We followed the advice of Herbert from the Salzburg Bike Palace and headed for Bischofshofen on the route he suggested. He was right. It was absolutely beautiful. Just the right combination of hills and scenery to make things really interesting.
Leaving Salzburg. The bike path was well signed practically from the door of the hotel.
We were very quickly in what felt like rural Austria. I suspect the outskirts of the city were quite close, but with the river on the left and countryside on our right it felt like we were far removed from the hustle and bustle. The riding surface changed from asphalt to the firm sandy gravel surface we have ridden so often this trip. Asphalt is faster of course, but this surface is pretty close. Remember though, we haven't had any rain, and I am not sure what it would be like to ride after a heavy rainfall. Today it was great.
We are on the Tauern Radweg. We had the Salzach River to our left..
Then the Radweg signs spat us out onto a very quiet secondary highway for a time. We had had a few minor climbs to this point, and the climb on the highway was the first longer one. We were going up a narrow gorge between the most beautiful mountains, and it was a steady climb, but at highway grades, so never overly steep. Besides, travelling at about 9 kph gives you lots of time to admire the views, right? It also wreaks havoc with average speed! We topped out at a spot called Pass Lueg. It was also the spot where the gorge really narrows, and we did briefly discuss going up to the viewing point to take a look. I think if we had realized a lovely long downhill was coming we would have gone for it, but We weren't sure how much more climbing we had to do, so on we went.
It felt very Tour de France through here. Narrow road, train tracks, rushing river, lots of elevation changes, great surface, little traffic. Loved it. The few drivers we encountered were incredibly respectful.
The ride through the gorge really was spectacular, and then we were back on a car free bike path...a little later than need be. The chief navigator was so excited to see some downhill that he disappeared out of sight not hearing me bellowing his name like a mad cow from the top of the hill. He had missed the sign. Honestly, next year I am bringing an air horn! I knew it wouldn't be fun to cycle back up. So after standing under the Radweg sign in consternation for a minute I followed him down the hill. He had gone a long way! I was pretty sure his trusty Galileo app would get us back on track and it worked like a charm. We were on the path in no time, without having to go back up the hill.
So now we are in Bischofshofen. Tomorrow we head to Zell am See. Then we really must make a decision about what we are going to do next. Hard as it is for us to believe, we have only 25 days of riding left. Keith is suggesting we change our plane tickets to give us more time, but do we want to be riding in November? So the quandary is essentially this. If we head south to Italy, it definitely means trains, and we are on a bike tour, not a train tour! We have some babies we would like to see in Freiburg. We have Gerhard and Yvonne we would like to see just outside of Basel. We have the Troddens and Maybanks we would like to see in Perusia...but that is really far south! So much to do, and so little time. Aren't we fortunate to have this kind of dilemma?
At this point, we really don't know what we will decide. Whether we stay north or go south, it will be great. Today was a spectacular ride, and tomorrow should be similar. The only fly in the ointment is that Keith caught my cold, so is now suffering. We hope it will be short lived and stay out of his chest. I am back to 100%, and I do wish I hadn't shared!
Our route today, not including a couple of minor side trips to cruise through villages.
