June 4, 2010 - Engelhartzell to Au

Estimated Mileage: 65 miles
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Ah, the sun! Behold!

Yes, it's the return of the sky here in Austria. After a week of straight raining the sun has made an appearance. It's a good thing I took the day off on the 3rd because all day I saw the after-affects of what appeared to be some low-level flooding. The bike path had debris and mud on it during stretches, and I was dodging bulldozers and back-hoes most of the day. The first sign that things had gone wrong the previous day was the bike ferry I was planning on taking first thing in the morning. It had been cancelled for the morning, due to cleanup.  Note the small back hoe scraping mud:

Regardless of the various messes, it was a glorious day. Unbelievable riding and a seriously brightened mood. The morning I spent going around this piece of the Donau called the "Schlogen Loop". The entire river makes a full 180 degree turn before turning back to it's original direction. Along the side of the water is a dedicated bike path that goes for about 15 miles. Flat, gorgeous, nearly deserted. Just awesome.

At the end of the day, I ended up going to the Mauthausen concentration camp. I won't get into it, except to say that it's a bit of an awkward transition going through the small town of "Wienergraben" into the gates of a Nazi work camp. Couldn't they have changed the name of the town to something less chuckle-inducing? What's next, the admission gate staffed by employee Seymour Butts?

Jokes aside, it was sobering and heavy. I'll probably write more about it later.

Ended up spending the night at a campground named "Au am der Donau" (Au on the Danube). What a great spot! Spent the night relaxing, until I fell asleep at 9 PM to gentle sounds of the Austrian families playing on the jungle gym about 50 feet from the tent camping area. Did I mention that ear plugs are now my number 1 piece of gear I brought with me?