Day 63: Strassen/Hof to Bruneck

June 14, 2022

To the source of the Drau

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Last night I read aloud Kathleen Classen's two accounts of cycling on the Drau radweg. Dodie had out the maps and could say "Oh yes, I see where she is now". Kathleen was so positive about the rides, But we discounted that a little bit, knowing that Kathleen is generally very positive.

But guess what. From the moment we woke up it was obvious that this was going to be a day and a place we would remember fondly, basically forever.

It started with our being in a large, bright, airy chalet, and as it turned out entirely on our own. The owners were not around, and the one other person that seemed to be expected never arrived. Our night was absolutely silent, and very restful. As usual we took care to leave the property as close to just as we found it as possible. We appreciate the trust the owners have invested in leaving their doors open for us.

Outside it was give yourself a pinch time, because we were in the middle of a Tyrolian wonderland, and it was going to stay that way all day.

The path, at least until Toblach, was reasonably flat, paved, and running by the very young now Drau.

Because we had stayed basically in a house and on our own, one of our first morning chores was to find a bakery or grocery. There were lots of options, and we stopped at Spar, in Panzendorf. Dodie came out with enough food for three meals, including some great goodies. One of the treats in coming to Europe is to see what new flavours Ritter Sport has come out with. This morning we got Salted Caramel (but later in the day also spotted Konnichiwa!).

We were amazed at the numbers of cyclists on the path. We realize that this amazement is a hold over from the old days and from Canada, because people have really taken to cycling here in recent years, and they are everywhere! We think ebikes are a big part of this, because they are allowing absolutely everybody to take to the trails.

On the other hand, we also see very many kids, especially little kids, showing tremendous cycle skills.

This was a rare slightly difficult road crossing. In fact to stay on the trail they could have remained on the side they were on. But they were actually entering a campground on the other side.

Any towns along the way were more like tighter clusters of chalets, rather than "cities". In today's ride, there was absolutely no McDonalds or anything close.

The Drau Radweg ends just before Toblach, where the Drau has its source. From my point of view, we were happily cruising along, when Dodie came to a halt seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Her attention was on a nondescript sign by the side of the trail. It looked like this:

Looking from our east to west direction, the sign emplacement looked like this, but from the other way, it was completely invisible:

Yet Dodie said "Let's park our bikes and go hiking on this track up that mountain". Assuming she meant the big green mountain and not the spikey Dolomite behind it, I said "SSsure..".

It was only 1 1/2 km until we came upon the "official" source of the Drau. We thought we could see the stream a little further up the hill, but we had reached the point they called ground zero. I thought I would get a nice posed shot standing more or less in the stream. But it turned out those rocks with the yellow stain are slippery as ice. I went flying, and can accurately say I have been swimming in the Drau. I did find the wet clothes pleasantly cooling on the subsequent bike riding.

Grampies have reached the source of the Drau!

With the Drau and the Drau Radweg behind us, things started to change. First off, in our thinking from back home, we would now be on the Venedig-Munchen radweg. That was true enough, but Venedig-Munchen was making use of the more local "Pustertal" radweg. Pustertal follows the Rienz river, so we have no idea why it's called Pustertal.

Next, the flat, kid and Grampie friendly Drau path became a lot more up and down. In fact it had sharp ups and sharp downs in a lot of places, and some of those downs were on gravel. Thinking of downs on gravel, this could be a good spot for a rant about four not smart cyclists we observed during the day. The first had a child in a trailer behind the bike, and came blasting down a hill behind us. She swerved out, into the path of cyclists mounting the hill, and then swerved back in, avoiding the collision. We have seen this with car drivers, mostly in France, but sheesh!

We were just commenting on this lady, when an approaching man cycled into in "our lane", texting on his phone. Dodie shouting at him "Put the phone away!".

The next one passed us at high speed on a downhill gravel and swooped around a curve. We heard a squealing of bike brakes, and saw that she had almost hit an old man, preparing to round the curve and start up the hill.

The last in our rogues gallery for the day were two guys on road bikes riding side by side - with no lights, in a tunnel!

The next change after Toblach was the increasing presence of those rocky Dolomitic mountains - so pointy, no trees, and some with snow!

Although our eyes were drawn to these towering heights, we also found interest at other levels. In fact, because of the way my handlebars are, we think I am looking more at the ground, or ok, at the flowers. So how about these?

Is this a common thistle, or something else

We also looked a lot in the medium elevation, wondering about the vast expanses of green lawn like alm. Were these kept so beautifully by cows, or were they mowed? If mowed, had did the mowers avoid rolling over, down the hill?

The answer to that one is probably a combination, but we did observe some very specialized looking mowers. They are low to the ground and with a wide wheel base. Where they mow does seem impossible, though.

The most common mower: low and with extra wheels

This was shot of a machine way up on an apparently steep hillside. But the photo seems to show it is not as steep as one might think.

Just before we get in to Bruneck, our stop for the day, here are a few more shots from the trail.

We have seen Stork decorations to welcome newborns elsewhere on the trip, but this one is really over the top!

Churches seem to fit in with mountains so well.

This could be the source of some of those riders on the trail. Many had identical rental bikes.

Bruneck is a significant town along the trail, with a population of about 16,000. This is larger than Toblach (3,000) and also than Lienz (12,000), but none of these is really very big. And at Bruneck we saw no ugly modern retail nor big roads and boulevards. We rolled quite easily and directly to our Gasthof - or Albergo, since we had re-entered Italy after Villach. The "Krone" is in a sort of newer section of the old town, but still a pretty spot, with no cars and lots of cafes.

The main historic section of town is a street called Stadtgasse. It features four gates, each of which is named, and has various lore attached. For example, we entered via the Brunotor. "A fresco inside the tower painted by Hans Weber in 1922 represents bishop Bruno, the founder of the town. The strongly weathered fresco underneath is marked with the year 1470, and is attributed to one of the painters grouping around Michael Pacher. The fresco on the outer wall used to bear a writing with the year 1388 which no longer can be recognized."

The frescoed gate devoted to the founder of the town.

Inside, lots of buildings had nice decorations or frescoes.

One building was made special by the sports shop in it, by have climbing figures on the outside!

We went through the "Urseline Gate" and checked out the Urseline church, but found it to be not so special. We walked across the old town then and to the "Spital" Church of the Holy Spirit. It was nicely decorated and the organ was playing when we got there. It is said to be the largest organ in the south Tirol. There is also a "valuable" crucifix, which we think we photographed, but right now we don't know the source of its value.

Back to our Albergo, it's a very nice place. We have door to a patio, and there is even a swimming pool in the building. I also like the marble steps. Marble steps to me are a hallmark of a nice European gasthof.

What comes next in terms of towns and hills is a subject of some interest for us at this stage. We may start climbing in earnest tomorrow, and after that is the Brenner Pass, before we arrive at Innsbruck. Signboards along the way give us the heads up, and you the reader might want to have a look as well:

Here at Bruneck we are on the Venezia-Munchen path.

Tomorrow we go to Sterzing, and then the Brenner!

What Gave Meaning to Life today? "The water of the source of the Drau", and this sign that we found there:

Water always finds its way. Follow it and you will find yours.

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 3,538 km (2,197 miles)

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Ben ParkeYou definitely have a climb in store. It’s very much uphill from Sterzing. You’ll be glad of your ebikes. Super scenery to enjoy as you slowly spin. You’ll go right past a gelato stop in Sterzing. You’ll need the strength of a good bit of gelato to make it to the pass. All paved though and pretty much free of traffic. The ride down the from the pass will be an adventure, but you shouldn’t need to pedal. Super scenery along the pass as well. I’ve not ridden it, but I watched it go by twice from the train
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2 years ago

Ben ParkeToo bad you haven’t got time to ride down to Bozen. Of the riding I did in Südtirol, that was the one stretch I’d gladly ride again. Beautiful narrow gorge. Lots of bridges and tunnels. Pretty much all downhill to Bozen. There is some bad trail surface around Brixen, but past that is nice smooth pavement. It’s not on any major touring routes so it doesn’t get that much cycle traffic. Hidden gem in my opinion
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2 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Ben ParkeAs we wrote tonight, the way "down" from Brenner was much tougher than the way up from Sterzing!
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2 years ago