Day 23 - Stadl to Alternmarkt
I had a great night of sleep last night and awoke at around 5.30 am again! Gosh this is becoming a habit. I had an early morning phone call to help a friend of A former work colleague at AECOM who is looking to become a CFO. It was a great chat and I think she will do well in the role.
After the call it was time to pack and have breakfast. The breakfast included boiled eggs and bread rolls with butter and condiments. It was the perfect fuel for the day of riding ahead which included a big climb… more on that later.
The initial few kilometres were important for Chris as he traced the POW march of his friend. It was through some lovely countryside with small villages either near the Mur river or up on the slopes of the valley.
The day’s ride was essentially a climb for most of the day and overall we climbed 1174 metres… not bad for a 72 year old boy!
The weather was cool with scattered and heavy clouds for most of the day. Apart from the top of the climb, temperatures were around 16- 20 degrees. In the later part of the day we did have some light showers.
At the 12 km point we stopped at Ramingstein for coffee for Steve and I. The coffee here in Austria is ok??? But after being spoiled in Italy I am finding it a bit harder to take…. I had black tea for breakfast as I couldn’t face the coffee for example.
After coffee is was on again to the next stop for lunch which was at Mauterndorf which is a larger town in the valley. Along the way we say several groups of schoolchildren on hikes in the valleys or doing white water rafting on the Mur . At our lunch stop we had a group of students arrive from white water rafting for lunch at the venue we chose. They had ice creams and coke whilst we had toasted sandwiches and juice ( Chris had his normal English Breakfast tea)
After lunch it was on the main road for the 7 km climb up to the high point of today’s ride at Obertauren. To this point we had been travelling on well surfaced and signposted cycle ways and road which were very quiet. The road to the top of the climb was a little busier but was okay for cyclists. The climb however was an average of about 7% with some grades exceeding 10%. There were no switchbacks and it was a steady climb all the way. It was interesting on the climb to enter avalanche tunnels which provided an almost eerie feeling whilst riding.
I stopped 3 times on the climb to “take pictures “ and have a bit of a rest and drink. It was hard work but not as hard as Stelvio I believe. I am also much fitter now after 3 weeks of riding most days….. I also think I have lost some weight!
At the top of the climb we saw the vast ski resort which has chair lifts and gondolas going in all directions on either side of the road. This resort made Mt Buller seem like a small village!
The accommodation looks very expensive and we had a coffee at a place called The Lazy Flamingo Diner…. Very hip!
During the ride to this point we had seen several other ski resorts so this area must be a popular place during the winter! There is certainly plenty of accommodation places. In summer it seems that there is some reliance on bike riding, hiking and rafting… but the popularity of this is far lower than the ski season and it seems that the downtime is used for maintenance.
After coffee it was time for the big 25 km downhill…. The temperature was quite cool ( around 10 degrees) so we put on our rain jackets to keep warm. It was interesting to see the speeds I was getting on some of the straighter stretches of the road. My maximum speed would have been about 60 kph but mostly I was around 40 kph. Earlier at the Lazy Flamingo we were watching the Tour de France and riders were doing 40 kph on the flat talking to each other as if they were on a Sunday morning ride!
The major town at the bottom of the descent is Radstadt and we are stay at a lovely Pension a little out of Radstadt at Altenmarkt. The owner, Nina is a lovely lady who is very friendly and helpful.
The accommodation is very much set up for skiing families and looking out from the balcony of our room as I do this blog, I can see an array of ski slopes and chairlifts.
Today was a great day of riding and I am pleased with the progress I am making on hill climbing. It was a day of 80 kms travelling through lovely Austrian mountains and we climbed over 1100 metres.
Today’s pictures are:
The route
White water rafting on the Mur
A church on the hill… seems that the Austrians have got to do a lot of climbing to get to church…. Seems to be everywhere!
A barn which is used to house cattle during winter
The long climb up
…. And the descent!!!
At the top is the ski resort
I have a few other photos which I will post as an addendum
