After being in Vienna a number of times, I had wanted to visit some of the other major cities of central Europe.
Day One, 145km, 13th of September
Thursday morning, Suz and I left for Budapest;
Ready for 145km?
On the way out of Vienna, Suz on Danube Island looking at an 18 year old Enercon wind turbine, still spinning. Fortunately, only the roads were wet. We were extremely lucky with the weather, with any rain only occuring overnight.
On both sides of the Danube are these huge, long levies for flood prevention. We are on the northern side of the river, dead flat and a long way from any traffic. This area, the Machfeld, is considered Austria's breadbasket, and has been for centuries.
Towards the Austrian/Slovakian border, we veer north to pass by Schloss Hof, the last castle of the Machfeld Sililosser before the border which is the river Mach.
Myself pointing back to the castle where we had had an ok lunch. I am actually on the national border. This bridge, the 'freedom bridge' was built from Euro money for the Euro Veloway 6 and is the only way to cross into Slovakia north of the river.
Usually there is little traffic (bicycles, rollerbladers etc) but now and then, a food and drink place setup for passing trade.
Europe's largest artificial whitewater slalom course, the Water Sports Centre Čunovo, built in 1996, at the head of the bypass canal of the Gabcíkovo Dam.
Just pass this point, the levie is right on the water and the view of where we had to cross the river is lost in the distance. There is a major hydro power plant with a water drop of 20m, which means the river is actually quite still for many kilometres . . . more of a lake and as wide as 4 km.
The water broadens out, and after 100km, the end point feels so far away, so distant . . .
The finishing line is just to the left of the middle of the picture . . . at about 140km from Vienna. We get in before dark, shower, have dinner at the same place we are staying - town called Gabcikovo on the other side of the Danube across the Gabcíkovo Dam. Peak output of the 1992 Hydro electric facility is 720MW from a 20m drop and supplies roughly 8% of Slovakia's electricity consumption.