Passau, Germany, 2023

I start any new adventure with some excitement, some trepidation, some apprehension, but that’s what makes it an adventure–the unknown. What surprises, pleasant and otherwise, await? Am I up to this, whatever “this” is? I don’t mean to overstate; I avoid risky behavior (mostly). It’s more concern about how I manage the differences I encounter, and how long I can avoid being a jerk about something, something often ultimately unimportant.

Barbara and I wanted to do a trip with some physically active components, and signed up for a self-guided multi-day bicycle ride from Passau to Vienna. In the above photo we were just leaving Passau at the beginning of our trip, and my apprehension was about how little riding we do at home and could we handle this distance–a question about both endurance and our buns’ ability to sit on a bike seat all day for several days. It’s awkward, at a minimum, to get in the middle of something and have to bail. Turned out to be easy, especially with E-bikes, and a great navigation program, furnished by the travel company.

Another concern was that I had stopped almost immediately at the beginning to make photographs of something interesting. There was something interesting, of course, the whole way, cycling on great bike paths, well-marked, along the Danube, and through fields and farmland, and picturesque villages and towns. It was all so pretty; our daily distance was short enough to amble along and enjoy the ride, but it was necessary for me to exert much discipline in not stopping every five minutes to shoot. We would never have made it to the next hotel before dark.

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