Zell am See to Waidring: Cows on the Highway

October 2, 2015

Well, this morning's breakfast in our unexpected upgrade was a new high. An eleven jammer. The kind of buffet that you simply can't do justice, because no one can eat that much. My favourite part, of course, was the cappuccinos. How many could I drink?

We left at the usual time. We are always down for breakfast by 8 AM, but the temptation to have one last coffee is always great. Then of course, there is the last minute flurry of putting the panniers on the bikes, double checking the room etc. It means we rarely leave before 9:30 - that would be a very good start - and today it was closer to 10 AM. Remember, I mentioned the cappuccinos?

It was another stunning ride today, with so much to see. We stopped in the Zell am See pedestrian area to get a sandwich and a few snacks for the feed bag. We really liked this town. One of the things I found very interesting is that it is full of tourists from the Middle East. So many, in fact, that many of the businesses advertise in the Arabic alphabet. I spoke with one woman in the hotel. I was admiring her beautiful little boy. She was from Oman. She and her family were spending a week in Zell am See and then going on to Switzerland.

Leaving Zell am See. I would love to come back here for a couple of weeks in the winter.

We circled the lake until we came to the far end, and almost immediately after leaving the lake we began to climb. Not for long though, and from the end of that first climb to Lofer was pretty much downhill. There was the odd section with rollers, but really, it was a downhill ride, primarily on asphalt paths, and always beautiful.

But now we are admiring the cows from above.

What a beautiful part of the world. We hoped there was a pass up ahead.

The Internet has just slowed to an absolute crawl...everybody in the hotel must be on it. So the pictures will probably have to wait until the morning.

We really enjoyed this section of the bike path. The scenery was fantastic. We came around one corner and the mountains looked so impenetrable it was hard to believe there was a pass there. We came across a golf course and cruised the pro shop and had some tea before continuing. Just up from the golf resort I noticed a sign about a Mercedes Benz test event...I spun up the hill to take a look, and there was a whole test track for vehicles, complete with Michelin tire man. While I was spinning up a very growly Lamberghini passed me, with a little shift change for effect right as he went by. Loved it. The only disappointment was that then he parked, and there was no one on the track putting a car through its paces, Mercedes or otherwise. There were some pretty impressive vehicles in the parking lot though, and one was parking with a flourish just as we pulled up. Fun.

We stopped for our picnic at about 40 kms, and then carried on. We checked the maps and elevation profiles at this point, because we knew at Lofer the climbing started. The climb, when it came, was steady, but really easy. We stopped at one point to watch in astonishment from the bike path as a group of people in safety vests ushered a herd of cattle down the highway. You can't make this stuff up. It caused a real traffic snarl, as you can imagine, but no one honked and it seemed like it was perfectly normal.

We arrived in Waidring at about 3:30 PM and decided to stop for the day. It is a small but lovely spot, and we chose a hotel with a textile free steam room and sauna. Unfortunately, idiot tourists that we are, we ate dinner and drank wine until after it closed at 7:00, so no repeat of last night's experience. We did get to enjoy the pool though. 7 PM seemed like an early closure to us, but what do we know?

I will try again to download some pictures.

Looking down shortly after leaving Zell am See.

The typical path today. I don't think I rode off that eleven jammer breakfast!

This comes under the you never know what you will see category. Why is this here? Why is it in English? Loved it, even though the raison d'être is a mystery. Hah! Not anymore. I googled it. It is an art installation by Robert Montgomery, a Scottish artist, and lights up at night. It was installed in May of this year.

Twins out for a walk with their tired Mommy.

This is in use and includes a funicular to take the workers to the top. No idea what it is.

A climbing wall. Zoom in and you can see painted silhouettes on the wall. We saw people in the parking lot who were through for the day shedding their harnesses.

Cows on the highway?? It was amusing to watch.

We had a good laugh here. We have travelled about 170 km since we left Salzburg on our way to Innsbruck. Hmmmmm. We have done a big U since Salzburg following the Tauernradweg and now the Mozartradweg. We really did plan it this way...obviously we want to follow the rivers and we wanted to see Zell am See, but when we saw this highway sign we both burst into laughter.

Done! Sort of. I haven't proofread this entry, and we are just about out the door. Slow internet is a curse when trying to do a blog. It is another beautiful day in Austria though, and I can't wait to get out and ride!

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,597 km (992 miles)

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