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2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

August - October 2024
Our plan for this ride is simple - ride from Hamburg to Vienna, following the Elbe, Vltava and Danube Rivers. The 1400 km ride will take us across Germany, Czechia and Austria. Will our team of 20 geriatric riders make the distance ? Time will tell. Read more

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  • Singapore
  • Denmark
  • Austria
  • Czech Republic
  • Germany
  • Australia
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Bicycle, Culture, Group travel, Sightseeing, Tours, Train
  • 34.4kkilometers traveled
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  • 43days
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  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    Dresden by Night

    September 17, 2024 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    I have just returned to my hotel after enjoying a magical walk around the city. Now that the rain has gone, the city has come back to life with all the outdoor cafes open again. On just about every street corner there were buskers - one playing a violin, another playing classical guitar. There were even a couple of would-be opera singers hitting the high notes.

    It was a lovely finish to a most enjoyable day    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    Postcard from Dresden

    September 18, 2024 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    According to my calculations we are now up to day 4 of our planned 2 day stay in Dresden. Although this is not exactly how this part of the trip was planned, I think we have now all learned to embrace the change and enjoy the opportunities we have been given.

    Now that the rain has stopped and summer has returned, we can see just how beautiful the city is. With a population of around 600,000 people, it is large enough to offer all the services of a major city, without the disadvantages of larger cities like Melbourne,

    One feature of the central city which is immediately obvious is the almost complete lack of cars. Even in the middle of the day, the streets are virtually empty of vehicles, apart from the occasional taxi and the succession of silent, modern trams that slide past every few minutes. It really is a delightful contrast to Melbourne's never ending car bedlam.

    When talking to the bright young concierge at the front desk of our hotel, he explained that, not only does he not own a car, he doesn't even have a drivers' license. "There is no need for a car here", he explained, "the public transport works so well".

    The other feature of the central city is that most of the stately buildings are stained black. This is not because of their great age, since most of them were built after the destruction of the city in 1945. It is also not because of pollution. It is because they are constructed of sandstone, and the soft stone is commonly affected by a black surface mould. Because the stone is very soft, it also cannot be cleaned by pressure washing, as that would damage the surface.

    I am starting to learn my way around the city a little better with each passing day. Today I thought it was time to cross one of the bridges (not the fallen down one) and explore some of the right bank. This appears to be home to the more modern and commercial parts of the city, and lacks the charm of the left bank.

    Somewhat surprisingly there is a well known Australian restaurant in the centre of Dresden, called Ayers Rock. I had seen this place on my previous visit to the city and thought that maybe it would be a good spot for a late lunch.

    The lunch certainly was good, but the young waitress certainly was not Australian. When I commented on this she replied "No one here is Australian". I reminded her that I was an Australian. "Then you are the only one", she replied.    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    Dresden Day 5

    September 19, 2024 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Since we arrived here just in time to watch the Elbe burst its banks in flood, life has evolved into some sort of daily ritual. For me, the day starts at 5.45 am when my alarm goes off. It sounds early, but most of the time I am awake before the alarm. It gives me time to catch up on emails and the news, before heading down to the expansive breakfast banquet.

    After breakfast, it is usually a walk along the riverside to see if the level has started to fall yet. Even though we haven't had a drop of rain for the past several days, the river still seems stubbornly stuck at the high water level. If anything, it may have even crept a few centimetres higher than it was yesterday.

    Although I did not have any set plans for the day, I found myself walking back towards the old city centre. Several others had paid a visit to the VW EV "factory", so I thought that it might prove interesting.

    To get there involved quite a long walk. This would not normally have been a challenge, but I am still having problem with my left heel. That meant a pain in my foot with every step.

    The so called factory is a futuristic place that looks like a super sixed car showroom. Inside was an array of the latest VW electric vehicles. I gather the place works like a one stop shop to order your car and then have it built to your own specifications,

    Behind a large glass wall there was some sort of car making going on, but it seemed to be at a glacial pace compared to the huge automated facilities I had seen before. This place must be a boutique manufacturer, as it can only produce 24 vehicles each day. Weird but true.

    After the long walk back to the hotel, it was time for dinner. Since some of the group were going to the opera (yes, I am not kidding), the hotel had arranged to serve us dinner at 5pm. We ended up having the whole restaurant to ourselves and the piano player. It is lovely to enjoy a bit of culture every now and again.    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    A Day at Fort Konigstein

    September 20, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Although our enforced stay in Dresden gave us some extra time to explore the city and its surrounds, I was a little disappointed that we would not get to ride the spectacular section of the Elbe upstream from Dresden. This is the section that is most famous for its towering, almost vertical sandstone cliffs. Today was our chance to partially address this omission.

    Leaving the hotel around 9 am, we formed a walking peloton to make our way to the nearby Dresden Mitte Railway Station. We then spent some time gathered round the ticket machine, trying to work out which ticket to buy. Most of us ended up paying 8 Euro 60 cents for our tickets, but Mei seemed to have found a way to get hers at a significant discount. She is like that.

    The trip to Konigstein took about 40 minutes, during which Mei entertained us with a nonstop commentary about everything inside and outside the carriage. It was only when the conductor came to check the tickets that we found out why her ticket was so cheap.

    "You have a children's ticket", the conductor told her. We thought that this might be worthy of a significant jail term, but the conductor was lenient and allowed her to purchase a new ticket for not much more than she could have paid at the station.

    When we arrived at Konigstein Station we climbed from the train to a small bus to transport us to the fort itself. You cannot appreciate just what a commanding position the fort occupies, until you see it yourself. It is little wonder that it was never conquered in battle, but it is a pure wonder how they managed to build the structure in the first place.

    The views from the fort are simply breathtaking, especially from the side that faces the Elbe River. We also noticed that, at least this far upstream, the river has passed its peak and has started to recede.

    After wondering the fort for a couple of hours, we were ready to make our way back to Dresden. At least we all got a glimpse of what this part of the river looks like.

    Tomorrow morning, we finally say goodbye to Dresden and make our way to Prague, where we will resume our original itinerary.    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure
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    From Dresden to Prague

    September 21, 2024 in Czech Republic ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    It should have been a straightforward process. All we had to do was transport us and our 21 bikes from Dresden to Prague. Simples. What actually happened was a shambles.

    Although the bus arrived a little earlier than expected at the hotel in Dresden, I was rather concerned when I saw the size of the enclosed trailer that they had sent with it. Even at a casual glance, it was hard to see how 21 bikes would be able to fit inside. We soon found out the answer - they couldn't.

    It might have been easier to work out a solution if the driver spoke even a single word of English. He didn't. We discovered that he did not speak a word of German either. He did not even speak sign language! It was completely impossible to communicate with him.

    All he could was point at the bikes and shake his head. That certainly was not going to solve the problem. The only possible solution was to tackle the problem ourselves. I delegated our engineering squad (Ken, Paul, John , et al) to examine the problem and come up with some sort of answer. At that point any answer would do.

    The only possible solution was to dismantle the handlebars of every bike. For the next hour the engineers took to the bikes with a frenzy of activity, quickly converting them to a pile of nuts, bolts and cables held together with duct tape. It was quite a sad and ugly sight.

    The deconstructed bikes were finally all cobbled into the trailer, and we were finally able to go on our way. The story was however, far from finished.

    When we arrived at the hotel in Prague, the driver wanted the trailer emptied. This seemed very inefficient and unnecessary, as we will require another bus transfer out of Prague on Wednesday. The lack of any sort of language link, meant that I would have had more success talking to the statue at the hotel entrance, so unpack the bikes is what we did.

    The next 30 minutes were spent dragging the sad looking bikes from the trailer to the garage and piling them in some sort of bike cemetery in the corner. We had been assured that a representative from the bike company would be at the hotel at 5 pm and would be able to answer all our concerns. I eagerly looked forward to offloading a truckload of concerns when they arrived.

    As the appointed hour arrived, there was a group of us waiting in the hotel foyer, but no sign of anyone from the bike company. Over the next 45 minutes I made an uncountable number of phone calls trying to locate the elusive missing person. At one point I was told they were waiting in the "Green Saloon" at the hotel. The only problem was that the hotel does not have anything called or resembling a green saloon. This was rapidly degenerating into a complete farce.

    We finally tracked down the missing lady in the underground garage, assisting a small group of German riders. I explained who we were, and was rather disappointed that, although she spoke some English, it was marginal at best. This was not going to be easy.

    It got even worse when she thought that we were riding from Prague to Dresden. I tried to explain that we were riding the OPPOSITE direction, from Hamburg to Vienna. That seemed to be news to her. We even showed her our itinerary. She glanced at it, but did not really seem interested. By that time I was really over the whole process. I can only hope that they will have someone in their office on Monday who both speaks English, and also knows what we are here for.

    I have a feeling that the next few days will be rather challenging.    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    Impressions of Prague

    September 22, 2024 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    When I first visited Prague, back in 2011, my impressions were mixed. I could not make up my mind whether I liked the place or not. While the centre of the old city is certainly impressive. it is not a place that I could feel much affection for.

    For that reason, I was curious to see how I would feel about the place 13 years later. Don and I left the hotel early and went in search of the Metro Station we had been assured was "nearby". Our walk soon brought us into an interminable series of partially completed roadworks, railworks, footpath works and just about every other sort of project that could remain unfinished.

    We had stayed in the same hotel 13 years earlier, and I remembered that the very same roadworks were being done then. Thirteen years later they looked much the same.

    After climbing over and through piles of rubble and dodging huge holes in the ground, there was still no sign of the station. To the contrary, it looked like half the rail lines had been pulled out of the ground. We kept walking.

    The next stage of our own Pilgrim's Progress brought us into a series of derelict buildings, bridges and underpasses, where literally every square centimetre was covered with ugly graffiti. In all my travels I had never seen anything like it. It was ugly and confronting, and did not allow us to feel safe. That was a huge contrast to Dresden, where we felt safe walking day and night, and never witnessed this sort of urban decay. Dresden 1, Prague 0.

    Although we never did get to discover any Metro station, we did keep walking, all the way into the central city and the famous old city square. Although it was tiring in the warm sun, it did give us a good cross section of what the city was really like. Those who just catch a bus or tram into the centre never get to see this ugly side of the city.

    As we approached the square and the famous "astronomical clock", we could hear the growing tumult of hundreds (probably thousands) of tourists following their guides, and listening to their non stop prattle in a multitude of tongues.

    There is no denying that the buildings are beautiful, but the jam of people certainly was not. It reminded me what life on one of those huge cruise liners would be like. Give me the "road less travelled" every time.

    The most famous feature of the place is the astronomical clock. constructed back in 1410. When I did some homework about this 600 year old timepiece, I discovered that it is more like the proverbial "grandpa's axe" that had 7 new handles and 4 new heads. The clock has been rebuilt and replaced many times over the centuries, and for a long period had an electric motor !!!! For some years it was even replaced with an LED screen. Believe it or not.

    Since Don and I had arrived shortly before 11 am, we thought that at least we should wait and see the hourly performance. We found a seat in a nearby cafe and ordered a sweet while we waited. The crowds grew, And grew. And grew. It looked like the MCG on Grand Final Day, with every onlooker grabbing their phones and selfie sticks to record the event. It was really awful.

    The actual display was underwhelming, with two little doors opening and a couple of model apostles shuffling past. If the clock display was underwhelming, the bill we got from the cafe was not. To our horror the final amount was inflated by taxes and tips, so that it bore no resemblance to the amount stated on the menu. Dresden 2, Prague 0.

    By that time, we just wanted to get away from the jostling crowds before we suffered a lost eye due to an errant selfie stick. We made our way back to the hotel, once again traversing the sea of graffiti and rubbish all along the way. I was so happy to be back in the quiet sanctuary, and away from the madding crowds.    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    A Beautiful Walk in the Park

    September 23, 2024 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After yesterday's encounter with the overwhelming throng of tourists in the city centre, I think if I saw another tour guide with a coloured flag or umbrella, I would just have to scream out loud.

    Surely there must be some place in this city where I could just escape and enjoy some serenity and solitude. Luckily for me, I found it.

    A short walk from my hotel I discovered a huge parkland with an absolutely unpronounceable name. It reminded me a little of Hyde Park in London, albeit without the squirrels. Whatever it was called, it certainly was peaceful, green and deserted. Some of the huge trees were just tinged with the first colours of autumn. And best of all - I virtually had the whole place to myself.

    It was such a wonderful feeling to wander without being jostled, hassled or overcharged. I even found a little cafe with a real coffee machine in it. After the stress of the past couple of days, it really was the perfect place to sit, ponder and just relax. I found a seat in the shade, got out my kindle and spent a most enjoyable hour reading and nature watching.

    It was exactly what I needed.    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    Ice Hockey and a Final Look at Prague

    September 24, 2024 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    The Hotel Expo is located right next door to a huge ice hockey stadium. This is home to the Fortuna Ice Hockey Club and holds a capacity of 13,000 spectators for its ice hockey matches.

    Yesterday afternoon the crowd consisted of just Ken, Pam and me, as we watched the under 18 team go through its vigorous training session. Even they were only training, they certainly did not hold back, and it was quite exciting to watch the young player race from one of the rink to the other, attacking the goals. I actually felt a little sorry for the goalkeeper as he had to withstand the onslaught time and time again, all the while dressed in so much protective gear that he could barely move.

    This morning, I made my way back through the graffiti belt to the centre of the city for one final time. The sunshine had been replaced by a very gentle drizzle, making the never-ending construction zones look even uglier than they did before.

    After spending two hours travelling around, I had seen enough and was keen to head back to the hotel. This trip seems to have thrown up a ceaseless series of challenges, and yesterday we received an email from the Austrian Railways throwing yet another curve ball at us.

    When we finished the ride in Vienna, several of us had planned to take the train the Salzburg and stay there for a few days. The latest email informed us that, due to the flood damage to the railways, our trains had been cancelled. At least I think that is what it said, it was hard to tell exactly as it was all in German. It goes on and on.

    We set to work with Google Translate and a desire to work out a solution to this latest problem. At this point of time, the problem is still unresolved, so I have decided to ignore it for another 24 hours and hope that it goes away.

    A more immediate concern is what will happen tomorrow morning when we need to have all our bikes fully functional again so that we continue the ride. We have been promised that a man with a toolkit will attend the hotel tomorrow morning to put them all back together again. I hope this has a happy ending, but you will have to read the next installment to find out what happens next.    Read more

  • The World on Two Wheels2024 Epic Elbe Adventure

    Reinhardt to the Rescue

    September 25, 2024 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Sometimes it is staggering how much can change in just 24 hours. The past day is a clear example of that.

    At this time yesterday I was sitting in the hotel cafe with a few of our team members, feeling rather forlorn and considering the parlous state of our cycling adventure. At that time no one seemed to know who we were or where we going to. Our bikes were all sitting in a dismantled mess in the hotel garage, with no guarantee they would ever be able to function again. On top of that, we were all starting to feel tired of Prague, and were keen to get back on the bikes again.

    Just as I was (almost) in the pit of despair, a jovial German walked in the room and introduced himself as Reinhardt (that might have been what we said, but it could easily have been something else, like Helmet or Werner or whatever).

    "Where is Mr Dawson ?", he asked. I put up my hand, wondering what else could have possibly gone wrong. In fact it was me that was wrong. It actually turned out to be the beginning of a complete change of fortune.

    He went on to explain that he was going to assemble all the bike that evening, so that they would be ready in the morning. He also assured us that he had a proper bike trailer, that would easily accommodate all the bikes (and he did). Not only did he come equipped with tools, but he also spoke great English and was thoroughly familiar with what we were doing (or attempting to do).

    He disappeared into the garage and, a couple of hours later, the bikes looked almost like they did in Hamburg. That evening I was able to sleep better than I had for some time, finally thinking that there might be some light at the end of the dark tunnel.

    In the morning we were greeted by a large van with an amazing bike trailer attached. The bikes were quickly loaded and another two vans arrived to help carry all our team members and their luggage. So far so good.

    "Maybe we should check all the bikes", I suggested. Most of them powered up according to the normal routine, however three bikes had developed a fatal flaw - they would not turn on. This was yet another curveball, that we all just decided to ignore and hope that it would go away.

    The first part of the day's plan was to transfer all of us and our bikes to Cesky Budejovice, where we would start the ride. This was about 2 hours by car from Prague.

    When we were close to the destination, we received a message from those in one of the vehicles. Their van had suffered a blowout and could not go any further ! Another van had been ordered to take them the rest of the way. Does it ever end ? I started to wonder if someone had trod on a black cat's tail or walked under a ladder.

    It was then that a genuine miracle occurred to save the day. When the bikes were unloaded, we pulled the three dead ones aside to consider our options. Reinhardt (Werner/Axel/Helmet ?) looked a little puzzled and then professionaly jiggled the wires. The dead bike came back to life. The same calibrated jiggle was performed on the other bikes and they too returned from the dead. That was a relief.

    We also had a good chance to look around the city. It really was a delightful place, with a wonderful city square, full of whimsical pastel coloured buildings and coffee shops. It was our type of place.

    The replacement van soon arrived and we were ready to go. The ride began with a couple of laps of honour around the square before we followed the river out of the city.

    What followed next was three hours of amazing cycling, but absoutely nothing could prepare us for the sight that met our eyes when we arrived at Cesky Krumlov. I have visited a lot of cities in my time, but this magical place almost defies description. It was just breathtaking. We stopped to just gape at the sight before us. Hundreds of pictures were taken, but I am sure that none of them will do justice to the visual impact that this place had on us.

    With all the bikes now working, just about all of our team finally in good physical health and with the support of staff who know what they are doing, things really are looking up.

    See a separate footprint for images of Cesky Krumlov    Read more

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