August 2, 2023
Lienz -> Spittal an der Drau
Finally some good weather
I woke up to the sound of my Italian campground neighbors loudly snoring. It was about 7:30. Thankfully, the temperature had warmed up and the rain had stopped. I packed up the inside of my tent, and headed into the campground cafe for breakfast. Inside I ordered two semmel rolls, and a croissant. I also got some tomato spread, and two hard boiled eggs for protein.
After breakfast, I finished packing up my tent and headed to the Tristacher See for a swim. Ny stay at the campground had given me a free entrance ticket, so I decided I would capitalize on it. The lake looked perfect for swimming, with docks and swim beaches set up along the south shore. there was also a shower/wc and snack bar building. It wasn't super warm outside, so I stuck my foot in to test the water. To my surprise, the water was much warmer than the ambient air temperature. My guess would be low 70s. I went for a swim in my underwear and jumped off a floating platform in the middle of the lake. I showered at the facilities and then enjoyed a slice of Erdbeerschnitte at the snack bar.
After checking out of the campground, I had one more chore I had to complete before continuing my journey: buying a new battery pack. The usbc port used to charge my battery pack had broken the night before. This meant the battery was essentially a piece of E-Waste, since it was now unchargeable.
Buying a specialty item, such as a battery pack, is not easy in Austria. There are no "one stop shops", like Walmart or Target here. Everything is sold in specialty shops. The nearest electronics store was in Lienz, about 20 minutes down the hill. I called them and asked if they sold battery packs. After getting put on hold for about a minute, the receptionist responded "I don't know if we have them, you can come and see for yourself" and hung up. That's some European customer service for you.
Upon arrival at the electronics store, it turned out that they did have a 20,000mah battery pack to replace my broke one. I bought it for 32 Euros and disposed of my old one at their E-Waste dump zone.
It was now close to noon and I was getting hungry. I stopped at a gas station near the electronics store and bought a bag of peach gummies and an ice cream cone.
After heading out from the gas station, I rode for about 2 hours on the Eurovelo route. It was mostly separated bike path, interspersed with gravel roads and double tracks. It was idyllic, cruising through small towns and farmland. Eventually I needed more food, so I stopped at a Gasthof. Here I charged my battery pack some more while I ate. I didn't want to drink a beer, so I got an apple cider with a bratwurst. I then ordered a dessert that was some sort of Ice cream with rum in it. It tasted very boozy and very good. After I finished, the waitress asked me if I was good to ride a bike afterward. I asked how much liquor was in that, a shot maybe? She said "no, more than that". Apparently the ice cream was swimming in rum, and all the sundae toppings had been soaked in rum as well. I'm not sure if she was joking or not, but I did feel a little buzzed for a while. I sat at the restaurant for a while and waited for my phone to charge more. This also gave me time to use their wifi and plan tomorrows route.
As I was sitting by the bar charging my phone, the waitress asked me where I was headed to. I said I was going towards Villach. She asked me where I planned to stay, as there was a large event going on there. Apparently, the Kirchfest, which is Austria's largest cultural festival, is going on this week in Villach. A town with a little more than 60k residents gets more than 400k visitors. She said Villach is overrun, and it's a good time. I'll have to check it out when I'm there tomorrow.
After charging my phone satisfactorily, I left the gasthof. I continued riding for about an hour and a half until I reached the small town of "Spittal an der Drau". Here I found a hostel on google maps. For 39 Euros, I got a hostel bed with free breakfast. I checked into my bunk room to find I had it all to myself. I showered, relaxed, and went to bed.
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 1,970 miles (3,170 km)
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