nbjtours

Day Four

Kramsach, Austria

85 miles 1200 ft

Chris coined this phrase as we were cycling along the Inn Valley as the flat fertile plain was full of various fruit and vegetables. We saw apples, vines, raspberries, blackcurrants, potatoes being harvested, and leeks too which filled the air with their distinctive odour. A field of celeriac also added a different smell too. This was all in addition to the usual maize and grass fodder fields as we cycled along.

Today was all about following the river Inn. Although in theory it was an easy flat day gradually going downhill we unfortunately had a steady headwind which strengthened as the day progressed. Although Nick continued to ride with verve, it is fair to say Chris & I were glad to finish at the end of the day.

Once again most of the route was on dedicated cycle paths, the vast majority being tarmac, but just to keep us on our toes every now and again we had a kilometre of gravel.

One of the notable features of the day was the growth in the size of the river valley which started out quite narrow in Landeck and grew as we progressed. The river was always running fast and as we found later we were lucky not to be here when the river was in Full flood.

One thing that we remarked upon as we cycled through was the lack of wildlife, particularly birds. We saw a few kites and crows but little else so presumed the farmers shot everything else.

However in addition to the odd lizard and a mouse that scuttled across the track we did see these Chamois grazing contentedly in a field.

What is noticeable is the compliant and trusting nature of the average Austrian. Whilst this may lead to some frustration with the obeying of the rules it does also mean that they don’t need to fence off railways and facilities are left in superb condition.

The first leg to coffee was the most varied and although we were sharing the river valley with the railway and a motorway we were often in trees and fields away from the noise.

At one point we did actually climb up well above the river to look down at a couple of bends.

I’m not sure how many times we crossed the river but it must have been well over ten often on dedicated cycle bridges, some wooden and others suspended.

The other interesting thing we saw a few times was a counter which advised the number of cyclists using the path. On the first one we crossed we were 28-30, the last was a few hundred and the annual figure was in the hundreds of thousands.

Having started at a tardy 8.05 coffee was very welcome where Nigel had managed to negotiate with a sports club to park up the camper to dry the tents and set out the pastries!

The next leg was split into two. The first section to Innsbruck was the least enjoyable of the day as we ran right next to the motorway. We even noticed a cyclist stopped to go into the motorway services. With the headwind and to noise of the traffic it was good to finally get into the outskirts of Innsbruck.

After a quick detour and walk into the very touristy centre of Innsbruck we then cracked on to meet the camper although had a repair stop because Nick was concerned his saddle had moved.

For our lunch stop Nigel had set up in the enormous Swarovski Crystal carpark. The good thing was that we now only had 24 miles left to go for the day.

We continued along cycleways but the most noticeable thing was the aftermath of the flooding that occurred only a week ago with some crops destroyed but also thousands of sandbags and mud having been snowploughed out the way.

Our campsite today was up the biggest hill of the day – only 250 ft- but we finished at 4.30 where Monica had managed to meet the next part of the challenge with the most popular Austrian beer. She is hopeful that as we pass into Germany briefly tomorrow she can catch back up on her quest.

Salmon and cucumber salad were on the menu this evening and there was even time for a round of cards.

With the weather due to get warmer tomorrow and some climbing earlier on we will be getting away early again to try to beat the heat.