June 1, 2022
Day 50: Gmunden to Mondsee
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Gmunden downtown was old and steep, but somehow it failed to develop the quaint interest that old and steep places tend to generate. Even so, we went by the church, and looked down an old an steep street or two, before blowing out of town.
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For about 5 km after beginning the exit from Gmunden, we were still battling traffic and looking for anything of redeeming architectural or community value. But looking around, all we saw could be summarized in the following two random photos.
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There were some small plusses and minuses at this stage. For example, on the side of a barn was a nice tribute to Mama, who had obviously had a 50th birthday. But the nearby statue elevated (or depressed) the celebration to a different level.
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We had given in to temptation and "read ahead" in the Anderson and McLeod blogs to see what would be coming our way today. The most significant piece was Scott painting the picture of extreme hills after Seewalchen, which is the town where the track first touches the Attersee.
Seewalchen itself is rather a nice place, firstly because the lake is so clear, green, and beautiful. But also at this spot there is a pleasant holiday or sports ambiance. One key bit of this was a "bike and boot" shop. Dodie took the opportunity to dive in and to see if they had a suggestion for her walking sticks. The stick tips were fairly pointed, and Dodie was finding that they would stick into crevices in the ground and get stuck. She needed more of a duck's foot effect. The shop did come up with something, and found a way to install it, so Dodie left happy.
Meanwhile I had been standing outside, looking at the for sale bikes on display. The main thing that struck me was the size of the rear clusters on every bike. They were absolutely huge, and would give ultra super low gearing. These clusters were installed on both ebikes and regular bikes. Regular bikes like this were 2000 euros, and ebikes 4000 euros.
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In Scott's account of the hills after Seewalchen, he said he felt he ought to dismount and push, except that Rachael had already gone ahead. We got the impression that both Scott and Rachael actually did cycle this section. That's really amazing, because for us, no amount of force on the pedals was going to make the bikes ascend those hills, despite being in first gear and "turbo" assist. In fact I was thinking there was a good chance I would break my chain, and I was glad when Dodie was the one who first decided to hop off. She later explained that she decided to hop off because it was clear that in a few more feet the bike would stop and she would fall off.
As mentioned before, our bikes are not really made for this type of service.
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Looking at the map, we saw that a "yellow road" had followed the lake shore, and that on that road we could have been spared the brutal climbing. So when the track did rejoin the yellow road, we were eager to have a look at it.
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One remarkable thing about the ride in the hills was that the McLeods made no mention of it at all. They must be super stoic.
Meanwhile both our bikes and ourselves were beat from the experience. We had a look on the GPS and identified Parschallen, half way down the lake, as a place that had an ebike charging spot. It turned out that the place the GPS had in mind was in fact an Italian restaurant, with two outdoor plugs. Ideal! Even though we had some food in our bag, we knew that a real meal would do us a lot of good.
Because of the thing being an Italian restaurant, and since our waiter had a bit of a strange accent, I asked if he was from Italy. No, in fact he was from Greece, but he mentioned that a lot of his family were in Australia, near Darwin. He also said that he was specifically from Kos, in Greece, which is in the Dodecanese Islands, just off from Turkey. He said that his family there runs a ferry boat business, and that he is also a boat captain. I was tickled to meet someone from a place where I've never been, and I was gratified to think that with the EU, he could come to work in Austria with no problem, except language. On that, I was impressed that he knew Greek and English and German - an accomplishment far exceeding our own.
As predicted, the food was just what we needed, as was the hours' rest. And the bikes were happy too, gaining lots more charge than was needed to complete the day.
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The rest of the ride was again a mix of plus and minus. On the plus side, the Attersee was gorgeous, and the Mondsee again appeared as the lake with the most glacial colour.
On the negative side, heavy traffic continued to dog our route, tiring us with the continual noise, and adding some terror as spice, for bits where we were on road with the amazing number of heavy trucks, both semi trailers and gravel transports.
The town of Mondsee is in fact encircled by big roads. Where is everybody going in such a rush?
We did find our Pension, aided by the fact that if you step out into the road, even the biggest trucks will stop. There were points where we had no option but to use this technique.
Our spot is right on a little river that originates in the mountains not far from here and runs into the Mondsee. Our windows open directly on this river, which is rushing eagerly on its mission. But this is a kind of noise that is soothing, rather than frazzling.
For tomorrow, we are looking forward to the return to Salzburg. It's comforting to already know our hotel, the Hofwirt, and most of the route back. But now we are also looking ahead to the Alpe Adria. Some of our team are saying we should do the whole thing - to Grado. This is the same element that was very doubtful about even attempting part of the route, when back home. But we have grown a lot stronger, and apparently faster, and may have time not only for the Saltzkammergut about to be completed, but for the Alpe Adria. Stay tuned!
What gave Meaning to Life, today? Being enabled by the EU to meet a man from far off Greece and to share a bit of his family history.
Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 2,839 km (1,763 miles)
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