May 30, 2024
Day 4 - Telfs to Pfunds
But did I get wet??
I think I am finally adjusting from jet lag. I actually stayed awake writing most of the blog last night. I was awake in the middle of the night for a shorter time, and had it not been for my alarm, I would have missed breakfast. Edit: maybe I spoke too soon. I fell asleep before I got pictures added and now am awake in the middle of the night again. The Pension I stayed at was technically closed yesterday, so I was the only overnight guest. Even so, they put out a nice breakfast spread that fully sufficed for a day of epic riding.
I started out on the B-Straße into Telfs. Traffic volume was low (it’s a holiday here) and the ride was quite flat. I intended to stop for provisions at the grocery store, but everything is closed for the holiday. I forgot about that yesterday, or I would have already stocked up on gummy bears, the ultimate fuel source for serious cyclists. Carbs and sugar, just what cyclists need.
Leaving Telfs I was initially on the Inntal Radweg, but at one point I had to ride on the B-Straße. It was smooth, flat, and fast. Traffic volume was reasonably low, so rather than give up flying down the road to go back to the scenic route, I made the uncharacteristic decision to stay with the B-Straße. The draw of avoiding navigational errors may or may not have contributed as well. The B-Straße is not the most idyllic place to ride, certainly not the most quiet, but it is definitely fast. There was rain predicted for this afternoon making the draw of covering miles quickly very appealing. That was, until the B-Straße inexplicably decided to go up a hill, a hill which seemed totally unnecessary to me. Just follow the river. I stuck with the B-Straße all the way to Roppen making quite good time for me. I am a slow cycle tourer, even in a velomobile.
From Roppen it appeared the B-Straße may be heading up a hill, so I bailed to the Radweg. The Radweg was definitely more scenic and absolutely slower going. I had the usual few wrong turns. Sometimes when you can’t see around a corner very far it’s hard to tell if it’s Radweg or a driveway. Or perhaps there are multiple paths to choose from. Or what looks like a parking lot is actually the Radweg. Whatever the case, from Roppen it was quite an adventure. The path went up, the path went down. The path went steeply up and then extreme down. It went around corners, it went through little alpine towns. It went through fields, along the river, along the B-Straße. Most of the time was paved, but a couple short spots were gravel. And the scenery got really spectacular. There are some incredible stretches along the Inn River. The Valley gets more and more narrow as you ascend further into the mountains.
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The weather was great with actual sunshine. In fact, I ended up having to apply sunscreen for the first time this trip. There were some clouds here and there obscuring the mountain tops, but overall it was much better weather than I expected. it was a god thing too as I encountered a few short stretches of gravel today. The worst was a spot where the Radweg had washed out. The detour was steeply up a path over a hill that had been established to bypass the nonexistent Radweg. That was a hike-a-bike situation. Fortunately it was very short.
| Heart | 6 | Comment | 1 | Link |
However, mid afternoon clouds started moving in. Earlier in the day I passed a strange shopping type complex serving the autobahn and bike path. I stopped in there to buy a highly overpriced sandwich. I also acquired a bag of gummy worms, equally overpriced. While sheltering from the rain, I worked to refuel by eating a bunch of gummy worms. As projected, the rain did pass in about 30 minutes and the sun came back out to warm everything up and dry it out. It even got warm enough to stop for an Ice Cream, though honestly that might have been before the rain hit…?
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The remainder of the ride was comparatively uneventful. No more rain, the views were great, I didn’t get seriously lost, and it warmed back up and dried me out. I kept expecting massive climbs to accumulate more elevation gain, but nothing long and steep ever appeared, though I could tell I was riding uphill most of the day. What actual climbs there were, were short and not outrageously steep. The climbs that did happen were over quickly and usually followed by an equally steep downhill. It’s a route I think I could recommend if you don’t mind the stretches next to the Autobahn.
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Tomorrow was planned to go over the Reachen Pass to Merano. However, I’ve been watching the weather report. Tomorrow is guaranteed rain. All day. In addition, it will be in the 30’s and 40’s, which is hideously cold. In fact, there is even the possibility of snow because it is so cold. I ride in snow at home, but that’s because I need to get places and I can ride with the enclosed race hood. I have no racehood on this trip, which I’ve regretted several times. I have no winter tires. And it’s vacation, not a suffer fest. So I am working to adjust my itinerary the next couple days. I’ve booked a second night here in Pfunds and hopefully can convince my next three reservations to cancel and book other hotels instead.
I think that covers it. Epic day, great scenery, and yes, I got wet again.
As an addendum, I had three hotels I’ve had to change. Two turned out to have been non-cancellable. One offered a refund. The other is refusing. Has anyone ever had success with booking.com getting them to intercede in an emergency like this? Obviously in the future I’m going to have to avoid booking places that charge you full price to cancel. With climate change things seem to be getting too unpredictable weather wise.
Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 214 miles (344 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 8 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 8 |
3 months ago
How is the new bike holding up? How does it compare to the normal Bülk? You already proved the off-road capability :)
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