We left Burghausen at about 9am, after having first strolled around the, supposedly, longest castle in the world.
We headed south, along the Inn river, in the direction of Salzburg. The cycle track had a good surface in part but then, increasingly, was comprised more of loose shingle. This really effects the speed. For the same effort that, say, maintains around 18mgh on the smooth tarmac, this drops to more like 11mph on the shingle. That makes a big difference over 6 or 7 hours.
During our first lunch (we have a 1st ‘half-lunch’ around 1130 and 2nd lunch around 2.30 - it evens out the fuel intake) near the town of Laufen, we decided to change our well-though-out (ho ho) plans and ditch the Salzburg/Lienz idea in favour of heading more west towards Innsbruck.
This change (in the short term, at least) was a good one. Our new route took us into the most spectacular countryside so far. We had an excellent afternoon’s cycling taking in the sights, sounds and smells of south Bavaria (how much one misses out on sat in car). We had one spell of rain but the sun kept shining throughout and the warm rain was most refreshing. We sped along, drinking Fanta (from our bidons) and eating Haribos (from our back pockets) until, at around 5pm when we found a place to stay in the picturesque Bavarian town of Schleching: The Landgasthof Zur Post.
100km clocked. Legs, despite being old, are now used to the daily effort/routine and are probably working at their optimum.
We’re grateful, as always, to the strangers who fill up our bidons with water. In particular, to the very old Austrian lady who could hardly manage to carry two of them up here front steps having had to dispense with her walking stick to do so.
An excellent meal in the place we’re staying. My medallions of pork tenderloin, wrapped in bacon with a creamy mushroom sauce was particularly good. A dry Riesling complemented it perfectly. The staff, all decked out in traditional Bavarian garb, completed the busy bierkeller-like ambiance.
Cycling. You don’t think about the house, shopping, what needs painting or fixing, when the MOT’s due, who’s doing the washing up, etc. etc. No. All your think about is - whether you’re drinking enough, eating enough, peddling fast enough and what’s around the next corner. Which way’s the wind coming from and, now and again, what you’re going to eat tonight and where your going to sleep tonight.