A Perfect Cycling Day

Friday September 23rd
In Which we All Enjoy a Perfect Cycling Day

There is an old adage about "what goes up, must come down" and, after spending the evening on the top of a mountaintop, we knew that we would have a spectacular descent back down to Schlogen the following morning.

We enjoyed a superb evening meal and retired to bed early. When the next morning dawned we found the surrounding rolling hills were covered in a blanket of white mist. After discussion some decided that it might be safer to travel back down the hill in the hotel's bus, while the rest decided to live a little dangerously and cycle down instead. It turned out to be a rather uneventful descent with very little traffic.

When all the team were safely gathered at Schlogen, some enjoyed a drink in the sunshine while those who had missed out on climbing to the Blick the previous day climbed up to enjoy the view.

The day's riding was about as perfect a day's cycling as you could imagine. It was yet another superb day of sunshine and no winds and a temperature of around 20C. The paths were sealed the entire way, there were few other riders and the path followed the river for most of the ride. We even had a ferry crossing and a boat trip to add variety to a very memorable day.

At one particular ferry crossing we were confronted with a speaker box and a couple of buttons. Janna used her language skills to work out which button to press. This met a response of someone speaking rapidly in German. I asked her what he said and she dutifully explained that "it was a recorded message". At this time a helpful local guy walked up to us and asked if we needed help. We told him that we needed to go down the river. He went to the box and then conducted a conversation with the captain of the ferry, presumably apologising for the stupid foreigners who had been pressing the button and then not answering.

Seeing our new friend had been so helpful, we decided to ask his advice which side of the river we should ride on. he immediately replied that the left bank was definitely the better option.

The final few km into Linz were next to a busy highway and served to announce the proximity of a large city. We finally crossed the main bridge from the left to right banks and started searching for our hotel. When we reached the other side of the river I started checking the GPS for directions, when another friendly local guy asked if we needed help. We told him the name of our hotel. "Follow me", he instructed and then proceeded to take us to the path that would bring us to the hotel. It restored our faith in the Austrian temperament. That shows that not all Austrians are grumpy after all.

We finally arrived at the hotel at around 5.30 and found our way to our rooms. When Janna opened the door to her room she discovered that, like the three little bears, someone had been sleeping in her bed. There were towels and mess all around. Obviously the room had not been prepared, but a change of rooms soon solved the problem.

Maggie also had a panic of her own when she realised her wallet was missing, along with all credit cards and money. After a hurried search it was eventually found in the pannier still on the bike. Problem averted. Perfect day preserved.Read more