September 21

Today we enjoyed a 28 mile ride from Nova Pec, in the CR, to Germany, ending a short distance from Passau, Germany. The gap to our destination was covered by bus.

The border has no controls, nothing except a little sign marking the change in countries. The Czech Republic and Germany were among the original signers of the Schengen agreement which predated the EEC by a couple of years. Eliminated in one document were all border restrictions among signatories. Still, George Smiley came to mind as I crossed into the former East Germany, land of Erich Honecker and the Stasi. It was only a momentary chill on an otherwise terrific day.

We rode on dedicated bike paths that Americans can only dream of. Had to pay attention, however, as we repeatedly crossed the tracks of a little mini commuter/tourist train. Also, a few automobiles somehow had rights to use the bike path, but they were few and far between. Butt sore today, but the legs held up fine. The bikes are clunky, especially since I have never ridden a mountain bike before.

Mushroom hunters abounded today. Zuz said that when she returned to the CR as a teenager, one of her cousins, a tiny kid of four, walked with her into the forest to show her the ropes. "This one is good." "Don't eat that one." Zuz's father is a terrific mushroom hunter, and he adds a major benefit to his companions. He hates mushrooms and gives his entire haul to the rest of the crew.

We had lunch at a German pub/road house, right along the trail. It paled compared to yesterday's feast at the Czech farm house, mostly because of attitude. Here, decent food was piled on the table. You ate what was there. If something ran out, tough. The bartender hung around hoping for beer sales and was sorely disappointed. We had too much additional riding to do. We departed with him looking grumpy and bored. I should be kinder. It was a fine rest and lunch break.

Passau is a beautiful German town (the border with Austria is just down the road), occupying a fantastic piece of geography where the Danube, the Ilz and the Inn rivers all come together. Ah, the Danube finally showed up! We will not only track this all the way to Vienna, but will visit a couple of other countries having a border with this famous river. In total there are ten! Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Moldova and Bulgaria.