Day 24

10/09/2011 – Day 24

Ottensheim to Freyenstein – 84km

When I woke up during the night it was tipping down, in fact it was the rain that woke me up. Falling back to sleep I had visions of spending the next day wrapped in waterproofs again struggling against the wind and rain and going nowhere fast.

When we woke up it was so foggy you could not see across the street, but by an hour later the sun was shining through and it was looking promising. The landlady had prepared the usual meat and cheese for breakfast and although she didn’t speak a word of English she did her best to tell us what was worth seeing in Linz. Sadly most of it started tomorrow! This Saturday was all for kids and the adult concerts start in the morning, there is some sort of music festival over the next few weeks.

Setting off this morning must have been one of the easiest so far; we found the way out of town without any problems. Just as we left the town there is an impossible level crossing to negotiate, up a steep ramp, through two staggered barriers and turn right, all at the same time. Once through though it was back to the river view that we are supposed to be following.

Just after the level crossing there is a long hill and I was just settling into a good pace when this old woman passed me, WHAT! Have I really got that old overnight?  Catching up with M I was amazed to find her and her husband in front of him too, how did that happen? For the next 10km this couple stayed in front, we were doing a good 24km/h on the cycle path alongside the main road but it was impossible to pass them. Finally they turned left to go over the bridge into Linz and it all became clear, they had electric bikes, power assist up hill and on the flat, recharge downhill.

We briefly stopped in Linz for M to buy his dongle for the Austrian internet (why does the European Parliament waste time worrying about light bulbs when every time you cross a border you have to spend another 50€ for mobile internet? I thought they were supposed to be looking out for us and making life easier in the EU not making things more and more complicated).

Leaving Linz was as easy as following the river, there is a large green park area where the cycle path runs through, the only hazard being the runners and other bikes.

After about an hour we are turned off the river by a diversion for work on the river banks. Just the time for lunch and we immediately find a restaurant to stop. Just as we sit down in the shade the flood warning siren goes off in the building next to us, fortunately it is the weekly test. Today we see just how seriously flooding is taken here.

The diversion takes us away from the river for most of the afternoon, following a series of temporary signs. One minute we are following the R1 signs next minute it is the R29. They have done their best to keep us off the main roads but at times it is a series of quick left and right turns to follow giving no time to see what is happening around you. As we approach the area around Mitterkirchen we come across dyke after dyke built around the villages in a grid pattern designed to protect them from flooding. There are gateways in the dykes that must be closed by barriers in the event of a flood and roads that surge up and down in other places.

Finally we are back on the river heading east in the sunshine. At Grein the cycle path is abandoned for the main road and we decide to cross the river on the bridge just before, taking us to the south bank again. Here we share a single track road with the occasional car but we are in constant shade. The road is still wet from last night’s heavy rain and everyone has a plume of spray behind them. Occasionally we come across a grassy area where sun does breakthrough for most of the day and they are full of people enjoying it. At one of these places we see some nudists (nudism like lycra should only be done by people under 30 with tight bodies, anyone else – yuck!).

As we finally come out of the trees and just as we are starting to sag, there is a welcome bar. We stop just for a beer and check the map. According to the map we are about 10km from Ybbs where we were planning to stay but ask for prices here just to see what it would cost. And once again we decide to stop early. Nothing really special here, the room was ok and we had internet that actually worked well but that was all. The staff were really friendly and the food was good, what more do you need?