The EV9 is routed through an area known as the Viennese Alps with the highest section going through a small ski town - Mönichkirchen. It is a difficult ride according to reports with an approximately 500 metre vertical gain over the last 10 kilometres. From the start of our ride today in Bad Waltersdorf to the top is roughly 55 km. We spent some time trying figure out the best way to approach this part of the ride. We wanted to spend the night in Mönichkirchen as that would be about as far as we would want to ride in a single day. However, there were no vacancies in the small town and the one place that normally has a number of rooms available responded, "closed due to illness". In fact we could not find any accommodation along this route for 20 or 30 kilometers on either side of Mönichkirchen.
Rather than take too many gambles, we decided to use our plan B. Ride to Dechantskirchen where we will catch a scheduled train about 60 kms north to Wiener Neustadt. We are slightly disappointed not to have completed this challenging section but happy to have a nice day of riding as well.
The day started with a huge buffet style breakfast with all the usual breads, jams, meats, cheeses and fruit as well as eggs cooked to your preference. Not to mention bottomless espressos! We could not believe the spread and we were the only guests in the hotel last night! During our breakfast we really enjoyed the conversations that we had with our host at Gasthof Savenhof. She looked was wonderful and looked after us very well.
We started today's ride where we had left it yesterday on quiet farm roads. The EV9 was somewhere further up the hill near Wagerberg, so we chose a cycle route along the valley floor. The skies were slightly overcast and cool but you could see a solid line of blue sky in the north in the direction that we were riding. About 15 km along we left the rural areas and rode into the busy town of Hartberg where we again reconnected with the EV9 and started up and down the hills on route to Dechantskirchen.
First pigs that we have seen. They were kind of interested in us but as we were offering nothing special they turned to rooting up the dirt.
Pat FenwickI thought they were great, too! And very handy to keep the bugs out of your eyes, I'm sure. Mother Nature is quite the gal! Reply to this comment 2 years ago
These machines are amazing. They give the corn stalks a haircut at the base, take onboard the whole stalk, strip off the corn cobs and then strip the cobs of the kernels. They store the kernels inside the back and then empty the contents into a waiting cart.
Scott AndersonOh, this is what’s going on here! We saw the same scenario a few days ago when we were watching the sacred ibises and couldn’t figure out what these two vehicles at the edge of the field were doing together. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
We had some time before the train arrived and this very beautiful, well preserved building was right across the street from the station. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any information on it.
The Austrian regional trains are new and very comfortable. Tickets are bought on board through a machine. Our ride was just over one hour with a number of local stops before reaching Wiener Neustadt.
We left the train in Wiener Neustadt and rode a short distance to our basic room for the night. It was surprising that a town of this size had very little accommodation to offer. It is definitely the slow season in Austria now. This became even clearer when we went into the centre and found many of the restaurants were also closed. Perhaps because it was Monday but there were not many people walking about. We settled on a Japanese restaurant and had a couple of teriyaki rice bowls. They were a nice change and very good.
Tomorrow we finish our tour in Vienna and begin to prepare for travel back home.
We stayed just out side the fortification walls in Weiner Neustadt.
The Wiener Neustadt Cathedral dates back to the 1200's. The towers were rebuilt in the mid 1850's. Walking around it the design certainly looks like it is from the middle ages but the stone walls are clean which leads me to believe a restoration may been finished recently. It is also not clear how much damage the church suffered during WWII. Weiner Neustadt was the most heavily bombed target in Austria.
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