It's been three solid days in the saddle with limited, read 'no', energy for blogging away at the end of the day. So here goes a four day catch-up.
We must be mountain people because after 3 weeks of mostly 'rain on the plains', our first morning in the mountains is crisp ... and clear.
It is a beautiful day!
We set off south into the Alps after an interesting whistle stop tourist visit in Fussen. We rode along the Lech river for a few km's and were surprised to find that we were already in Austria. They sure don't let the Germans have many of the mountains.
We were following the Via Claudia (VCA) bike trail that start a little north of here in Augsburg and continues all the way to Venice. It supposedly follows the ancient routes the Romans established and maintained over the years.
I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, save to say it is idyllic alpine countryside with green pastures, grazing cattle and goats, impressive glacier capped mountains ... and brilliant blue sky and sun. I think I even heard Julie Andrews singing from time to time.
The VCA goes over Fern pass and into the Inn valley, the central valley that runs east west through the Austrian Tyrol. It's not a particularly high pass, but the south side is pretty steep, and the VCA route is mostly gravel with some sections of reasonably steep single track.
We originally thought that we might take the road (it's a B road, not an autoroute) but were surprised at the level of vehicle traffic on it, and the complete lack of shoulder. So up, and down, the pass on gravel and single track on a loaded 35 kg touring bike!
Very happy to have our TT Silk Road bikes and 2" tires ... and most important, hydraulic brakes. The bikes were rock solid on all of this.
We arrived in Telfs (about 30 km east of Innsbruck) a little after dark and checked into rustic but clean and friendly pension. Showered, end of ride bevy and a short stroll into the main town where we found a very nice Greek place to refuel. A great end to a long, challenging but oh-so good day.
... our lunch stop in Lermoos ... very nice sunny patio with several other bikers. Note all the bikes here. K's and mine are the only non-eBikes.They are now the norm in Germany and Austria. Even school kids are on them!
Glenna Jefferiesand people wonder why the forecasts call for rise in energy consumption....basic human power needs every assist! Reply to this comment 5 years ago
Lyle McLeodTo Glenna Jefferies‘Cause people are intrinsically lazy!
Nobody ‘needs’ an e-bike, but if it gets you out if you wouldn’t be otherwise, that’s good Reply to this comment 5 years ago
At the summit of Fern Pass (on the bike trail). The autoroute is snaking across the hill below. The bike trail (gravel and some sections of single track mixed with old rail bed took a route down at the top left of the picture
Ken MeuseAustria was all that I had hoped for and I see you had a great time though this area too. We hiked from Scharnitz to Berwang with Abhi. The sleepiest villages were the best. Sunshine seems to be better than rain too. Keep truckin’ Reply to this comment 5 years ago
