May 29, 2024
Day 3 - Fleck to Telfs
Plus a long hike to find dinner
I had some actual sleep last night after, and before, writing yesterday’s journal. I was awake for awhile during the night, but fell back asleep eventually and woke around 9. I had asked how late breakfast was served and was told till whatever time. I think that was a misunderstanding though, because when I showed up at 9:30, the proprietor informed me I was late to breakfast. I got my food anyway, but it wasn’t a very large spread.
Starting at the hotel there was separate bike path through excellent landscape all the way to the Sylvenstein See. It was a lovely ride ending with a short tunnel dumping you right on the wall of the dam. It’s a section I would gladly ride again. I had several nice chats about my bike while I took some photos, including with a group of motorcycle riders from England.
From the Sylvenstein See there is only sporadic Radweg to the Achensee. There isn’t a ton of traffic, but I did have one very nervy experience when a truck came up behind me and rode my tail hard for way too long. I had my camera running and may end up reporting him for dangerous driving. I thought only Americans drove like that, but clearly we have passed that skill on to the Europeans as well. Aside from that, it was a nice enough ride to the Achensee.
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The Achensee is a lovely Lake surrounded by steep mountains. There is path all the way around, and I found it to be a most pleasant ride. I stopped there to eat a lunch of sorts. I had a cheese pretzel stick left over from yesterday and complemented it with some gummy bears while savoring the scenery. The Achensee is quite extensive and in the end I rode around fully half of it.
Leaving the Achensee it’s all downhill. Literally. And steeply. It’s the first genuine mountain descent I’ve had, complete with curves. I felt incredibly bad for the crazy cyclists riding up that hill. The key to not overheating your breaks in a velomobile is to pulse them. I did quite a lot of this and let the bike run when I had straight sections. Amazingly enough, though my brakes got hot, they did not fade. It was quite reassuring to be honest. I have two more big descents coming up.
The screaming descent (maybe not so fast as I thought - my Garmin claims I topped out at 42mph, which isn’t much) deposited me in Jenbach. This is the only place I managed to take a wrong turn, a very minor and easily corrected wrong turn. After crossing the train tracks, I reached the Inn River.
I have considered riding the Inn Radweg for many years. It always looked like a very pleasant and flat ride. I can confirm that is true. It is very flat in the area between Jenbach and Telfs, nearly entirely paved, and very fast riding. The fast part was quite refreshing after several days of hills. I even got to play cat and mouse for awhile with a roadie. I’d distance him on the straights, and he would catch up a bit at tight corners and road crossings. He eventually disappeared in my mirrors for the last time.
My route skirted the edge of Innsbruck along the Inn River. Although I was very close to the Altstadt entrance, I opted to leave that visit until the ride back. For once I was making good time and wanted to keep cruising. Along the way I encountered a fence across the bike path. There was no signage and I could squeeze around the right side, so I did. There was a real absence of oncoming cyclists which made me wonder if this section of path was closed. Portions of the path were literally right next to the Autobahn making it a little noisy. Then I encountered a major road crossing the path. There were no signs here either explaining the route. I had to get out and scope things out to figure out where I was supposed to go. I ended up briefly riding the edge of the road until the bike path reappeared. Then a short bit later I finally encountered another barrier posting the detour and saying the path was closed. Maybe they should put that at the other end too….
The remainder of the ride went quickly. When I arrived at my hotel, I discovered that today is their rest day, meaning their restaurant is closed. After handing me off the room key and recommending a restaurant a short walk away, I took a quick shower and put on dry clothes.
The walk to the restaurant was pleasant enough. The problem upon arriving at the restaurant though was that despite the sign saying they were open, they actually were not. I had to walk another 20 minutes to find a restaurant that was open. I also found a very nice cat to pet along the way. By the time I reached the restaurant I was fully famished. I had a big salad and some sort of dumpling pasta type thing. I cleaned the plates. Then I head back for my 40 minute walk to my hotel.
So, final question: did it rain today? Yes. Yes it did. It rained lightly as I was walking back from the place that service dinner, because of course it did. This appears to be the theme for this trip. I’ve looked ahead at the weather forecast and determined things are looking quite grim.
Tomorrow I should get to the foot of the reschen Pass. There is some rain projected along with potentially hard rain on Thursday, but not to the extent of Friday when potential deluges are projected. Friday is the day I ride up the Reschen pass, so that should be a LOT of fun (meant in the most sarcastic way possible.)
Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 161 miles (259 km)
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