To Villach

September 27, 2021

Plan B

We spent a fair bit of time last night looking at weather forecasts and train schedules in the event that our planned ride along the Alpe Adria Radweg was to be cancelled. We figured we needed about three dry days in a row to enjoy this leg of the route and based on weather forecasts, that was looking doubtful. By morning, after a night of steady rain in Radstadt, we decided on plan B: take advantage of a drying trend today and ride to Bischofshofen and catch a train to Villach.

We were disappointed not to complete this section of the planned tour but we have had some outstanding days lately! We thought it would be best not to push our luck on the weather, and we will save the Alpe route for another year. We were remined by our host that it is already cold in the high alpine!

Heading home from dinner. The sky was a bit concerning.

In the morning we prepared our cycling kit for the possibility of rain on route and delayed our departure as long as possible. It is a relatively short downhill ride from Radstadt to the train station in Bischofshofen. We have ridden almost a full circle as Bischshofen is only 50 kms south of Salzberg and is located on the Alpe Adria Radwag.

This is a bank in the breakfast room of our hotel. Our host explained that members put a minimum of 5 euros in their slot every week. Once a week the bank comes by, opens the boxes, collects and records the money and deposits it until the end of the year. The deposits are returned before Christmas and there is a free dinner and drinks for all the participants. When we were there two people came by and provided their weekly deposit. Neat way of forced savings and get a free dinner!

We left our hotel shortly after the check out time of 10 am and slowly loaded the bikes under cloudy skies and wet roads. We struggled a bit finding our R7 cycle route out of town and when we did we followed the R7 until it turned south to the start of the Ennsradwag. We went west trying to follow the much less well marked Euro 14. About 6 kms out of Radstadt we settled on riding highway 99 as almost all the traffic had now disappeared to the major motorway A10. The 99 was a fast downhill and was now dry in most places. It was a fun ride travelling at speeds averaging 25 km per hour with little effort!

We easy found the train station at Bischofshofen shortly before 12 noon. Scott bought a couple of tickets for Villach that departed just before 1 pm. However, he was told there was no room for the bikes. Problem solved if we fold them and bag them. This takes us less than 10 minutes. When the train arrived the car we chose to get on was full of kids going on a one week sports camp in St. Johann, the next stop. After some jostling about as they left the train we had almost the entire car to ourselves.

Train ready. Pat calmly waits to load on to the train.

Hilarious! The name of the coffee shop right across the street from the train station in Villach.

We stayed at the end of the main pedestrian street in Villach. We wandered around a bit trying to find a restaurant serving at outside tables at 5 pm because it was a nice warm afternoon. Unable to find something with outside tables we settled on a Vegetarian restaurant. It was perfect. We were the only customers and the owner prepared our meal in an open kitchen as she talked to us. The food was great and the beer was the best Scott has had so far. It was from a local Austrian brewery - Hirter. The beer was Kellermeister.

We real enjoyed our meal at Veggie Tara. We felt like we had our own personal chef whipping up a vegetarian feast for us.

If all else fails, McDonalds will even deliver to you in Villach!

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Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 451 km (280 miles)

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