Tauern Radweg: Surprise! Surprise!

Burghausen - the world's longest castle

A weekend bike tour along the Tauern Bike Trail into Upper Austria and over the border into Bavaria. Familiar territory, but there are always surprises.

Surprise #1: The forecasters got it right!  Grey-out in the morning. Surrounded by cloud. No view at all. Damp and cold – this is May for goodness sake! The forecast is for afternoon sunny periods. We take a chance and mount up and start the first mini-tour of the year at lunchtime. The damp chill receded. The sun appeared.

 

Along the Salzach banks -mucky, but flat

Surprise #2: The mountains’ last gasp! Riding down the Salzach from Salzburg along the river bank is generally easy going (though mucky from the recent rains). Riders on the popular route source to Passau, relax, thinking they have left the mountains behind. At Titmoning, heading inland, the Tauern Radweg suddenly rears up and winds its way up a serious incline to a plateau at St Radegund.

 

On the climb to Sankt Radegund

Surprise #3: In parts of Austria it is still possible to spend less than €50 for dinner, b&b.  The day was cooling – at the top of the climb,  a gasthof had a room free. It’s big airy and bright with windows on two sides, a balcony and bathroom with a window. €36 per person with breakfast. Only one kind of sausage or another on the meaty menu. Not even a Weiner Schnitzel! The beer was good and the wine ok though.

 

Misty dawn at Sankt Radegund

Surprise #4: Bird life. Where the rivers Inn and Salzach meet, it is flat. Pools and reeds and plenty of water. Brilliant for bird watching. The gritty trail follows the river banks through the bird sanctuaries. Stop at the hides for a nature check. Sometimes there are thousands of water fowl to be seen. Last Saturday, just two ducks and a pair of swans with cygnets. There’s more to see in the local park.

 

Exotic wildlife(?) in the sanctuary along the Inn

Surprise #5: Great Thai food in a rural backwater. After a day riding along the Salzach and Inn rivers, then turning back towards home along the Mattig valley, Mauerkirchen was a convenient place to call it a day. In the Gasthof Ginzinger beer garden, excellent Thai food; spring rolls and crispy duck all freshly cooked. Perfect after a great day’s riding.

 

Near Burghausen - it could be Germany or Austria

The Tauern Radweg begins in Krimml and follows the Salzach valley from its source to Salzburg and beyond. Great scenery, good riding.

Coffee: in a café in Braunau - nothing worth reporting. Cycling quality here is high but a good espresso is hard to find

Heads up! You might miss a treat.

The Watzmann overlooking Berchtesgaden

Cycling in spring, like good weather, has come in fits and bursts. No-one welcomed 10cm of new snow at the end of April, but fortunately it disappeared almost as fast as it arrived. The temperature too has climbed and dropped, and in the same way, the early season rides have had plenty of ups and downs.

Now the snow has gone the season’s first rides are in and around this area, getting legs back into the rhythm and bums hardened.  Living in the Alps, means either riding along the valleys or climbing, and at this time of year the valleys are usually the favourite.

Everyone has routes that they follow regularly, so that, while every bump and pothole is familiar, it is easy to forget to enjoy the sights along the way. Starting the rides in the spring, after months of snow, is a good time to see familiar sights with a fresh eye.

 

Approaching Badgastein 

The Gastein Valley is a bread and butter ride, close to home and so undemanding,  it is hardly necessary to change gear. But the first glimpse of Badgastein, an impressive relic of bygone grandeur with huge old hotels set in a bowl with a gleaming snowy backdrop, is a real stunner.

 

The Hoher Göll from the Untersberg loop

The Untersberg Circuit around the foot of the the huge mountain that overlooks Salzburg and extends back into Bavaria is a popular, hilly weekend loop featuring a short, sharp 23% climb and crossing from Austria into Germany and back. At this time of year, it is hard not to keep gazing at the towering, white Hoher Göll and Watzmann mountains, which dominate the skyline almost the whole time.

 

Early morning at the Mondsee

Salzburg’s stunning lake district, the Salzkammergut is a favourite area for cyclists and but on a chilly, early spring day only a few hardy souls were out. But spirits were lifted on this familiar ride by the sun glinting on the Mondsee and the fresh green of the budding trees through the woods between the Attersee and Bad Ischl

 

Glacier glimpsed from the Tauern Radweg

Before long hundreds of cyclists will be starting out from Krimml on the popular Tauern Radweg which will take them 300km through to Salzburg and Passau and maybe on to Vienna. Early season riders have the trail to themselves as they cruise down the valley floor between snowy peaks. Having done it dozens of times, on the first outing of the year, its grandeur doesn’t fail to impress just as did the first time around, years ago.

The moral of this tale: give in to the early season temptation for head down training rides, and you will miss the “first-time” jaw-dropping brilliance of the awakening world around you.

You said it!

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride – John F Kennedy

Frustration time

It’s a bit like giving a boy a new train set, (or these days a Playstation) and after a few days taking it away again. A week ago, it was suddenly warm and sunny. The snow retreated, the roads were swept and cyclists were out in force. There were plenty of bare, pale legs to be seen pumping up and down.

Now, after three short local trips, and when there is time to venture a bit further, the sky, which for days has been leaden with masses of sand blown up from the Sahara, has come crashing down to ground level. The view from the window this morning, was a solid wall of grey. It is cold, even for here in the mountains. Big drops of sandy water are plonking down. There is even a hint of snow.

Just as it seemed that grinding away on the ancient Shorter Rochford bike on rollers in the cellar had come to an end for the summer, it is back to relying on the MP3 for entertainment while going through the sprint-and-wind-down, sprint-and-wind-down routine below ground.

Out along the lanes, the spring flowers are blossoming; droves of yellow oxlips crowd the banks, drifts of wild crocuses throng the meadows and groups of pinks and primulas huddle in the shadows. Streams are rushing snow melt down to the rivers and trees are bursting with enthusiasm.

It’s frustration time.

Coffee

Segafredo in the bakery, St Martin bei Leogang

The "Big Tour" - climbs, views and getting back home

Snow is still drifting down outside the window, the roads are still salt and grit-strewn, and the bike is hunkered down under a blanket in the cellar. But the days are getting longer and it’s time to get down to some real planning. Ideas have been buzzing around for much of the winter, but now it’s time to add some detail and see what is possible.

While total spontaneity, just setting off in one direction or another, is great, some practicalities need to be considered. Last year it took us three days to get home by train from the Baltic and after another long ride, we were told “Non. C’est ne possible pas” when we asked about trains home from a ride to the south of France.

 

A book full of ideas leading to some hard graft

The feasibility of getting back home from long international road rides is one factor to take into account. Added to the mix are the wish to see spectacular scenery, historic cities and, with luck, “lifetime experience” climbs. Accommodation along the way isn’t a major consideration – there is always something and we usually don’t know how far we will ride each day or where we will end up.

Europe’s main rivers, from source to sea have been an inspiration: the Rhine, the Rhone the Main and the Moselle as well as Austria’s ever-popular Danube, Mur, Drau and Salzach rivers. Starting by a stream high in the Swiss Alps and ending up riding alongside a huge mass of water heading silently towards the sea is an education in itself. Cycling from our front door high in the Austrian Alps to the coast another – the Alpe Adria route is a classic.

When France is our goal, we start with the Tour de France route and try to incorporate at least one of the current year’s big climbs – easy enough to plan when riding in the Pyrenees and the Alps – though attempting the climb itself is another matter.

The Bikeline bike tour books have provided lots of ideas and information about road surfaces (beware the dreaded East German cobbles), steepness of climbs and route profile as well as clear maps.

 

Rides completed: the Bikeline books are a great source of ideas and information

Added to the above are: inspiration from our book on Europe’s greatest cycling climbs, poring over maps and unravelling the French Railway website to find if it is possible to take a bike on a train from A to B without dismantling it. The winter months will fly by, and soon it will be time to set off once again.

YOU SAID IT!

“After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable. A memory of motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they seem to go.”

HG Wells.

COFFEE:

Espresso Exclusive, ground on a hand mill at home. Brewed in our Bialletti espresso machine, strong and black. www.tridor.at

IDEAS

For half a million kilometres of long distance routes in Europe: www.biroto.eu

For Bikeline books: www.esterbauer.de

Hunkered down in the cellar, the bikes are ready and waiting for the starting gun