South of Ingolstadt on the Danube plain, the ground is so flat that the horizon becomes the main landscape feature. This stop lies between Manching and Ingolstadt, in a region once covered by the great Donaumoos, a peat bog drained in the eighteenth century under the Bavarian elector Karl Theodor, who wanted farmland and settlers. The road network that crosses the old moor is neat, straight and carefully ditch-lined, with fields of maize, wheat and sugar beet standing behind.
Manching has a history much older than the roads. The Celts built a huge fortified settlement here, an oppidum, in the last two centuries before Christ, one of the largest in Europe, with ramparts that ran for kilometres. Today the town is better known for its military airfield and aerospace industry, but the Celtic past still lingers in the museum, which is worth a look if you like objects with stories. Ingolstadt, seven kilometres away, is a large city with over a hundred thousand people, home to Audi, a medieval wall, and the claim to be where the Bavarian beer purity law was issued in 1516.
For a rider, this is a start, not a destination. Fuel and food are easy in Manching, and Ingolstadt has everything you could need. The roads near the Danube are good for covering ground quickly, but they are also busy with commuters, so a morning start before the traffic builds is a good plan. The Danube floodplain nearby has paths and beech woods if you want to walk for ten minutes before you mount up.
The reward for a start like this comes later, when the road turns south and the first hills of the Alpine foreland rise ahead. The contrast makes the mountains look taller than they are. Check your luggage, fill the tank and enjoy the rare luxury of flat tarmac, because you will want to remember it when the hairpins begin.