To Graz

September 12, 1994 to June 13, 2018

I've gotten way behind in the journal, so these are the high points only.

We had breakfast near the Austrian border: ham, runny eggs and coffee again, but better prepared and more palatable than at the awful Amazon Hotel.

The day was mostly an easy ride, following the Mur River toward Graz through corn, wheat and squash fields interspersed with small villages. The fields were distinguished by the local technique for stringing up hay to dry on racks, tripods or posts; and by mountains of squash, piled up by workers who collected them by spearing them with long poles and tossing them into the heap, where they were split and hollowed out on the spot. Seeing couples alone in a field together splitting and coring squash was a very common sight.

We stopped for a midday break in Feldbach, a very pleasant and pretty midsized town. We stopped in at the bank to exchange travelers checks, and then at a bike store to buy a bike shirt for me, new gloves for Rachael because hers are disintegrating, and a water bottle. Everyone is very helpful. This part of Austria has a much different and more relaxed, approachable character.

From Feldbach we continued westward, veering south of the river and up a longish, steep but very quiet country road to a lovely overlook of the valley, stopping there at an inn for a beverage break. The final miles to Graz were fairly uneventful, other than to hear from a gas station attendant that there was snow in Grossgluckner Pass last weekend.

We had little difficulty finding our way through Graz and to the hotel we had booked. After checking in, we wandered out in the neighborhood looking for a shoestore (Rachael's sandals have come unglued) but finding two nice bakeries instead.

At a bit after six we returned to the hotel and learned that the Hersheys had arrived and had walked off together to a fine but somewhat expensive restaurant a few blocks away, so we walked over to join them.

Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 493 miles (793 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	2

Jeremy PerksIt's an interesting ride and the photos are great, I didn't really expect to see images like that. I would have liked to have heard more about the interaction with locals but perhaps none of them spoke English.
Reply to this comment
6 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jeremy PerksHi, Jeremy. Thanks for reading, and I’m glad you found it of interest. I wish there were more photographs and better ones, but this was my state of the art 20 years ago. I wish there were more interactions worth mentioning too. The language barrier was a big thing, especially in Hungary; but it really says more about us back then than about the folks we encountered along the way. We’re both a bit introverted, and when we were younger we were in too much of a hurry, covered too much distance, and we’re not particularly seeking out conversations. Like the photography, there was a lot of room for improvement on our approach to travel. We’re still working on it.
Reply to this comment
6 years ago