September 19, 2021
In Salzburg: a day ride to the Königssee
It’s beautiful today, so for our last whole day in Salzburg we opt for a ride rather than playing tourists. Perhaps some year we’ll come back and actually visit these colorful places we’ve been staying at here, but with change in the air it feels like we really should ride while we can.
We wait around until about ten before leaving, giving the day a chance to warm up a bit first. On the way out we note with interest that ours are not the only Bike Fridays in the garage. Most unusual!
Before leaving town Rachael stops to make adjustments to her newest eToy - the new GoPro 9 she picked up yesterday on that mysterious errand we rushed back to Salzburg for. The old one is showing some wear, and the 9 has allegedly greatly improved image stabilization, a better mounting system, and an improved battery life over the version 7 she picked up east of Menton three years ago. This is the third GoPro she’s bought on the road - the previous one was from three years before that, in Annecy; so she was due. A new GoPro every three years, whether she needs it or not.
The Königssee is a famously beautiful finger lake buried deep in the Berchtesgadener Alps, surrounded by jagged peaks. It does look spectacular from the photographs. Despite the slightly misleading title though we don’t actually bike to the Königssee today. We do go nearly to the southern end of it though, turning back about a mile shy when we felt like we’d ridden enough and the foot traffic streaming to the lake as we neared it was becoming uncomfortably dense.
It was a beautiful, scenic ride even without seeing the lake, although there was a fair amount more of it on unpaved surfaces than RideWithGPS indicated. The Berchtesgaden looks like a really spectacular area and worth a more in depth visit. If we come back to the region some year we should plan on overnighting closer to the lake.
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Though immensely complex in his thinking, his perceptions are almost entirely linked to the visual.
His very small ears probably didn't cue him in on any prior Austrian experience. Especially since they were covered by layers of pannier innards.
3 years ago
We make it back to the hotel around 4, starving and interested in dinner. We’re disappointed that those other two Bike Fridays aren’t in the garage now because it means our dinner plans are still ambiguous. With a Food Crisis just around the corner, it’s a relief to find an email in my inbox requesting us to pick a restaurant.
So we knew what those Bike Fridays were doing in our garage, of course. In a tour with an already impressive list of coincidences, here’s one more: Pat and Scott Fenwick just arrived in Salzburg yesterday at the start of their current tour that just went up on CycleBlaze about a week ago. Scott reached out to let us know that they’d be in town in case we were still around when they arrived.
Further compounding the coincidence, when I got back to Scott about how we might meet up, we discovered that we’re all booked into the same hotel! Remarkable. So, our third CycleBlaze meetup in three weeks!
Establishing a tradition of sorts, we reserve a table at Biccofino, the same restaurant we ate at with Susan Carpenter last week. So that’s our spot - in the future, whenever we meet up with CycleBlazers in Salzburg we’ll do it at Biccofino.
We have a terrific meeting, easily finding much to talk about. After a couple of hours we cash out and head back to the hotel, still engrossed in conversation enough that it takes us awhile to realize we have no idea where we are or are going and have to pull-up the map to head back in the right direction. A great first meeting, and with them living so close to our own ‘home’, I feel confident it won’t be the last. One of these times we should have another grand CycleBlaze meetup in Vancouver or Victoria and try to break the record set two summers ago when ten (!) CBers gathered at the home of Keith and Kathleen Classen. I know of at least six other CBers living up there, so with some planning we could probably permanently retire the trophy.
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Ride stats today: 40 miles, 1,400’; for the tour: 1,300 miles, 43,100’
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,300 miles (2,092 km)
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Two Scotts in Salzburg
With their wives at one table
Serendipity
3 years ago
3 years ago
And another:
Pat, Rachael, and Scotts
And four Handsome Bike Fridays
CycleBlaze Salzburg!
3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
I can see that this comment is already a couple of days behind. We also had a great time meeting both of you in Salzburg. I am glad everything worked out for you with your bikes. Too bad about the helmet.
In Mondsee now. Gmunden tomorrow and then off to Hallstatt on your recommended routing. It looks like the weather and routing will be spectacular. Thank you for everything. Take care,
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