June 27, 2024
To Dellach
It was a day filled with fond memories and chance encounters, with time to reminisce, to mind the moment, and to anticipate good things to come.
I woke to sunny skies – a bit hazy ahead but clear in the rear. After breakfast, a crowd of bikes, gear, and cyclists gathered outside the guesthouse in preparation for the days ride down the Drau. I watched with some amusement as the men loaded bottles of wine into panniers while at least one wife sat on the porch smoking a cigarette. I wished them a good trip and headed down the river.
In 2021, I rode the Drau cycle route westbound between Möllbrücke and Tolbach. They were two of the most spectacular days of my loop tour through the Alps, which itself was filled with a series of red-letter days. Though today’s ride was in the reverse direction, I found myself recognizing specific sites along the trail and recalling my emotions during those special days. I also realized that I’d forgotten that most of the route was uphill - largely a gradual incline but with enough bumps to have kept me engaged. Today, I took real delight in the long downhill stretches as I made my way toward Lienz and beyond.
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Over the years, I have often been a fortunate beneficiary of road angels, those kind souls who are willing, and usually able, to help out when I find myself in a fix. These encounters have always left me in awe of their kindness and wishing that somehow I could pay it forward. Today I got a chance when I spotted a loaded tandem laying on its side. As is my usual custom in such situations, I asked if everything was okay. No, came the reply. Marcus and Marianne were on their way from Switzerland to Greece on a 28 year old Trek tandem that hadn’t been put into touring service for almost fifteen years, during which time it had been stored at Marianne’s parent’s home in Switzerland. Marcus is an able mechanic and over the years they had replaced parts and kept the bike in good condition. However, they had experienced a number of mechanical problems since starting on their trip ten days ago, especially with the rear drive train. Today’s problem was a flat tire and a malfunctioning pump. My Zefal frame pump to the rescue!
While Marcus toiled fixing the flat and reinserting the wheel, Marianne and I began chattering away. We instantly established a roadside camaraderie that hinted at a real friendship. Whereas she is Swiss by birth, Marcus is American and they live in Manchester, NH – just an hour from my father’s hometown of Keene. I’d visited Keene last summer and the city exerted such a strong pull on me that I’d semi-planned a trip back to New England this fall. And now I had new friends in Manchester! When Marcus was finally satisfied that all was good, I bade them farewell with a promise to look them up during my next visit to Keene.
The state of New Hampshire is the 5th smallest of the 50 US States with a population of less than 1.4 million people. Imagine my surprise when I met another cyclist from the Granite State just fifteen minutes after waving good-bye to the Tandemeers (their coinage, not mine). Kathleen hails from near Concord, NH and was in Italy with a group of four staying in San Candido and hiking around the Dolomites. Due to a sore knee, she'd had decided to forgo the day’s hike in favor of a one-way bike ride down the Drau. Small world.
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The wonderful rolling downhill to Lienz continued, with midday sun greeting me as I walked through the busy pedestrian zone of the city. Lienz was a wonderful overnight on my previous tour, and I recalled a row of shaded benches along the left bank of the Drau – a perfect lunch spot! I continued down memory lane, winding on gravel roads through woods and croplands, reliving my amazement at first seeing the peaks of the Lienz Dolomites. The past and present intertwined, and I was a most happy cyclist.
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I’d chosen an overnight in Dellach somewhat at random, based mainly on distance and availability. It was a bit bigger than I expected, with a busy highway running through town. I arrived at the guesthouse at the end of lunch service, when the staff was frantically trying to serve trays of desert to a literal busload of diners. I was hastily given my room key and shown where to store Vivien George. By the time I came down for dinner, the kitchen chaos had calmed and the air was crisp, clean and cool. A perfect combination for a relaxing dinner on the terrace, recalling the joys of the day.
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,549 miles (2,493 km)
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