Yes, we're on the train. Not a good sign when we should be pedaling toward the east.
Yesterday we left Vienna late but with enough time to make the 50 km necessary to keep us on schedule. The path was a little rougher than we have become accustomed to including a few km of dirt road. At about the 40 km mark I noticed Sandi's back tire looking flat. We pumped it up and made it into Hainsburgh where I set about repairing the tube next to a fountain which was useful for tracing air leaks. I mended two punctures and was happily reinflating the tire when the valve stem snapped.
We were not carrying a spare tube and the town full of bicycle commuters had no bike repair shop.
Our most practical means of fixing our problem were to take the train back to Vienna. So here we sit. Sandi has two new puncture resistant tyres and we are back on the train heading east to where we left our luggage and my bike.
Every cloud has a silver lining however and this little inconvenience is no different. Sitting al fresco for dinner last night we were happy to meet Willie, a retired German man who also loves to travel and was on his way home from Romania. We shared travel stories and enjoyed learning about each others' worlds.
This morning on the train we met a woman who is soon traveling to Ballarat in Victoria, Aus. To go gold prospecting. I was able to relate my own recent prospecting experience in outback WA including some photo's of the dry, red landscape out there.
Traveling by train makes a pleasant change and we are viewing a different part of the countryside, away from the river... Life could be worse.
Have to get off now. See you soon.