Stair carriers, wave riders, and blood suckers

The new week starts with sunshine. Cooler than last week, but still only a few clouds that try to overshadow the sun all day long and usually disappear quickly.

The servant, loaded with the wheels, takes us to the start in Pankofen, from there the route leads on the cycle path to Platling to the first highlight, the Isar wave, an artificial river wave for surfers. We stay there for a while to watch the surfers. Normally, there are probably a lot more at this water level, one of the surfers tells us. Today they are happy that it's not very crowded. Very impressive, looks like a lot of fun.

Now our journey continues on the Isar cycle path. 3 years ago, we rode a section along the Isar, towards its source in the Karwendel. In 2018, we rode from Bad Tölz to Lake Sylvenstein on the Isar upstream and back then we were on our way to Venice. Today we ride alongside the Isar to its confluence with the Danube - another familiar route that we accompanied last year from Passau to Vienna.

We ride through meadows and nature reserves again, on gravel paths and asphalt. Sometimes the cycle path leads over small bridges, once strangely in a way that the bikes have to be carried up a staircase (while the woman takes pictures of this action and therefore the man carries both bikes one after the other.)

Along the route, it is so beautiful again that we constantly want to take pictures to not forget any of the impressions. Large, old trees line the paths, oaks, ashes, and of course poplars. Many wild flowers bloom on the embankments, which are very popular with butterflies. Sometimes so many butterflies flutter around us that we are afraid of running over one. But the clever little creatures take good care of themselves.

Speaking of clever little creatures, other insects have found a great habitat. They reside right at the mouth of the Isar. So there they sit and wait for the Isar estuary tourists to come and then attack! Mosquitoes, thousands of them! We quickly take photos and race on before they suck us dry. It's good that we have mosquito repellent with us, it's bad that we left it unused in the bathroom this morning.

Shortly after the confluence, there is a nice beer garden right on the cycle path, and since it's open, we take the opportunity for a snack. Leberkäs and Obatzda.

We continue along the Danube... next destination Deggendorf. Because Deggendorf still owes us spaghetti ice cream. It was promised for Thursday already. We pass many church towers today, which of course are all photographed, we just have the camera in our hand again when we spot 2 hares in the field and catch them right away.

These countless small towns and farms, not every one of them is connected by a paved road. Sometimes it is actually a gravel road that is the connection to the outside world. We laugh when we see a dpd delivery van driving on such a roughly gravelled road, grass grows in the middle of the road, fields on the right and left, there must be a residential house. We imagine that the driver may not have grown up here and we wonder if he really trusts his navigation system 100%.

So today we ride to the center of Deggendorf and it is really beautiful. A large traffic-calmed zone, many shops, people, sunshine. Real city feeling, but we are only interested in one thing: where is the ice cream parlor? When we find it, we have to wait for a table to become available, but this waiting time is worth it. Sitting at the table, enjoying the summer, eating spaghetti ice cream, and watching people.

Today is the big day when Petra reaches 7000km on her odometer. We have experienced so much together with the bikes. We are happy about the many tours and talk about how when we bought the bikes, we had no idea what we would be able to experience with them. We are curious to see what else is to come.

The remaining part of the tour back to the servant, who is waiting for us obediently at the parking lot, is once again uncomfortable for our behinds. Once again, we realize that cycle paths that run straight are much more tiring for the buttocks. The next tour should go up and down again.

Already this morning we discovered a sign of the company Dictum in Plattling. A term known to carpenters - for hand tools - a lot of Japanese tools, but also from England, Canada, and Germany, the carpenter can find everything his heart desires here. Now we want to take the opportunity to visit the shop at the company's headquarters. You are practically in carpenter's tool heaven. Planes, chisels, turning tools, squares, and much more - carpenter's heaven indeed.

The return journey with the servant follows the route where we had to push the bikes last week, and we recall the endless agony. Pushing 4km uphill, we can still feel the exhaustion today and show each other the spots where we wanted to throw our bikes into the forest.

Tonight we grilled again on the terrace, admired the beautiful evening sky, and of course wrote the daily report.

Tomorrow something big is planned. The preparations have been made and we are looking forward to what we have planned for tomorrow.