Bad Hofgastein to Spittal an der Drau (Aug 12, 2022)

August 12, 2022

Our route today:

And the steep decline from the train station.

At dinner last night we kind of got our knickers in a twist discussing the upcoming day’s ride. The ride was to be a significant uphill climb (about 110o feet in 11 k) followed by a 15 minute train-ride through the Tauerntunnel, followed by a really steep 10 k descent into Obervellach and finally a 35 k ride into Spittal, our ultimate destination. The problem was the weather forecast had been deteriorating throughout the day and by 9 pm the evening before we were to depart, the prediction was rain in the morning followed by thunderstorms between 11 am to 4 pm. The thunderstorm part of this forecast made us pretty nervous as we pondered the possibility of riding on a steep descent in the Alps with lightening and rain for company. We started talking about the alternatives, ie: staying an extra night in Bad Hofgastein (where we were) or trying to book a room in Obervellach so that we could wait out the thunderstorms and ride down the descent at our leisure. The issue was magnified by the fact that it would be a Friday night so we were worried about finding a room if we changed our plans. At the end of the evening, we just decided to wait and see how things looked in the morning - in other words: wisdom prevailed.

We slept badly because we were thinking abut the upcoming day and both of us woke early. The good news: the rain and thunderstorm forecast were both pushed back to later in the day. This motivated us to get in gear and we managed to depart by 9 am, with the hope of making the 10:20 am train through the mountains. We were hoping to get down to Obervellach before it rained/stormed.

Ah, heck. Rain in the forecast? Bring it. We're ready!

So, rooky mistake; we did not allow enough time to get to Bockstein and the train station to catch the 10:20 train. (Trains run once per hour at 20 past). We allowed an hour to do the 11 k climb — an estimate that wasn’t too far off - but did not allow for Dave to stop to take pictures in Bad Gastein, a town on the side of the mountain with some dramatic scenery that begs for photography. See below:

After taking this shot Jill told me to get my ass in gear.

Once Dave took his shots, I said that we needed to ride hard to get to the train station in 20 minutes. Of course, Murphy’s Law took over: immediately after getting under way, we took a wrong turn and after circling back, we faced this super steep (20 percent) pitch out of Bad Gastein. Naturally a big refuse truck backed into the road directly in our path, leaving me about 2 feet in width to clamber around him. Ughh. Then as Komoot was telling us we were arriving at our destination in Bockstein at 10:05 am, we realized that I had only navigated us into town, and that the train station was another 1.5 k further on! We arrived at 10:15 or so, and were unsure where to buy tickets or what the drill was. (For future riders: you buy a ticket at the little ticket booth about 200 meters further on from the train station itself and then make your way back to the train station where the bikes get loaded).

The Tauerntunnel was built to propel traffic through the mountain so everybody, cars, trucks, bikes have to use the train. There is no road alternative. It’s pretty cool. The scene at the station however could be described in a few different ways: “shit show” is one phrase that comes to mind, or more charitably, “controlled chaos, or pandemonium,” you get the idea. It was just a ton of cycling tourists trying to cram onto this train with bikes with fully loaded panniers in about 5 minutes.

In the summer the train has a special car for bikes but everyone was trying to load at once with the (realistic) fear there would not be room for everyone’s bikes. Nor was the bike car of the roll-on/roll-off variety (as I had mistakenly assured Dave it would be) but the kind where you have to lift your bikes up 3 really steep steps. Everyone was tearing their panniers off to lighten their bikes so there is this huge pile of red Ortlieb panniers laying beside the bike car (why oh why did I let Dave buy RED panniers?) as we maneuvered our bikes up. We were about mid-pack in the crowd and Dave got the last two spaces in the bike car. About 10 other bikes got loaded after that and they were eventually told they needed to unload them: we never figured out if there was another place to store them or if they had to wait for the next train. In the meantime I hauled our panniers up and elbowed a few other travelers out of the way to snag two seats in the passenger car. I felt like I needed a double Bloody Mary……but it was fun. This was our first effort at taking the train with our bikes: we learned a lot and I am sure it will be a breeze next time!

Imagine a dozen people cramming their bikes in here at the same time. Note the stack of red Ortlieb bags!

The train ride was uneventful (10 minutes in the dark) and the unloading was slightly less chaotic. A few men kindly helped unload our heavy ebikes and we took a few minutes and reorganized our stuff for the descent. The weather was turning from cloudy to windy, looking as though it would start to storm any minute. Because of that we just hauled all the way to Spittal (35k) without stopping and arrived to the outskirts of Spittal when it began to spit!

Jill bombing down the descent towards the gathering storm clouds.

Our accommodation was the Hotel Ertl which is, weirdly, kind of a cross between a nicer college dorm and a Mexican-themed hotel. Seriously, you can see our room had two tiny, separated twin beds and we had passable but mediocre chicken/beef fajitas for dinner in the hotel restaurant. And the vibe was definitely a switch from our previous place in Bad Hofgastein (where we felt we were the youngest people there) to this place, which was for the 20 to 30 year old crowd. A lot of partying, smoking and vaping! But it really was fine and we were just happy we were there safe and sound.

Say, roomie, if I attach a tie to the doorknob, that means I'm busy with with my date inside. 😉

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 348 km (216 miles)

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Rachael AndersonGlad you made it! We’ve had similar encounters several times when racing to get a ferry!
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