September 4, 2022
Day 2 - Breitenbach am Inn to Innsbruck
Beautiful riding marred by a lost bolt
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We slept well and we’re down for a copious breakfast at 0900. Outside, pelotons of serious cyclists were whizzing by. There was some kind of race or timed event happening.
By the time we were on the road, the racers had turned around and were headed back downriver. It turns out they were using the same bike paths as we were. So we got an unintended front row seat as they seriously streamed by.
We dodged out of the way when appropriate, avoiding any calamities, and after 10k or so, we turned onto a gravel path and they were gone. Things got nice and quiet.
We stopped for a break on a bench so that Rich could keep his Duolingo streak alive. It seemed a good time for a selfie with the bike.
The bike path alternated between compacted gravel and pavement. There wasn’t much climbing. And the weather was great. The threatened rain never appeared. Just about perfect riding.
We turned off the Innradweg and headed into Watten to try and find some lunch. We were thinking about a pizza, but we stumbled into some kind of town festival. More lederhosen!!
But as amateur anthropologists, we felt called to participate. A bit of wrangling with Rich’s bad German, and we had a beer, 2 bratwurst plates, and a side of fries.
To add more interest to our research, a Tyrolean band struck up and people started dancing!
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2 years ago
Research completed, we got back onto the bike path and headed toward Innsbruck. More beautiful views ensued.
This is the point where disaster struck. Robin suddenly felt her left foot come loose. She looked down and the crank, chainring, and timing chain were dangling from her foot. The crank bolt had evidently worked loose and had fallen out sometime ago, and this was the moment that the crank decided to come off of the spindle.
We searched desperately, retracing our route on foot and on the bike, but could not find the bolt. In truth, we have no idea when we lost the bolt. It could have been 5 seconds, 5 minutes, or 5 days before the failure. We finally gave up.
Rich reconfigured our remaining 3 crank bolts so that only his right crank is unbolted. This leaves the drivetrain functional but who knows how long that will last? It lasted long enough for us to limp into Innsbruck. So far, so good!
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Since it was Sunday, there was nothing to be done about our bolt problem. So we cleaned up and went out to visit Innsbruck. We were last here in 1975! It’s changed a bit since then :)
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I haven’t mentioned that it’s Robin’s birthday!! 🎂🎂🎈🎈
The hotel bar gave her a free drink! She was pretty happy!
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2 years ago
The birthday girl got to choose her restaurant for dinner, so we ate at Akropolis, a nice Greek place just outside the old town. Another great meal!
So, depending on how things go tomorrow, we may be done with our ride. We’ll try all the bike shops in town to see whether we can source an M15 bolt. Maybe we’ll get some holdover birthday luck!
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2 years ago
Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 137 km (85 miles)
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