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Austria 2000

1st - 15th July 2000

Once the thermal leggings from the short early morning ride to the airport were safely stowed at the bottom of our panniers, Team Fencote (John and Mick), Brian and myself delighted in the warmth and sunshine on the tarmac at Salzburg airport - just like a real summer should be!! And the delight didn't stop there. It wasn't long before we discovered that cyclists are treated almost like royalty in this country - our own cycle route right from the airport gates right into the heart of the city - and along the most scenic riverside route to boot.

With so many spectacular churches and a fortress to explore, we decided to spend 2 nights in Salzburg - one night each in 2 brand spanking new Youth Hostels which were more akin to 3 star hotels, both for less than a tenner a night - courtesy of a favourable exchange rate.

By day 3 of the trip, Brian decided that perhaps we ought to be doing a little more than 10 miles a day to count this as a proper cycle touring holiday - less than 30 miles he promised - failing to mention the long hot and breathtakingly steep climb up the Gaisberg (1287m), with magnificent views over Salzburg and the Salzkammergut region where we were heading. Classic chocolate box scenery unfolded with every kilometre, no more scenic than from our B&B in St Gilgen on Wolfgangsee, where thunderstorms over the surrounding mountains came and went, day and night, providing an extra unplanned rinse for the washing.

A relatively gentle 50 mile ride around the nearby Attersee, largest of the lakes in this region, was all set to have been a thoroughly pleasant day. As usual, we set off in lovely warm sunshine. By midday the clouds began to gather, although this time, it did seem to be just a shade blacker than normal at 3pm - then suddenly the wind whipped up - and the view across the lake disappeared into whiteness. We dived into a bus shelter to get the waterproofs on, and on hearing a thunderous noise like a train, turned round to see the surface of the lake frothing, seconds before the street outside the shelter was bombarded by chunks of ice the size of squash balls being thrown from the sky.

A lucky escape indeed, for 15 minutes later when this hailstorm was all but over, we began to see cars coming past - rear windscreens shattered by the force of the hailstones, gutters filled with ice and roads strewn with ripped tree branches. The next bus shelter to ours was now upside down half way up a tree, whilst the poor owner of the commercial greenhouse was surveying the complete annihilation of this structure with utter disbelief.

Next day was thankfully pleasant and uneventful, with the Fencote Flyers taking to the sky for a cable car ride up to Zwolferhorn overlooking the town, followed by a gentle cycle ride for us all round the lake to St Gilgen, for an attack on the many tourist tat shops which we so love. It was here that the first much loved Yodel Bear joined the tour - how else would we have been woken up so pleasantly in the morning?

Thursday was the beginning of our ride from the Salzkammergut region down to the Danube for the second part of our tour. With a bit of early effort required on top of a hearty breakfast, the Fencotes thought they might still have a touch of the Salzkammergut, even though we had crossed miles of undulating countryside and were almost at Braunau am Inn, our next hostel stop!! From Braunau, we joined the cycle path alongside the River Inn that was going to take us all the way to Passau, the start of our Danube cycle ride. The Fencotes were enjoying the bird life along the riverbanks, and all too soon it was time to find accommodation again, this time following a little green sign to a delightful private house in a village called Wernstein. We said goodbye to the lady owner in the evening (she was leaving early for work next day), only to find her the following morning serving us in the local village shop!

Leaving Passau and our brief foray into Germany generally unimpressed (could the pouring rain have clouded our judgement?), and having failed to spot any other SOC members outside the cathedral at the allotted meeting time, we set off, still in the pouring rain, along the Danube cycleway. Heeding the advice in various route notes fathered before the trip, we soon crossed to the northern bank by ferry to enjoy a quieter route, to take in the obligatory photo-stop at the German/Austrian border, and to find our next night's accommodation - a fabulous riverside inn at Niederranna, with a very cycle friendly owner and luxurious rooms.....so comfortable that even the Yodel Bears (2 on board by now) could not wake the Fencotes the following morning.

The next day's ride rook us back across the river to the spectacular viewpoint at Schlogen, on the apex of a huge meander in the river. The inevitable dousing by rain followed before we managed to check in to the hostel in Linz. Little Fencote was delighted to discover a Russian choir in the dorm, next door, so much so that we sneaked out of the form in the early hours to converse with them and share a little vodka, caviar and raw fish (well, that's what he told us anyway!) Progress the next day was, not surprisingly, a little slower than usual. We spent a very leisurely morning taking in all the splendour of the St. Fflorian monastery, which it was quite easy to believe was the best of its type in the area.

Rejoining the Danube cycleway, we made our way steadily along a rather bland stretch of the river, before reaching more hills, and heading inland for our next night's stop at Bad Kreuzen Youth Hostel - which happened to be in a superbly eerie castle just about as high above the river valley as you could get in this area - thanks Brian! The following day, we didn't want to leave - more to do with the unrelenting torrential rain than any views that we may otherwise have enjoyed. But leave we did, eventually, to get to our next hostel stop in Melk as quickly as possible.

Sadly the dawning of another persistently wet morning washed out our plans to spend the morning taking in the abbey, but we left with happy memories of a lively evening spent with some fellow German cyclist (they mentioned the war first).......and yet another \yodel Bear now on board!!

We didn't get very far before Brian suffered a burst tyre, which had to be swapped with a folding tyre before we could continue. No-one minded though - it gave us an excuse to shelter from the rain for a little longer. By mid afternoon it began to clear up as we cycled through the scenic Dachau wine growing region, snapping photos of castles perched on rocks high above the river, and passing through Dachstein where Richard the Lionheart was reputedly imprisoned. We ground to a halt just before Krems, in another excellent hotel, enjoyed yet another evening of fine food and beer, and set off the following day for Klosterneuberg, just outside Vienna, much relieved to have got Brian a quality new touring tyre at the local bike shop.

The overnight hostel stop was another full of character, and characters too, come to that - our companion at the breakfast table had us believe he was in Goering's air force. All too soon it was time to cycle on into Vienna, time to browse around the monuments that make one city different from the next, and finally, to grab a bite to eat at the very last suburb before the airport.

Thanks to Team Fencote and Brian for being such good company, and to Brian and John for planning the whole thing so well. A big thank you also goes out to Brian's Mum for being such a wonderful hostess. Nor must we forget Dick (Berger) the inspiration behind this trip, without whom we may never have discovered all these wonderful places.

Valerie

Last Modified: 7 May, 2003