Day 8: Fragile Accommodation

Straubling to Deggendorf (42km)

Today was to be a shorter day, aiming for the town of Deggendorf before my last day in Germany to Passau. I set out knowing that it would be around 42km to Deggendorf, hoping that the river would be kind to me. Immediately, I noticed that I was 7km further on than I thought I was. I wasn’t sure exactly which marker I was at last night, but I had a rough idea, thinking that it was around 2,327. Therefore, I was delighted and a little perplexed that the first sign I saw this morning was 2,320. In the rush of trying to find somewhere to pull up, I hadn’t been looking at the markers as I arrived last night, which means I could easily have missed one or possibly two, but to miss seven was highly unlikely. The markers have now changed to only every kilometre, simply with 9,8,7,6 etc in between, so if you miss one, then you have to wait another kilometre to know where you are. But to miss seven wasn’t possible, this is almost an hours worth of kayaking. Anyway, I didn’t question too long and continued on my way before the Danube realised the mistake and rectified it.

I find, and this is true of cycling as well, that shorter days tend to be mentally tougher than long days. If I had set a target of 70km today, then I probably would’ve had no problem with the first 35 and then started to struggle as the day went on. As it was, setting an overly achievable target of 35km means that from the start of the day, you are immediately counting down the kilometres, irritated that they aren’t going faster.

Again there was nice scenery and some impressive riverside structures and as early afternoon arrived, as did I. I have found so far, that no matter what time I arrive at a campsite, the Germans have already got there first and taken the best spots, a stereotype that is unequivocally true. However, today, I was first to arrive, which initially led to me to question whether this was even a campsite. It was and despite it being pretty basic, it’s extremely close proximity to the river meant that it was my favourite campsite so far. I was soon joined by a large German woman who was cycling from Munich to Vienna. She had somehow managed to obtain a beer so quickly that I can’t be sure that she didn’t bring it with it. The lack of a bar on sight also led me to believe that this woman was travelling with a celebratory beer and pint glass ready for her arrival, not a bad idea.

I wondered along the river and had a large pizza. Deggendorf doesn’t seem like the nicest place, but I was only here for one night and it had everything I needed. Before I set off in search of food, I had been struggling to erect my tent. The pole had snapped a few days ago and had been temporarily held together with duct tape for the past few nights, however, the duct tape was no longer sufficient and as you can see below, the tent was no longer a reliable form of accommodation. Full from the pizza, I wondered back to camp and carefully climbed into my fragile home. Rain had started to test to the structure even more, ‘what a terrible time this would be for the tent to fall down’ I mused to myself, and with that thought, I fell asleep.