Welcome to Austria
It is 3pm, I leave the Constanze lake behind me, Switzerland and the rain as well. It is the 21st of June, and for this summer day I hope I will find some sunshine on the border of Austria ! I rode along the Rhine river for a few kilometers with the Alps at the far end. I am so happy to see the mountains again. But this moment of happiness and completeness takes off quickly when I see big black clouds coming in my way. I wanted to stop drinking coffee but my plan changed. Now I have to find somewhere I can stay for the night and stay dry as much as possible. But before I had the time to ask someone, a cyclist came to speak to me at a road crossing. Firstly, he spoke to me in German which I don’t understand, and after in English he told me “you should go the other way, the rain is coming”. I explained to him that sadly I am going this way but I am looking for somewhere to sleep for the night. Spontaneously, he offered me to follow him to his home ! We didn’t lose time, it started to rain à little bit and when we reached his house, it was raining like cats and dogs. Perfect timing but difficult to believe than we are in summer…
A day off
Voilà how I met Konrad and Andrea, a lovely couple who are living in Hohenems. They offered me this evening a roof for the night, a very nice asparagus risotto from the garden (Konrad loves his garden as much as he loves Andrea) and a beautiful evening. They speak in German together, Konrad speaks French well and he is very happy to practice with me. But Andrea doesn’t understand French, so the three of us are speaking in English. And their generosity doesn’t have limits. So the next day they offered me to stay one more night to rest. I accepted, very happy to spend a day with them and learn more about the history of Austria. First we did à little hike with Konrad to visit the ruins of the biggest castle of Europe in the XIIIe century. From the top of the hill, we had an amazing view of the valley which Konrad knows very well. After that, I had the opportunity to see the wedding of the count Caspar and the countess Leonie (I can imagine you don’t know who they are like me). But they are quite important because they were the King and the Queen of the Netherlands for this wedding! Andrea was singing in the choral in the church, the fanfares and military were there as well. And lots of people in nice dresses, spike heels, and penguin costumes. Strangely, I was not invited to this wedding. I met a friend of Andrea, Magrette who speaks French as well. She is very happy to practice her French. I am very welcome to stay there if I want to teach French! The afternoon, I joined Konrad and his grandchildren in Feldkirch, a little Austrian town that I could visit under the rain. A day without a bike but not a resting day !
It is how my journey in Austria started. Konrad and Andrea are very inspiring people, a couple who make me believe in love but in the small pleasures of life that Konrad likes to share. He is doing his own cheese and bread, I loved that, like his garden too. They also showed me the different roads that are possible to take to go to Innsbruck, I have an appointment with my parents there next Tuesday. I have three days of biking, around 230km and 2810 of positive elevation… I tell you, I suffered.
In the Austrian Alps
Konrad asked a friend of his who lives in Au, in the mountains if I can stay this Sunday night. To go there, I have to ride in the Bregenzer Ach Valley with the big wood cottages recognizable with their “fish scales”. 53km and 740m of elevation later and thanks to the explanation of Andrea and Konrad, I found easily the big house typical of the region where their friend Louis lives. Next to his home, old of 300years, he offered me to sleep in a little nice place where his wife dry some herbs. He lit a fire just for me, at 800m of altitude, it is a little bit cold tonight. I had dinner with Louis and Leonie, a young German girl who came to live here as a carpenter. Louis cooked his speciality, a vegetable soup from his garden. With red wine, it was a wonderful evening on his balcony.
I could take lots of energy, especially with the good breakfast that Louis offered me the next morning. I am ready to reach the pass of Hochtann : 830m of positive elevation in 18km. As a snail speeding, it took me 3 hours. 3 endless hours but so proud of myself when I was on the top. I deserve to take a picture (there was one fabulous photo!). And now let’s go down. So cool ! I am now in the Lech Valley, it is beautiful. I follow the river of the same name, surrounded by mountains and villages where I can see again the Tyrol churches, red and sharp. To finish this day, I found a camping ground next to an aerodrome, usually reserved for pilots (I am almost one, by bike…).
We are Tuesday morning, tonight I will meet my parents. I am excited. But I know that I have to climb some hills before that. The good thing is that every Valley offers a beautiful 360° view and makes me forget my suffering. Two more “little” passes, some rain, lakes and I met my parents in the campsite of Telfs. It was 3 weeks since I left their home but I feel like it was more time while so much has happened since.
Family holidays
We stayed two nights in Telfs, two wet nights. But nothing stops us, we still have the chance to go for a hike in the mountains. Well, starting a hike because the rain stopped us and we couldn’t reach the lake. And luckily my parents are fit and reckless because we didn’t take the easier way to go down from the mountains.
My parents are traveling in a van, so it is difficult to travel by bike. But we found a very good solution (especially for my legs) and we put my bike in the back of their van. It is a good break for my legs and my bikes. And we can move ! To help me a little bit, we take the direction of Salzburg. On the way, we visited Innsbruck, which I loved; Achensee lake in the mountains but very quickly, the rain chased us away; and we crossed the German border to see other lakes like the Tegernsee lake. Finally we stopped for two nights along the Simssee lake. The opportunity for us to be bitten by lots of mosquitoes and to ride around the Chiemsee lake by bike during a beautiful day. 70km, my parents are as fit as me, even more, I hardly can follow them in the small hills. And to find energy, nothing better than German beers and Italian ice cream.
The mosquitoes chased us from this place and we went to find another campground near one of the Salzburg lakes. Randomly, I chose the most touristy lake, the St Wolfgang lake… we are Saturday, first weekend of July, beautiful day, all of the campgrounds were full. Except the last one where we found one place with a beautiful view on the lake. This region is beautiful but I am disappointed because there is no longer any wildlife along the lake. It is only private or paid beaches. After Switzerland, it is strange to be in a place where there is nothing natural. Nevertheless, we can enjoy the area. We forgot the little rack railway which goes to the highest summit of the region, Mount Schafberg 1783m. 36€ one way, we will take our legs and hike to another summit next to it, a little bit less high and also less people. We walked to Mount Vormauerstein, 1450m high. The view is fantastic and worth it to sweat all the way. (And no regrets because Mount Schafberg was in the clouds). We took the opportunity to visit Salzburg as well, a very nice city. Its little streets in the historic part of the city have been part of the UNESCO world heritage since 1996. Its baroque churches, its places, its medieval fortress from the XI century, one of the biggest in Europe, its hills, there is a lot to see. We didn’t the a concert of Mozart in the evening but the football game of French against Belgium in a Irish pub. And to finish in a beautiful way, we did a little round by bike, 67km to give us the opportunity to see a few more lakes around.
It was an amazing week which was finished with Austrian pastries, apfelstruden and cinnamon croissant. We are Wednesday, the 3rd of July. It is time to separate our ways. Them, they are going back slowly to their home in Lyon, and I am taking the road again, on the other way to Donau and Vienna.
