The Source of the Danube
We got up to a beautiful day in Germany with the sun shining and spring in it’s fully glory. The ride took us through the Black Forrest region, over a mountain range that took us out of the Rhein River valley and into the Danube valley. The country side could have been right out of Sound of Music, with huge Bavarian country homes and pastures of cows wearing bells. Germany has become the world leader in photovoltaic electrical power, and many of the farmers have gotten into the electrical business and have the south side of their barns covered solar collectors.
The ride was the most fun because of the warm weather and colourful country side. I had a strong ride up the mountain and a fast descent, as I rode with different groups. Donnaueschingen is the official source of the Danube, that comes from a spring in the town. Today there is a large park built around the spring and it is a huge tourist attraction. The fact that we rode 20 km down a mountain pass with a rushing stream that connects in the park just past the spring seems to have been overlooked by the town fathers. The Danube is 678 meters above sea level and 2840 km from the Black Sea, its end.
This is the official start of the bike path, the “Donnauragweg”, which we will follow for the next 1400 km into Budapest. There are lots of tourist biking the path and hotel/restaurant services about every 10 km.
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