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Vienna ( sept 20-23)

We got up early from our camp in the woods on a cool morning (typical) and made the quick, all bike path journey into Vienna. The city has more than 1200km of bike paths which makes for an obviously bike friendly town! We enjoyed it! People actually looked before crossing the bike path. We came upon the mighty Danube river which was flowing really really fast. Curious if any is legacy from the epic floods they had this year?

Crossed the bridge into Vienna and followed a segway tour (figured they had to be heading to the sights) down into the city. We made a quick ride around the “ringstrasse” which is a path, street and tram line that circles the inner city and takes you by many sights. Got a good preview of things to come. We then decided to find our hotel which was back closer to the river. We decided to stay in a hostel since dad likes scary movies and we wanted to stay on the cheap. I was a bit nervous as the English translation of this place was “youth palace” but as it turned out I was often 50 years younger than some of the guests— clean, safe, quiet, near metro, bike storage and free breakfast.

I dragged dad not quite kicking and screaming on a bunch of tours and through churches including the 350 step climb to the top of st Stephens cathedral. Anybody who knows my dad knows wheezer. Great view though.

Vienna is most certainly on my ever growing list of cities I could picture myself living in — someday, someday….

We evaluated our schedule and decided to ride to Bratislava Slovakia on Monday and skip ahead to Budapest. We had done some spectacular riding and were a bit behind from the aforementioned hills I also thought we’d end up finding the flat Danube trail a bit boring (true). So onto Slovakia and to the eurocity train to Budapest!

Tour de Food! Brats in a bun. Genius!!

Vienna from the top of st Stephens cathedral. Earned it with the 350 steps up the winding staircase.

Day 6 of riding (9 of trip)

85k ~ 53 miles - 10 hours

Today we made it to Austria. After waking up in a dry (!!!!!) tent despite torrential rains we packed up camp and got onto riding. Since I’ve been making dad take in more sights we stopped at the “bunker museum” — the sign was spray painted on the path (this should have been a hint). We schlepped our bikes over some train tracks and walked through a field to two bunker / pillboxes from WWII. We were hoping we’d be able to go inside but to no avail. Dad stood up top looking for the enemy but his neon yellow shirt must have scared them off……

Today we actually had sun, a rarity on this trip. A beautiful day through vineyards and acres and acres of sunflowers just past peak. If we had been here 3-4 weeks earlier the flowers would have been amazing. Coming to the Austrian border it was clear how things have changed with the creation of the European Union. No checkpoint no border guards. Also there is a stark contrast between the wealth of Austria and CR simply based on its infrastructure. I do think we will miss the small towns and simplicity thought. A great thing about Austria is the immense bike trail network. Couldn’t be better. Today was the first day I’ve really had any major muscular problems — my right calf was really bothering me as well as my lower back. Glad we are almost to some days off. Austria is famous for its wine so we pedaled through many vineyards and even snuck some grapes to eat with or lunch. We saw a forest we were aiming for on the map to camp and somehow it seemed to take forever to get there. We could see it in the distance and the last 5-10 k were brutal! Our "flat" map included a steep end of day climb and downhills were optical illusions as we didn't seem to coast. We ended up camping down a dirt path which seemed to be a logging operation and weren’t bothered despite being fairly close to a very loud road. Today I bought Nutella to mix things up from our normal salami/ cheese./ mustard sandwiches. Yum!!

Vienna tomorrow.

#auatria

Austria!!!!!

Dinner ... Meat, cheese and mustard sandwiches. Maybe some nutella too!

What do you mean we're not in Kansas anymore!?!

Day 5 of riding (day 8 of trip)

83k ~ 52 miles 9.5 hours of riding

Today combined the rain of 2 days ago with the cold of yesterday. Neither of us brought warm enough gloves for this kind of weather. I wanted to keep my sneakers dry so switched to my keens which were too tight with 2 pairs of socks — thus numb toes-- back to the sneakers. We had major concerns about the National Park Podyji due to the multiple 200+ meter descents to a river at the bottom of a gorge with a climb on the other side. Also some of the trail was marked as unpaved and given the rain we’d been having it was likely there would be major mud. We scouted some alternate roads and they worked out well (aside from some usual getting lost) and half way through the day and rain we dropped into the park. This would mean only 1 huge descent / climb. As we navigated through the park we saw a group of riders toasting to a bottle of wine and then saw what they were toasting to. At stiff descent covered in 4 inch by 4 inch widely spaced lumpy and wet cobbles. We asked if this was even possibly the way down?!? Sure enough it was. At he bottom we came to a beautiful river and a bridge over it out of Indiana jones. We found a covered picnic area and had lunch just in time for the SUN to arrive. This was good as dad was having some concerns about hypothermia in his fingers. Note: waterproof gloves next time!

I had a habit of preparing lunch (meat/cheese and mustard sandwiches—- the usual) right before a climb. This never worked out that well… We were off up the monster ascent and I have to say it was steep. I even got out to walk about 20 meters. Dad on the other hand, with his super small gears (and ultimate will) was able to power through all the way to the top!

This was when the whole landscape changed. We left rolling hills and national parks for what appeared to be Kansas. We joked all trip “were not in Kansas anymore” but… The flat farms around is begged to differ. It of course started to rain mid afternoon and around 5 we called it a day looking to camp. We ended up finding a very well hidden rough camp spot just off the path that only had 2 cars and 2 bikes go by while we were there. It rained while we slept but woke up dry! All in all a good and rewarding day!

Day 4 of riding / day 7 of trip

Short day- 65 k ~ 40 miles 6.5 hrs on bike

Woke up after a torrential downpour in my tent which had gotten wet (see last post). Packed up quickly and quietly although it was likely at this point we would not be seen. Got our earliest start of 8am and stopped for a cliff bar and potato chip breakfast down the road at a bus stop. Today’s map looked very hilly so we decided to try a shortcut on a “busy road” rather than cut through the forest which always seemed to contain very steep hills. This busy road ended up being a spectacular downhill with a car about every 30 minutes. — ahh Czech traffic. We also noticed that the county roads were mostly lined with apple trees. So, we’d stop and pick some from time to time. We again ran into the German girls and they showed us some cherry and plum trees, so we picked and are some of those too! We went through an amazing town, slabonice, at lightning speed which we both regret. Should have stopped and looked around. After a few small climbs and knowing that the steep terrain of the national park podyji was ahead we stopped at vranov nad Dijy (Vranov on the Dijy river). This town had a spectacular castle above it and some old buildings built as far back as the 1300s. I’m convincing dad that there is more to touring than miles. Therefore we are going to “stop and smell the roses” and so some sightseeing extending our trips in Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest and cutting out a couple of the days of riding along the Danube. For those travelers out there, these amazing small cities make me realize that when coming to Europe, sure it’s great to go to Paris, Rome, Prague but be sure to head so some small historic cities too. They will be more authentic and worth the trip!

We both had really wet clothes and gear so decided to stop for the day. Stayed in a nice hotel called Hotel Zomecky where a lady did our laundry and even folded our socks. Ahh clean dry clothes!!! Heaven! Not to mention a hot shower. We got lost in translation with the waiter for dinner so ended up having salads and were too tired to stay while they cooked us something else. Mor ahead!

#czech #biketouring #doyouknowthewaytosantafe?

Day 3

day 3 (80k~ 50 miles 8.5 hours) riding was wet and rainy and full of some pretty big hills and amazing views. We went through a forest whose parents trees and smell reminded me of the Adirondack mountains back home. Dad definitely felt in his comfort zone. I had snagged some of the bread / meat and cheese that came with my breakfast and we had that for lunch after a particularly hard climb After picking up some food we decided to head for a campground that had tent camping and also cabins and hot showers. Unfortunately the campground closed 1 week ago. Since we had already logged 50 miles plus a climb to the campground we decided to rough camp and found a hidden corner to pitch our tents hoping to not be seen. Turned out it was a torrential downpour and we should have snuck onto the porch of one of the cabins.

I made 2 rookie mistakes 1. Camping 101- when its raining be sure NONE of your plastic ground cloth is hanging out of your tent ( thus the puddle I woke up in)

2. When you only have 3 outfits, don’t wash 2 expecting they will dry by morning ( thus 2 days of the same clothes)

Day 3 -- rain!!!

Stopping for lunch and a break half way into day 2. Today was brutal 50 miles with never ending hills. Where is lance armatrongs doctor when we need him. We met two nice German girls who are riding from Berlin to Romania over 2months. Body is hurting -- big hills again tomorrow.

Ready to roll.... Getting out of Prague turned out to be even harder than anticipated. No signs, weaving through muddy paths in a park, more wrong turns than one could imagine. Luckily we both kept our cool and made it out to where the signs are posted. Only made it 25 miles but that was our day 1 goal. Slept at a campground where there was a battle of the bands across the river until midnight and then Czech version of James Taylor was holding a sing along around the campfire.

On the shores of the Vltava river as we walked around to scope out our bike route. This river was filled with huge white swans.

#prague #fatherdaughter

Dad and I played tourists for a while visiting old town square. The beautiful Tyn Church is in the background. Tomorrow we ride!

Road weary and dog tired Dad arrived.

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