July 27, 2023
Schrun -> Brennbichl
Bielerhoehe
I woke up today in my dark cave of a hostel bed. It was about 7:30. I went to the grocery store across the street and bought a bunch of random goods. A panini sandwich and lox bagel from the deli, a bunch of grapes, a yogurt, and some candy. I ate it in the hostel kitchen. I was the only one there. I couldn't help but notice how much cheaper grocies are in Austria compared to Switzerland. Groceries seem to be about 30-40% cheaper here.
I took my time getting ready, and by the time I was out the door it was close to 11am. I had to do some bike maintenence as well: rewrapping my handlebars with new bar tape. Before I headed out, I chatted with my bunkmate. He was from Germany, but worked for a California company that made grow racks for Marijuana growing. I had also decided that I would not stay at the mountain hut: too cold, and I wanted a place with a shower. I found a hostel down in the valley below bielerhoehe and booked a room. I called the hut and cancelled, all was good.
Once I was on the road, I put my head down and chain right to the top of Bielerhoehe. The ascent was about 4500 feet, and took me about 3 hours. I made it to the pass summit around 2pm. Here I went inside the summit lodge and ate lunch at the cafeteria-style eatery. I had the special of the day: chicken breast with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes, along with a cup of goulash soup. It was delicious. I ate at a table overlooking the lake at the top of the pass. This lake was created for hydroelectric power storage: electricity from wind and solar are used to pump water between reservoirs, and this was the upper reservoir for water storage. It is also apparently, the site of many rowing regattas.
After I ate, I went to the gift shop and got a scoup of ice cream. I also bought a shot bottle of Kirshbrandt (cherry brandy), that looked authentic and small batch distilled. I still need to try it. I then made my descent down to the hostel. The bikeway followed a frontage road above the main highway on the side of the valley. A very nice, low traffic ride. When I made it to the hostel, I was greeted with a 1600's farm house as the hostel. It was a real-deal historic building. The walls, even interior walls, are about 2 feet thick of solid masonry. The doors are 3 inch thick solid wood. You can't hear anything through these walls, and even with all the commotion of families and kids in this hostel, the rooms are dead silent. There is still an active horse stable directly across the street, so you get the authentic smell of horse manure. The hostess at the hostel was impressed with my German speaking abilities. Not bad for an American I guess. I still managed to mishear the door code for the bike garage. I had to go back and ask in english on that one. Pro tip: if you are speaking to someone in their second language, just say each digit individually, don't use fancy shorthand like 13-hundread, or something.
While I was washing my clothes, I struck up a conversation with what I thought was an an American woman who was washing her clothes in the sink next to me. She was in fact, German, but had spend some of her teen years in Michigan. She was the second German I have met who spoke english with no accent. She was backpacking around the alps by foot with three of her friends. She told me about a two month long backpacking trip to Mexico she had done a few months ago. It sounded amazing. I could have kept talking with her all night about her experiences, but she seemed like she wanted to get back to her friends.
I then went up to my 8 bed hostel room that I have all to myself, and went to sleep.
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Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 1,686 miles (2,713 km)
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9 months ago
9 months ago
I had to take a break from your blog while I was on a road trip with Mark (going to Glacier NP and Canada), so I'm still catching up (only at July 17). I cracked up when I read your post from Karlsruhe and getting profiled by the kitchen staff!!! Loved hearing Axel's memories of my dad too. You're right— he would have been very proud of you and your adventure; he was definitely an adventurer himself, and traveled extensively around the world. You definitely got the Brünner Wanderlust gene!
9 months ago