I finally went bike touring on my own – and had so much more fun

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For someone who has travelled afar many times on my own, that I should be anxious about going it alone is comical. The years have changed me. And I have become used to a certain companion by my side.

But my husband Dave is busy at work and casually mentions I might enjoy our annual bike holiday without him. There’s immediate and tremendous guilt as I consider the idea but it passes.

Online, I stumble across self-guided, supported cycle tours and go for an operator with cherry red bikes. No guide, a set route, roadside help if needed and bags are taken from one hotel to the next each day.

As a pair, we are no strangers to long-distance cycle touring and often ride on our own, with beloved bikes and two panniers packed with the basics. Every nanogram counts. The idea of travelling solo with more than one pair of shoes, maybe even a handbag and room for stuff I might buy, is enticing.

Dozens of trails are on offer but I select the most well-known, most frequented and likely one of the best maintained cycle paths in Europe – Passau to Vienna on the double-sided Austrian Danube River Cycle Path.

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I have considered tackling this route before but it is a flat 324 kilometres and Dave prefers hills. I do not. Dave also finds rivers dull. I do not. Marriage means compromise and we take turns but this is my trip now.

Within a week, I am all set – and suddenly apprehensive. It really has been ages since I went anywhere toute seule and unfamiliar.

My eight-day-seven-night journey begins at the confluence of three rivers, the Ilz, the Inn and the Danube in Passau. At my hotel check-in, I am provided with trip documents and told where to find my ride. But the sky is black, the rain torrential and I begin to wonder what I have gotten myself into. I loathe wet weather cycling.

The next morning, the sun is on fire and I head off first thing. Low mountains hug both sides of the Danube and the path is wide, perfectly paved and without potholes or litter. If this is one of the busiest bike routes in all of Europe, I cannot tell.

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I arrive at the river resort in Schlogen well before my room is ready and decide from here on in that I might allow myself to leave later in the morning and fully partake in the lavish breakfasts included with my tour package. After all, I only need to ride an estimated 60 kilometres a day, and have a suitcase that need not be in the lobby for transfer to its next destination before 10 a.m.

Schlogen to Linz dazzles much like the day before: Slopes on both sides, totally flat and largely people-free. Since I’m solo, I stop and take pictures every five minutes because no one tells me not to. In Linz, Austria’s third largest metropolis, I shop because no one tells me I can’t and I eat ice cream for dinner because no one tells me I shouldn’t. Solitude is looking pretty good so far.

The next few days follow a similar pattern along the Danube – barges and river cruises pass me frequently and swans swim by the shore. From within the trees by the path, I hear birdsong. At lunch, I munch on kaiser buns, slices of ham and cucumber, conveniently stolen at breakfast, plus a not-stolen bag of chips from the supermarket. Park benches and picnic tables are everywhere but no toilets. Here, I assume, the goal is that cyclists leave the route and take advantage of cafés on the waterfront or in local towns on the way to Vienna. I do so on occasion and find prices reasonable.

Every so often, a bridge, dam or bike ferry allows cyclists to go from side to side and I switch back and forth. When the low mountains disappear and the widening Danube gets dull, the path veers off now and then into the countryside, allowing cyclists a change of scenery.

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In Krems, I leave the trail to check out the city and am reminded that as with all bike paths, directions always show you a way into a city centre but never back out. It is the only time I get lost. I marvel at the terraced vineyards and fruit orchards on the hillsides which line the once again narrow river in the UNESCO-listed Wachau Valley. Whereas I have heard mostly German for most of the route, now the main language in earshot is English, likely Americans taking day trips on tour buses from Vienna.

On my last evening in Traismauer, I take in a school performance in the town square and pretend like I understand and that I belong. I stay until they finish because I am not ready for my glimpse into Austrian life to end.

I arrive in Vienna the next afternoon with mixed emotions. I made it. As at every overnight stop along the way, all I have to do is lock up my cherry red bike on the company rack in the hotel basement garage. But this time it’s for good and I am sad because I have become fond of it.

I do not leave Vienna straight away and instead add on two glorious days where I do what I want and when I want. I am clearly getting used to solo travel. I long to be back on the road again. With or without my usual companion by my side – either way works.

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If you go

The Passau (Germany) to Vienna (Austria) section of the Danube Cycle Path is open year-round. The flat route is best tackled in a west to east downstream and slightly downhill direction. Information can be found at Danube-cycle-path.com, Donauradweg-Etappen: Rad-Tourenplaner and EuroVelo.com.

I booked with Eurobike Cycling Holidays, and my 21-gear unisex rental bike cost $160 with insurance. The cost for eight days/seven nights plus single supplement came to $2,190 last summer.

Eurobike provides a front bag and side pannier. Helmets are not obligatory and not provided, but I brought my own. Pedals did not require clip-on shoes. A chain lock was provided as well as a booklet with directions – although getting lost on this particular route takes real effort.

Though Europe seems to run mostly on credit and debit cards, cash was needed for the ferry boat transfers and encouraged in one or two smaller Austrian villages.