’S ROUTE 66

This is the second installment of a two- part series about the EuroVelo 6 route. “An Epic Act of Transience” appeared in the Oct./Nov. 2019 issue.

e left the and cycled route we were pedaling, begins with a had assembled (four apps and hardcopy into . Solitary gravel trickle. As my cycling partner, Thierry maps) mainly served as contingency Wroads dipped in and out of dense stands Joubert, and I left Western Europe for plans. Our was a combination of of trees surrounding secluded glades at the continent’s central region, those shared but lightly trafficked roads, hard- the edge of the . The trail two phenomena — the headwaters of packed gravel along river levees, and then became a funnel. Steep dirt the , the continent’s second bicycle-only paths. Most drivers were dove into the woods, snaking around longest river, and our journey across 10 almost too polite, waiting for us to reach velvety green, moss-covered stones, countries from the to intersections and then always giving us guiding us like omniscient ushers. All the — intersected. the right of way. Through and the while, a winding rivulet had begun to We’d started 15 days earlier in , pedaling more than 900 take shape next to us, its waters growing Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, on the French miles, we found bike-friendly campsites in strength as we climbed hills and coast at the mouth of the River. where we pitched a tent most days, plummeted between beech and birch In the early stages, as we pointed our B&Bs, pensions, and hotels, all located trees, pines, firs, and oaks. gravel bikes east (loaded with front at regular 30-mile increments. And At its origin, the Danube — created panniers, framebags, handlebar packs, perhaps most important for the health by the convergence of the and seatbags), it became obvious that of regional tourism, we discovered that and Brigach streams — is small, France’s tourism model represented the majority of people enjoying the more like a big creek. This seems a different philosophy than we were trail were in-country locals. The trail’s obvious, perhaps. The genesis of accustomed to. primary focus was domestic travelers most undertakings, be it one of the The cycling route, which utilizes the and commuters. mightiest and most historic waterways La Loire à Vélo path for the first 500 The existence of this bike-first on the planet or a bicycle expedition miles, was well marked. So well, in fact, tourism model was more than an along the 2,900-mile EuroVelo 6 (EV6) that the backup navigation system I epiphany. The realization for me, a

14 ADVENTURE CYCLIST december 2019 /ja nua ry 2020 STORY BY ALEX CREVAR

PHOTOS BY THIERRY JOUBERT

“The river and the route longtime travel writer and responsible- supports cycling for travel and also became one in a way tourism advocate, was a call to arms. The transportation. “The EuroVelo EuroVelo’s network of 16 routes stretches network helps [move] cycle tourism that hadn’t happened over 45,000 kilometers and includes 42 to the mainstream, making people before. How we rode, countries across every corner of Europe. realize it is a mode of traveling That such a pedal-powered highway accessible to everyone, not only very where we rode, and even system could — in an easy-to-navigate sportive or adventurous people.” when we rode — because and safe fashion — prioritize cyclists As we covered the first third throughout an entire continent made me of the EV6 — riding through of rain and floods — was question the level of responsibility I had , , Orleans, , demanded from myself when covering and in France, and now dictated by one stories and the publications I worked for then before heading across geographical feature, over more than two decades. the in Switzerland — “First of all, seeing Europe on a along the Loire, Saone, Doubs, Ill, which also brought with bicycle, rather than from the window Canal du Rhône, and then Rhine it more cultures, towns, of a car, a train, a bus, or a plane, allows rivers, I also became more aware one to experience the whole route, of the physicality of the feat I was and cities.” and not only the starting and ending undertaking. Although I had been points of a trip,” said Grégoire, in fair shape before the ride, I a communications assistant with the discovered that nothing can compensate a physical and mental routine, which European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), for being in the saddle all day, every day. necessitated I adjust to the route, not the which oversees EuroVelo development. The ability to ride approximately 60 to other way around. The ECF, based in , , 80 miles per day for weeks represented Each evening we unpacked a tent,

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG/MEMBERS 15 sleeping bags, rain gear, clothes, tools, reasons,” said Thierry Joubert, my riding staked claims on sections for defense food, and cookery. Every morning we partner and director of Green Visions, and economic survival. repacked; everything lived in a precise an ecotourism outfit based in Sarajevo, The weight of that history was spot — mindfully measured based on Bosnia and Herzegovina. “After more tangible, and suddenly we weren’t alone bike balance and the degree to which than two weeks in the saddle, we were in that assessment. Riding into Bavaria, each item would be needed throughout reaching full strength as cyclists. But the we were entering yet another sphere of the day. We became efficient, chocolate- river and the route also became one in a cycle tourism development. The route, scarfing, banana-peeling, pedal-mashing, way that hadn’t happened before. How which followed the long-established Marie Kondo–like organizing machines. we rode, where we rode, and even when Donauradweg, or Danube Cycle Path, Regardless of how steely and we rode — because of rain and floods — became mainly, if not completely, methodical we had become, however, was now dictated by one geographical riverside and bike-only. Bicycle groups, reaching the 1,770-mile Danube was a feature, which also brought with it more especially eBikers moving at a uniform big deal. Our trip had suddenly become cultures, towns, and cities.” 15 mph, started to steadily appear. As simplified. Reaching the last river The river’s monopolizing grasp of the Danube reached adolescence — big meant we had one shoreline, one rolling our journey was no coincidence. The enough to become a city’s chief point landmark, one definitive path to follow to Danube has been a key character in of reference but not yet an industrial the end. We had found our yellow brick Europe’s story since the beginning of behemoth — the number of landmarks road — or so we thought. Also, when civilization on the continent. Every also seemed to be growing. we looked at the EV6’s elevation table, empire here has felt the need to control In , the birthplace of Albert the highest point for the entire route this crucial artery. The Greeks traded Einstein, we pitched our tent in a canoe occurred just as we reached the creek up and down its course. The Romans club’s front yard with the Ulm Minster that would soon become the Danube considered it the northern boundary towering above. Built over a span of 500 with which most are familiar. From that of its vast holdings and set up military years starting in the 14th century, the point — on paper anyway — the route posts (becoming cities such as , gargantuan Gothic structure’s 530-foot seemed to flow downhill to the Black Sea. , and ) along the steeple makes it the tallest church in “The Danube immediately changed riverbanks to protect against invasion. the world. The river widening, we rolled the rhythm of our ride for lots of The Ottomans and Hapsburgs both through villages and towns spilling onto

16 ADVENTURE CYCLIST december 2019 /ja nua ry 2020 The Danube has been NUTS & BOLTS a key character in Europe’s story since five places to see the beginning of civilization on the continent. Every empire here has felt the need to control this crucial artery.

Roman roots, and one of 11 UNESCO ULM, GERMANY sites along the EV6 — we rode The birthplace of Albert Einstein is also home to the underneath the Parthenon-inspired, world’s tallest church — the incredible, Gothic, 530- neo-classical Walhalla. Built to honor foot Ulm Minster, which looms over the Danube. great German artists and scientists, the palatial hilltop building seemed VIENNA, to also guard the last of the river’s The Grande Dame of the Danube is both historic — disappearing youth. Roman roots and a Hapsburg soul — yet still utterly In , our last city in modern and independently minded. Germany, our intimate little waterway, which we’d watched grow BUDAPEST, HUNGARY since its inception, merged with One of the most beautiful river cities on the planet, the and Ilz rivers. Swollen by the Hungarian capital is famous for a two-sided tributaries, strengthened across the personality — with its two halves, Buda and Pest — width of Bavaria, and lined with and inspiring architecture. the path with beer gardens cruise ships, it now commanded the and cafés jammed with landscape. As we crossed into Austria, , bicycles. Farms of canary- the Danube had become an adult. Straddling the banks of the River just before yellow canola flowers The stages between Passau and it joins the Danube, Osijek centers around an 18th blanketed our horizons until Budapest — a stretch that includes century fortress and is known for an easygoing the sulfur-spring–laden spa Vienna and — are what many personality and love of wine. town of Bad Abbach. Just imagine when they think of organized outside the route’s most bike travel, and with good reason. This , northerly point, is the spiritual vortex of bicycle tourism. This series of steep gorges, where the Southern — a city sprawling with The operative word here: tourism. Carpathian Mountains meet the Balkan Mountains, architecture spanning After spending much of the extends 100 kilometers between Romania and Serbia. millennia, anchored by first half of the journey in relative

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG/MEMBERS 17 solitude — throwing knowing nods as we passed the occasional NUTS & BOLTS bikepacker — riding among tour groups became the norm. Gaggles of cyclists of every age and, as often as not, on eBikes, surrounded us like schools of polka-dotted, fluorescent orange, five places to stay and yellow Lycra fish swimming behind their leaders waggling BIERGARTEN GUMPP, DONAUWÖRTH, GERMANY red, blue, and green flags. My first, selfish, knee-jerk reaction Restaurant and campground was proprietary. biergarten-gumpp.de “Nah, man, you got it all wrong,” said Thierry, my riding partner, and typically the less judgmental of us. “This route PILVAX HOTEL, KALOSCA, HUNGARY doesn’t belong to you or me. Think of how much better it is that Well-priced boutique hotel with spa groups travel by bike than by car. The EuroVelo 6 is like Europe’s pilvaxhotel.hu/en cycling Route 66. And just like that highway, people here are discovering, many for the first time, what places are like when GUESTHOUSE MAKSIMILIAN, OSIJEK, CROATIA you see them up close and can stop at any time to enjoy them.” Family-owned inn specializing in cycle tourism His point was, of course, correct. I was still stuck in the maksimilian.hr/?lang=en throes of my existential tourism crisis (and philosophical overcalibration) that had begun in France. The simple MOM’S HOUSE, GOLUBAC, SERBIA fact: people will travel, just as I was doing at that moment. Inexpensive, bike-friendly apartments on the Danube The best we can hope is that they do so responsibly. These momshouse.rs particular stages, starting from Passau — with castles, wine shops, boutiques, sausage stands, and, yes, genuinely excited DRUSTAR HOTEL, , bicycle tourists — signal that more and more people are taking A high-end but inexpensive treat on your last day in Bulgaria sustainable travel seriously. According to the ECF, studies show hoteldrustar.com that the full development of the EuroVelo network could, as early as next year, inspire some 60 million cycling trips and 7 billion euros of direct revenue annually.

18 ADVENTURE CYCLIST december 2019 /ja nua ry 2020 The simple fact: people like little kids watching the 213-foot Ferris wheel, built in 1897, as it brought will travel, just as one cabin after another to the apex of I was doing at that its 20-minute rotation with views of the river we called home. We finished moment. The best we our tour in modern fashion on the left bank of the Danube, drinking beer as can hope is that they tattooed street artists played guitars do so responsibly. and beat on five-gallon plastic buckets. Just 40 miles to the east, we crossed the ’s former “The Danube Bike Path from border and pedaled into Slovakia. Passau to Vienna was our most popular Immediately, we were on a bicycle- destination when I started my company only route that paralleled the highway 15 years ago, and it’s the most popular and followed the river to the series of today,” said Jim Johnson, the founder of bridges leading into Bratislava’s old BikeTours.com, based in Chattanooga, town. There was, for the first time, Tennessee. “The route has amazing a hint of a shift from Western and scenery, vineyards, rich history, and Central Europe to the East. Baroque, incredible infrastructure with charming Renaissance, Secessionist architecture hotels, great dining, and options to mixed with communist-era reminders take the train or boat, if needed. It’s in the Slovakian capital’s center. The important to note, though, that the Bratislava Castle stared down as we Donauradweg wasn’t always universally rolled between ancient clocktowers and embraced by towns along the route. green cupolas, which shared space with Many balked at cost and exhibited the post-WWII block buildings. same NIMBY [Not In My Backyard] We broke out the maps at a café. mentality we face in America. To me, it’s Dragging grease-stained fingers across wonderful that a former mule path, used the different route possibilities, we to tow barges upstream, now gives so made the executive decision to take much delight to travelers and so much the Hungarian side of the EV6 outside revenue to people who live along it.” of Bratislava. The choice would have For more than three weeks, Vienna us riding, in rapid succession, through sat like a giant blip on our internal our fourth, fifth, and sixth countries radars. All the time it was getting closer on the 10-country EV6 within the span and closer but never seemed to be a real of one day. In two days, we would be in place — just an Oz-esque utopia, where Budapest. residents drink coffee from painted Few sights compare with the majesty porcelain cups as Strauss’s “Blue of a great city straddling a formidable Danube” wafts overhead. The reality river. Perhaps no place in the world of riding through the Austrian capital, does this as gracefully as the Hungarian with its approximately two million capital. From the Andante Wine Bar, residents and swarming cars, was hugging the Danube’s edge on the slightly different. Still, the former seat western, Buda side, we drank glasses of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and of house white from the Tokaj region. arguably the river’s chief calling-card The sun drifted over the top of Castle city, never ceases to enchant. Hill behind us. Directly across the We wound through Vienna’s river, the iconic, neo-Gothic Hungarian center, dripping in Hapsburgian Parliament — an impossibly intricate ornamentation and opulence, past the series of steeples and turrets arrayed tiled roof of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, an around its famous copper-colored explosion of Gothic and Romanesque dome — glowed with fading yellows detail on a 12th century foundation. We and oranges as salmon-colored clouds wandered between the fountains of the spread above. baroque Schloss Belvedere Palace, a We watched cyclists commuting UNESCO World Heritage site, and then over the bridges crossing the river. We debated the merits of Klimt, van Gogh, toasted as citizens met on the street and Monet in its museum. We stood and strolled off to cocktails or dinner.

ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG/MEMBERS 19 Raising glasses, it was easy to forget “But there is a specific there was still around 1,000 miles to ride before the Black Sea. feel when traveling In many ways, I knew that last down from Budapest section would be among the most rewarding and the most challenging. into the Balkans. There’s It would necessitate new levels of exploration and patience. Also, from a sense you’re going here, after almost 1,800 miles and beyond the place where more than three weeks together, my cycling partner and I would split. many people stop.” Thierry would return to Sarajevo. I would ride alone until the end. “Every section of the EuroVelo 6 beyond Belgrade, Serbia, is still classified route along the Danube has its own as “under development.” strength — be it history, gastronomy, To be classified as certified or vineyards, Roman culture, or all of the developed, a route must meet specific above,” said Vladan Krečković, a project guidelines in categories such as coordinator at the Danube Competence traffic density, daily elevation gain, Center (DCC), based in Belgrade, attractiveness, public transportation Serbia. The DCC works with countries options, and accommodations. In other along the river to develop cross-border words, compared to the path from tourism. “But there is a specific feel France to Hungary, there would likely when traveling down from Budapest be a significant drop in the level and into the Balkans. There’s a sense you’re amount of infrastructure the farther going beyond the place where many east I headed. I was advised a new level people stop. More and more travelers of awareness would be needed — from want to explore these new countries being prepared with maps and extra tire and learn about the places many are tubes, to keeping water bottles topped just now hearing about.” and purchasing phone SIM cards for Crossing into the Balkans from uninterrupted use of GPS-based apps. southern Hungary was a homecoming As I entered Croatia, however, of sorts. I live in Zagreb, the Croatian the word I continually found myself capital, and I have covered stories about saying aloud was “freedom.” I adored the region for my entire career. The EV6 every stage of the EuroVelo, without would take me through the heart of the exception, but I felt at home in the peninsula, which stretches east–west Balkans. Boutiques and chic bistros from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and were replaced by kerchiefed men and north–south from the Alps to . women standing at the edge of fields From the first days of planning the pointing thick fingers toward the next journey, I was reminded by EuroVelo village where they felt sure the bakery officials and previous riders that a would still be open. In the early stages portion of the Balkans EV6, especially of the trip, I needed a route marker ALASKA BICYCLE TOURS FULLY SUPPORTED TOURS WITH LOCAL GUIDES • SELF-GUIDED TOURS & GEAR RENTALS

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20 ADVENTURE CYCLIST december 2019 /ja nua ry 2020 every quarter mile and regular places to The route followed good asphalt and engulfing houses. I rode around 85 stock up on food. Now I wanted only to roads as it passed Serbia’s Iron Gates, miles per day, only stopping in towns to ride a bicycle until I ran into the sea. a series of narrow gorges pinching sleep in excellent B&Bs for around 10 In Croatia, the path rolled through the Danube between the Balkan dollars per day. the cities of Osijek and and Mountains to the south and the On the last day, the 37th of cycling then across the vineyards surrounding Southern Carpathian Mountains to from the Atlantic coast, I pedaled into the town of before crossing the north. Climbs were now rewarded Constanta, Romania. I could smell the into Serbia, where I followed the with sweeping vistas, largely devoid of salty Black Sea air before I could see route to and its riverside structures, just sunrises suspended in the water. My own personal Route 66 Petrovaradin Fortress, built during the morning mist, which clung to the had taken me across a continent. There Hapsburg control of the area. When river, and dusk framing herons and was nowhere else to ride. Families I stopped in the capital of Belgrade, a ducks, storks and woodpeckers. walked along the boardwalk, posing to frenetic metropolis at the confluence At Serbia’s end, at a tri-border point, take selfies. I asked someone to take of the Danube and rivers and I trusted my gut and took the Bulgarian my photo. After, she handed my phone famous for nightlife on boats lining rather than Romanian route. For the back and asked, “Is this a good place to the water, I took a day to gather next five days, I was alone. There was ride a bike?” supplies and intel. I had one last push only me, my bicycle, a clear head, and ahead of me — about 600 miles to the a sea of sunflowers — rolling waves Alex Crevar is a journalist based in Zagreb, Croatia. Black Sea. from one farm to another, up hillsides See more of his work at alexcrevar.com.

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