienna  for our countryside bike ride. This time we have a longer 18 mile ride. Since we had just gotten off a one hour bus ride our first stop was in 200 yards where a different Viking ship was docked so we could use their restrooms. This begs the question, why did they get to park there..I could have slept in if it was our boat!

We started our bike ride on the Danube Canal. The Danube was spit off many years ago to prevent flooding in Vienna but it was not enough. In 1972 a new arm of the Danube was built. This is parallel to the main Danube but is an artificial channel that can be regulated. Ever since this has been built, Vienna has not flooded. The ride was primarily on a bike path as we headed north out of Vienna. There are nine central states in Austria. We left the state of Vienna and entered the state called Lower Vienna, known for the Wachau Valley and agricultural fields. 

At our halfway point we stopped at a little outside cafe beside the canal. We found out while visiting with one of our guides and owner of the bike company that he is a retired US Marine now living in Vienna. Small world..

After the break we boarded a little ferry with our bikes which took us across the canal. This took awhile because the ferry doesn’t have a motor, it just relies on the current. It is attached to a cable that runs across so it doesn’t float downstream. Because the water level is down, the current is running slow but fortunately we didn’t have that far to go.

The second half of the trip was a little more scenic as we were riding along the New Danube, the artificial canal that I previously talked about. All of the earth moved while digging it out was formed into a 21 Kilometer long island that runs beside it called the Donauisel (Danube Island.) The island is a popular recreation area for walkers and runners where no cars are allowed. Because it was a sunny day there were a few people sunbathing and swimming in the canal. We had a great ride with no mishaps for me. It was great to be in the countryside although this was not as scenic as our Passau bike ride.