I slept like the dead: it had been a trying (wet) and then exhausting (long) couple of days, and I was certainly ready for a rest day. The forecast promised great weather - fully sunny and hot - for the next couple of days, and the Neusiedlersee, with its multiple bike ferries (radfähre), offered lots of interesting places to explore. It was also really well served with all the tourist paraphernalia - cafes, restaurants, ice-cream stands - which had been conspicuously absent from most of my route. I like getting off the beaten track, but was very happy to be able to recharge with all this on my day off.
First I went to the on-site bakery to pick up some bread and croissants for breakfast. I sat in the already warm sunshine having coffee, checking out some of my options for today, and plotting the end of the tour. I could of course stay a couple more days in Rust - certainly it was a very agreeable place. But I figured it would be fun to try to explore one of the adjoining countries. Hungary was out, as all intelligence suggested the border was still entirely closed to non-Hungarians and I had no intention of extending my holiday for an enforced 14 day quarantine at Orban's pleasure. But Slovakia still looked fine: no restrictions from Austria in either direction. I contemplated seeing how far I could ride into the country towards the Carpathians - but figured I'd need to go quite a long way beyond the orbit of Bratislava before any obvious campsites were available. I wondered if I could cycle to Bratislava and back in a day - but it really would have been a stretch. But I was keen to visit.
The campsite in Bratislava looked pretty terrible - but then I realised that for under €50 I could get a really nice looking hotel room right in the centre of town. I'd never been to Bratislava itself - only the passed through it by train - so was intrigued, and it would be great to stay right in the centre of things. I'd done so well (read: cheaply) with the accommodation I certainly thought I could stretch to that, so booked it in on the phone for tomorrow night (and sent them a quick message about whether it would be possible to store the bike off the street). Then it would be a reasonably short ride (in combination with the ferry to cross the lake) tomorrow over the border, with time for sightseeing in the afternoon!
Before any of this, though, I needed to fix my front brakes, which had thoroughly given up the ghost yesterday evening. I've had to do this a few times now, and while the BB7 disc brakes are excellent it is always a bit of a pain to replace the pads. I spent a good 10 minutes poking them with my trusty long screwdriver and swearing a bit, before dislodging the (very worn) old pads, which were clearly causing the problem.
Then it was just a matter of getting the new ones in: which I knew I had, since I'd got them out during my last brake tuning climbing up the Gerloß pass. But you know what? They'd disappeared! Cursing myself pretty heavily now - I must have left them sitting on the tarmac on the pass! - I rummaged around, and, what would'ya know, I actually was carrying some semi-worn spare pads from ages ago. The usual frustration getting them back in, but then they worked fine and had brakes again.
The old pads were worn right down to the metal. Time to change them!
I popped into the office, and booked another night at the Storchencamp - telling them I liked it so much I was keen to stay another day. Then (after an abortive setting off without my suntan lotion, a critical omission) I was off!
I was pretty easy going for what to do on the rest day, but I had the loose idea of circumnavigating the lake. Since the southern shore of the Neusiedlersee is in Hungary (where it's known as lake Fertö) this would require taking a ferry across to the Eastern side, and then continuing anticlockwise from there. If I made it, great - if not, I'd take the ferry back in the afternoon.
Ferries from Rust were infrequent, but that was fine, as a few kilometres down the road and right by the Hungarian border a half-hourly ferry ran from Mörbisch to Illmitz, over the narrowest portion of the lake. I could even check out the closed Hungarian border out of curiosity and then take the ferry across.
It was an idyllic ride along an excellent cycleway through the vines on this perfectly sunny morning. The cycleway was full of holidaymakers on bikes. I was not fast at this stage, but a lot of overtaking had to happen.
Before I headed for the ferry - which left from a marina at the end of a long causeway, as in Rust - I thought I'd pedal a further kilometre down the road and check out the (closed) Hungarian border. The road out of Mörbisch was very minor and closed to motor traffic: under normal circumstances this would be a perfect way to bike across the frontier.
Gratifyingly there was a sign, but apart from that there wasn't a great deal to indicate the border or that it was closed due to the pandemic, other than a few concrete blocks in the road (which may have been there anyway to prevent cars going over). I had a quick chat with an Austrian lady about how strange it was closed, and she reminded me it was a bad idea to go across as I might not to be able to get back. No argument there!
More vineyards climbing out of Mörbisch up the tiny hill that marks the border. The next village along this minor road would be Fertörákos.
Resisting the urge to call something crass about Orban over the border, I turned around and freewheeled back down into Mörbisch. It was easy to find the causeway, and the bike ferry jetty was well signed and clearly popular. I was a bit worried it would be full, in fact, but in practice I easily got a ticket for 8 euros, bought a coke, and within 20 minutes was on the ferry.
Coming back down into Mörbisch, which is pretty (though not quite as nice as Rust)
Disembarking at Illmitz, I thought I'd lost my mirror (which I'd foolishly left attached to my helmet and that on the bike). I actually dived back on board to look for it - until I realised it had come off on the dock. Pleased I hadn't lost a second mirror this year, I used the facilities in the rather charming marina and restaurant complex, and then pedalled away.
Instead of heading directly to Illmitz village, I thought I'd take the scenic off-road loop around part of the national park. This turned out to be a good (and photogenic) choice - if a little hard work in the now baking sun.
I looped around into Illmitz itself, which was a substantial village. I suddenly felt crazily hungry - I'd clearly been running a calorie deficit over the last few days, and I suddenly couldn't go on without getting something to eat. With some confusion I managed to find a supermarket in the village, and then went in a bought a ridiculous about of chocolate and food for lunch.
After stuffing my face in the supermarket carpark, I felt a lot better and could carry on. I was surprised how hard it hit me actually - used to happen a lot when I was a kid, but normally get more warning than that now. Still, nothing a load of carbohydrate couldn't solve.
I set off again, along the very well signed and maintained cycleway around the lake. I certainly didn't stick out - I was accompanied by hundreds of other cyclists.
I've seen wells that look like this - but I'm not certain this is a well.
It was a something of a paragon of a cycle path. I was still a bit blood sugar deprived and dizzy in the heat here, but nevertheless could appreciate the great going.
Another watchtower - and an incredibly neatly thatched shelter. Unfortunately most of these were already occupied, as I would have gladly stopped and tucked into lunch!
Podersdorf was the next village along - and it was a real resort town. The park was shady and had good benches, so I stopped there and had a proper lunch, while watching a seemingly endless parade of people get confused by the revolving barrier that permitted entry to the beach. Once couple even managed to get separated by the barrier.
There's a lot of cycling-related stuff, including a cyclists walk of stars. Unfortunately Eddy Merckx's has gotten cracked!
Continuing on, the cycleway drew away from the lake shore. The sky was cloudless azure now, and the sun baked down upon the rather exposed track. I had plenty of water, but was taking it pretty slow. It did occur to me that this was meant to be a rest day - and I'd already clocked up almost 50km!
Still, they were flat and conditions were great. I continued on around the north tip of the lake, via Weiden, Neusiedl and Jois.
I continued on through to Winden, Breitenburg and Purbach. I wasn't going particularly fast, but really was covering some distance. It was quite tiring, but I was glad to be out - I wouldn't have wasted such a beautiful day and not gone for a ride.
This is such an ingenious idea, and one I've never seen anywhere else in the world. The water treatment works has a *drinkable tap* on the outside. Very thankful for this, as I'd drank all my water!
For the last stretch down the west side of the lake the cycleway took a rather frustratingly winding course - sometimes by the main road, and sometimes detouring a significant distance into the reeds. I was ready to get back now, but still glad I'd made the circuit of the lake. The final village was Oggau, which I'd also considered as a base as it had a campsite. It looked like quite a nice place, but not as handsome as Rust, so I think I made the right choice.
Near the main road, I passed this, erm, nightclub. Two things strike me about this: (i) dear lord, why the rabbits? and (ii) the cheerily enthusiastic "cyclists welcome!". I told you every business catered to cyclists around here.
After refreshing myself with ice-cream, I quickly hit up the supermarket once again for a few more supplies, and then headed back to camp to freshen up.
I planned to go to a proper restaurant in the town tonight. When I arrived around 8ish, it was busy - I selected a promising looking Italian place, and while it was packed the waiter managed to find me a seat almost immediately - excellent fellow. One very good - the best I think I'd had in Austria - pizza, and a couple of wheat beers later, and I was ready to wobble back to camp.
Heading down the causeway, with the sun setting beyond, for my night on the town in Rust
