Monday 13th August
Neustadt to Straubing: 6 hours 30 minutes, 112km

“I charged my phone in the bathroom this morning, but was kicked out by the grumpy farmer who owns the site. Perhaps he had forgotten that I had paid him 10 euros the night before, but I didn’t argue as my phone was already 90% charged.

My destination for the day was Regensburg, a young 60km away. It would be a leisurely ride along the river. I stopped many times to take in the stunning scenery. The Danube cut through, what seemed to be a mountain of rock, leaving steep cliffs rising on either side and pebble stone beaches.

About 45km into my journey I crossed the 3000km mark. Just after that a tractor came rolling past. Who could it be, but the friendly campsite owner. Despite his earlier grumpiness, I smiled and waved. I noticed that he did have a double take upon recognising me.

I arrived in Regensburg around 4pm. Regensburg is a town that made it through WW2 relatively unscathed, making the original medieval town feel, just that more authentic. I knew tomorrow would be a ride of over 120km, and so decided to use the rest of the evening to push past Regensburg and cut some of the distance off tomorrow’s cycle.

The next campsite according to Google was in a town called Straubing, 50km away. I decided to go for it. With 20km left, my right knee started to ache, the sun was setting and I discovered my front light’s battery was dead. While the sunset made for some amazing photos, these photos just delayed me further and I was unsure if I was going to make it before dark. During this time I was keeping an eye out for a good wild camping spot, just in case. I made it to the campsite at around 8.30pm and to my surprise the reception was still open. I set up my tent just as the last rays of light were disappearing.”

Matt Krog

Read all of Matt’s posts on his website. All of the posts about Matt on CyclingEurope.org can be found here.