Saturday, September 12--Worth an der Donau, Germany

Saturday, September 12

The fork of a bicycle is like a tuning fork. The “handle” of the fork fits through a tube in the frame, where it is anchored. Then the handle bar stem is slipped into the fork, and the handle bar attached to the stem. At the same time the two “tines” of the fork extend down and are far enough apart for the front wheel to fit between them. At the end of these “tines” there are various fittings for anchors for a front rack or mud guards (fenders). And, of course, there is always a fitting for the bolts or quick-release that goes through the axle of the wheel.

All of this means that the fork of a bicycle is a critical component. If it fails, the front wheel will fall off, in a backward direction, catching the gears, legs of the cyclist and anything else. If the fork fails the bicycle becomes a completely unbalanced unicycle and the cyclist is in very bad trouble.

I say this because this morning as I prepared to start off towards the Danube I noticed a crack in the fork of my bicycle. Upon examination I realized that the crack extended more than half way around the fork. In short, the fork was in serious danger of a complete failure, and I in danger of a catastrophe. A quick trip to a local cycle shop confirmed my diagnosis, and the difficulty I might have in curing it. The cycle I ride is not the latest model and parts are hard to find. When cycle shop owner learned that we were heading towards Regensburg, the largest city in this part of Bavaria, he suggested that I go to the largest cycle shop in town, and they might be able to help.

So with the address of the shop programmed into my gps, Brian and I headed slowly off . About 30 kilometers later, having moved from the Naab River basin to the Regen River basin and the point where it joins the Danube, we arrived at the shop in Regensburg-probably the largest cycle shop I have ever seen. The size of the shop encouraged me, but the news, They don’t make those kind anymore. was not good. They did not have a single stem that would fit my bike. But in a final fit of creativity the clerk thought that just possibly their smaller store in the center of town would have something, and he phoned. Now the good news—they had just what I needed.

So, still moving slowly and cautiously, Brian and I worked our way to the center of town where, thanks to the gps we found the exact spot where the shop was located. The clerk greeted us, told us they had what I needed, and when the mechanic returned from lunch he would get to work on it. And that is what happened. An hour and a half of skilled labor replaced the fork, the bearings and adjusted the brakes, and Brian and I were off onto the Danube cycle trail, the Donauradweg, heading towards Passau.

After all was said and done, we cycled 67 kilometers, which is 42 miles. Not a lot of distance, but with all else that we did it was just right. The ride down the Regen River was beautiful, and our cycling and walking around Regensburg was interesting. Plus our introduction to the Donauradweg has shown it to be a route full of beauty. But above all I am thankful that a catastrophe was averted. If something like a partly broken fork had to be discovered, it could not have been in a better place. A gentle ride to a huge store in a large city, the part available, and a mechanic willing to drop everything else and keep this stranded touring cyclist on the road. Good things, no hurt…Thanks be to God for his ongoing grace and protection! The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

Friday, September 11--Burglengenfeld, Germany

Friday, September 11

Today was one of the days cycle tourists live for. It began in the town of Kemnath and ended 65 miles later in the town of Burglengenfeld, near Regensburg. From Kemnath we followed a route set by the gps, and it got us to where we wanted to go—to the Naab River—but via a number of very small forest roads. One of the problems with the gps is that while I have told it not to include any unpaved roads (one of the options on TomTom) it does not seem to know when some are in this category. Probably 10 km of the day’s ride went on roads that were unpaved, sometimes little more than woodland paths. They were not bad, actually, and as I said they did get us to our destination, but if the gps would have quit, or the battery run down, we would have been in total confusion.

At any rate we made it from our beginning to the town of Luhe-Wildenau in fine shape. The wind was with us, the terrain was gentle, and the day was cool but not cold. The cycling conditions were perfect. And when we arrived at Luhe-Wildenau we quickly found the Naab Cycle Path and began to follow it. And it was wonderful. The Elbe and Saale paths had their good and bad, and in both cases we were following them upstream. Now we have crossed the continental divide and the Naab flows south, our direction of travel. And the cycle trail is very well marked and very well built. Most of the time we were riding on a smooth and traffic-free path just feet from the river itself, and when on road the road was scarcely traveled and the trail easily identifiable. It is somewhat ironic to me that in preparing for this trip I could find much less information about the Naab cycle trail than the Elbe or Saale, but the Naab is much more pleasant in every way.

While Brian and I had planned on a short day for a change, the weather and the trail was so favorable that we kept going past our planned destination and ended up in Burglengenfeld, a delightful historic town on the Naab. We have settled into a hotel right on the river and have enjoyed a good meal, ready for rest…