I must be on holidays, I'm starting to lose track of time. And I only took four photos today - which means I'm out of photo frenzy mode.
The photo in the last post that was supposed to be of our hotel was a lie. Pretty nice hotel - at least from the outside. We are not staying in a hotel but a one bedroom unit - part of a teknik area north of the city. This is where we are staying:
Not quite as flash but functional.
Went running this morning. First to get 20ks under my belt. Then to get to the pool and back. Total 30+. Energy expenditure including yesterday's ride meant that most of the rest of the day was spent eating.
Which brings us to yesterday's ride. We'd planned a route that took us on the 1, the B1 or Linzer Bundestrasse depending on which map you use. Head 50 ks east then cross country to Attersee, ride around the lake and come back past Fuschlsee (where we rode to on Monday). Getting out of town was easier than Monday as we had a better idea where we had to go and were getting more comfortable with the traffic. By about 10ks we were getting used to the mix of highway and bike tracks that just cut across farmland, tieing the villages together. The photo below shows the road on the left and the bike track wandering across the next hill.
Searching for the bike tracks took time sometimes so we ended up sticking to the B1. Which was great until we disappeared into a tunnel. As we went in there was no indication that it was anything but a longish underpass. A narrow lane each way we could cope with for a few seconds but we realised after about 30 seconds we were in the wrong place. It was lit dimly but with both of us not daring to take a hand off to remove sunglasses the road was pretty dark. But the noise was deafening. Louder maybe. A truck coming the other way sounded like a jet taking off and we could hear it coming from (maybe a) kilometre back. We both shat ourselves. And continued shitting ourselves. We didn't dare turn around. I kept thinking the tunnel would end around the corner but it continued - and the trucks continued. The echos meant we couldn't tell whether the truck noise was from behind or in front. After a minute we both scrambled onto the narrow footpath on the side. I started riding along there but Kim couldn't balance because she was shaking so much. When we came to an escape area we stopped and took stock. There hadn't been any vehicles come past us since we had entered the tunnel so I guessed they must have been stopped. When we realised this we started riding on the road again. The tunnel seemed to be going forever.
As we rode on I realised we were going to be in big trouble. This was reinforced by the police car with its lights on that came up behind us about 500 metres from the end, waving us along in front of it. We took the first exit after the tunnel and pulled off the road as soon as it was moderately safe.
Yes we realised we shouldn't have entered but only after it was too late.
Yes we can see the car sign but it didn't seem to rule out bikes.
No we didn't realise the tunnel was so long.
The police suggested that at the next tunnel we should follow the road around - like bikes are supposed to. At the mention of next we decided it was safer to get off the B1.
Considering we had held up traffic for at least 10 minutes on a busy highway the police were pretty understanding. No yelling, No fine. No gaol. Might not have escaped as easily in Australia.
We were still buzzing. And not wanting to face the stream of vehicles pouring out of the lane we had blocked we decided it was coffee time.
The rest of the day was mild by comparison. We left the highway after another 10 ks and had a bite on the shores of Mondsee. From there it was magic. Magic scenery - cliffs rising from the lake hundreds of metres.
Magic riding - a mix of bike paths and smooth paved roads for the next 80ks as we skirted Mondsee and completely circumnavigated Attersee before climbing to Fuschlsee then climbing more over the pass to Salzburg. Great day.
Oh. And there was one more tunnel. Just for bikes. Continued for about a kilometre where some of the cliffs disappear into the lake. Imagine the cost. Completely separate to the road tunnel.
We slept well considering we could have been in gaol.
Some thoughts for later discussion:
There are far fewer fat people in Austria than Australia - like even moderately fat. In comparison it seems like half the population of Australia is fat. Not as many McDonalds in Austria.
Salzburg has a fantastic network of bicycle tracks. And people use them. There is bike storage everywhere. Outside every shop, business, house and railway station. Some bike lanes are squeezed onto the roads, like in Sydney. But they don't stop and start - maybe cross to the other side sometimes. There is also the most comprehensive network of dedicated paths - some go more than 20 ks out, meaning you can ride a bike to some of the lakes and be on bike paths or on bike lanes the whole way.
There are far more smokers here than in Australia.
If you head in any direction away from the river in Austria you go up. Fast.
The photo in the last post that was supposed to be of our hotel was a lie. Pretty nice hotel - at least from the outside. We are not staying in a hotel but a one bedroom unit - part of a teknik area north of the city. This is where we are staying:Not quite as flash but functional.
Went running this morning. First to get 20ks under my belt. Then to get to the pool and back. Total 30+. Energy expenditure including yesterday's ride meant that most of the rest of the day was spent eating.
Which brings us to yesterday's ride. We'd planned a route that took us on the 1, the B1 or Linzer Bundestrasse depending on which map you use. Head 50 ks east then cross country to Attersee, ride around the lake and come back past Fuschlsee (where we rode to on Monday). Getting out of town was easier than Monday as we had a better idea where we had to go and were getting more comfortable with the traffic. By about 10ks we were getting used to the mix of highway and bike tracks that just cut across farmland, tieing the villages together. The photo below shows the road on the left and the bike track wandering across the next hill.
Searching for the bike tracks took time sometimes so we ended up sticking to the B1. Which was great until we disappeared into a tunnel. As we went in there was no indication that it was anything but a longish underpass. A narrow lane each way we could cope with for a few seconds but we realised after about 30 seconds we were in the wrong place. It was lit dimly but with both of us not daring to take a hand off to remove sunglasses the road was pretty dark. But the noise was deafening. Louder maybe. A truck coming the other way sounded like a jet taking off and we could hear it coming from (maybe a) kilometre back. We both shat ourselves. And continued shitting ourselves. We didn't dare turn around. I kept thinking the tunnel would end around the corner but it continued - and the trucks continued. The echos meant we couldn't tell whether the truck noise was from behind or in front. After a minute we both scrambled onto the narrow footpath on the side. I started riding along there but Kim couldn't balance because she was shaking so much. When we came to an escape area we stopped and took stock. There hadn't been any vehicles come past us since we had entered the tunnel so I guessed they must have been stopped. When we realised this we started riding on the road again. The tunnel seemed to be going forever.
As we rode on I realised we were going to be in big trouble. This was reinforced by the police car with its lights on that came up behind us about 500 metres from the end, waving us along in front of it. We took the first exit after the tunnel and pulled off the road as soon as it was moderately safe.
Yes we realised we shouldn't have entered but only after it was too late.
Yes we can see the car sign but it didn't seem to rule out bikes.
No we didn't realise the tunnel was so long.
The police suggested that at the next tunnel we should follow the road around - like bikes are supposed to. At the mention of next we decided it was safer to get off the B1.
Considering we had held up traffic for at least 10 minutes on a busy highway the police were pretty understanding. No yelling, No fine. No gaol. Might not have escaped as easily in Australia.
We were still buzzing. And not wanting to face the stream of vehicles pouring out of the lane we had blocked we decided it was coffee time.
The rest of the day was mild by comparison. We left the highway after another 10 ks and had a bite on the shores of Mondsee. From there it was magic. Magic scenery - cliffs rising from the lake hundreds of metres.
Magic riding - a mix of bike paths and smooth paved roads for the next 80ks as we skirted Mondsee and completely circumnavigated Attersee before climbing to Fuschlsee then climbing more over the pass to Salzburg. Great day.
Oh. And there was one more tunnel. Just for bikes. Continued for about a kilometre where some of the cliffs disappear into the lake. Imagine the cost. Completely separate to the road tunnel.
We slept well considering we could have been in gaol.
Some thoughts for later discussion:
There are far fewer fat people in Austria than Australia - like even moderately fat. In comparison it seems like half the population of Australia is fat. Not as many McDonalds in Austria.
Salzburg has a fantastic network of bicycle tracks. And people use them. There is bike storage everywhere. Outside every shop, business, house and railway station. Some bike lanes are squeezed onto the roads, like in Sydney. But they don't stop and start - maybe cross to the other side sometimes. There is also the most comprehensive network of dedicated paths - some go more than 20 ks out, meaning you can ride a bike to some of the lakes and be on bike paths or on bike lanes the whole way.
There are far more smokers here than in Australia.
If you head in any direction away from the river in Austria you go up. Fast.
Wow! That was a hair raising experience Brian.
ReplyDelete