Bayern Hopfen Radtour: Abensberg

Freising to Abensberg was the most challenging but most interesting day, full of fields of barley and rows upon rows of hops. It was 66km, but hilly. Not really long and not really steep, but there were lots. And it was another scorcher.

On the way to Abensberg

Because of all the hills, we didn’t really see much of the towns we cycled through. You were either tucked on the downhill or had your head down and focused on your breathing on the uphills. Until we got to an interesting accommodation in the middle of nowhere

I also had my first near accident on the road. On one of the downhill curvy sections I decided to leave extra space between me and NosyNeighbour. I’m glad I did. And I’m glad I had my mirror on my sunglasses. I could see the van coming up behind me so I slowed down and got right on the edge of the road. Just as he was about to pass me another van came around the corner heading towards us. They both slammed on their brakes right at the point they would have passed me. I went off onto the “shoulder” created by concrete blocks installed beside the road. It was a bumpy ride but at least I wasn’t crushed.

Kuchlbauer Turm in Abensberg

After several back-and-forth emails with the Kuchlbauer Brauerei  the day before we arrived, we managed to book a tour of  of the Hunterwasser Turm. It was in German, but they loaned you the English text. It’s one of the better brewery tours we’ve done, a bit like Willy Wonka for beer lovers. But it would have probably been shorter and more enjoyable in English.

And then something every traveler dreads happened. I got sick. Not a cold, but the type of infliction that has you running (pun intended) to the bathroom all night. As I lay in bed waiting for the next bout, I started surfing the Internet trying to figure out if we could do the last day by train instead. As luck would have it, there is a direct train to Regensburg from Abensburg.

 

Bayern Hopfen Radtour: what we brought

As you may have guessed, I’m in Germany, where NosyNeighbour and I recently finished another cycling holiday in Bavaria.

As usual, we packed light, bringing only our folding bikes as checked luggage and then maximizing our carry on bags. I had the additional challenge of packing for 40 days. Thankfully it’s summer and much easier to do. It was also made easier because NosyNeighbour took minimal to a new level.

His clothing consisted of the following:   cycling shorts, cycling socks, two pairs smart casual shorts, one travel collared shirt, two sleeveless quick dry tops, one merino wool t-shirt, long-sleeved merino wool top, cycling shoes, helmet, bandana.

In my pannier, I had the following:  2 cycling shorts, 2 cycling socks, 3 merino wool t-shirts, long-sleeved merino wool top, skort, convertible quick dry smart casual pants, two sleeveless dressier tops, 3/4 sleeve quick dry hoodie. (Note: try on everything to make sure that everything works together! )

For transporting our gear, we had 3 panniers, one rack bag and a handle bar bag each. We also carried a tablet, DSLR camera, bike repair parts, first aid kit and a rain poncho each.