finally... a few Austria pics!

[ginny]

Alright, so I like to call my pictures from Austria, "Ginny's bike goes to Austria". I don't speak any German, and I went alone, so I chatted to my bike a lot (I'm a scientist, and this is perfectly acceptable among my posse), and I took a lot of pictures of my bike I have included a couple of the country side too...

It was SO pretty and the trail was amazingly maintained. I guess the part from Passau to Vienna is the most popular bike trail in Europe. People were friendly and most people only do about 20km / day. I ended up doing more like 60miles per day, but I really like to ride. I was super tuckered out by the third day, and will keep this in mind on future tours. I friend of mine toured Maine for three weeks, and I guess day three was her worst too.

I took the train from Vienna to Lentz and then rode back to Vienna with some side trips along the way. It was beautiful country. I rode through farming towns on day one and the Wachau region on day two (that's the wine making region). Day three took me through a pretty busy town that I got horribly lost in, but the rest was through nice country on the way back to Vienna. In fact, the final approach to Vienna is through this park that is an island. It was a really nice way to end the trip and get ready for the big city again.

So, here are a few pictures:

[ginny]

a couple more in case anyone wants to see more of Austria than my bike...

[Grog]

That looks like a great trip! Thanks for the pics. (We always love pics.)

What took you to Austria to begin with?

[ginny]

I went for a feline retrovirus conference. The conference was good too. It was held in a palace! I mean, Mozart had played there, and here we were talking science It is always great to be among a bunch of researchers who care about the same stuff you do. It makes coming back to the lab exciting.

[Tri Girl]

Well it's about time we saw some pictures of Austria from you!

Your pics are just beautiful (both the bike and the countryside). Looks simply breathtaking!!! Thanks for sharing them with us.
I envy your adventurous spirit. What a great way to see a new country, and how neat that you had a great bike path to travel along (and you got to learn a lot at a conference, to boot). Sounds like it was a wonderful trip all around.

[shootingstar]

Very pretty, ginny. I love the scenery!

Apparently there's a bike route/path from Prague to Vienna...which sounds tempting...

I showed these photos to my partner who did cycle a well-known bike path in Germany this past spring by the Rhine for several days. (It actually ends in Basel, Switerland but he didn't have time to go that far.) Just as scenic also with some small castles along the way.

[ginny]

The beta I got on the trail was that from Vienna to Budhapest (i'm pretty sure that isn't spelled correctly), isn't nearly as well marked as the part I rode. I met some Italian guys who were doing the whole thing, and they were a bit concerned about the last leg to Hungary. As it was, the signs weren't as closely spaced as I would have liked. Routinely, I would be absolutely sure I was lost ... about ready to turn around ... decided to keep going just a little further... then there would be a sign... tee hee.

I think the last leg Vienna to Budhapest would be awesome though. Travelling through such a historic part of Europe would be phenomenal.

[Biciclista]

I have been waiting to see your photos, thanks for sharing them. are you a cat specialist veterinarian?

[DigUpHerBones07]

Wow! Those are some really beautiful photos! I would love to do something like that one day. Where did you stay along the way?

[ginny]

Thanks for the replies. Nope, I'm a biochemist who finds herself surrounded by pathologists and vets - it's a language I'm learning to speak ... s ... l ... o ... w ... l ... y

I asked for suggestions when I would enter a town for a place to stay. I sort of winged it because it would have required a bunch of long distance phone calls and (now knowing no on speaks English) some frustration on both sides probably. So, there are these information centers in the towns and they have lists of people who will let cyclists stay in their homes. The ameneties are listed (like do you want to share a bathroo?). The first night I was directed to a road house where they spoke English. I got there right at dark and they didn't have any room. I asked if I could camp, and that wasn't a problem. I pitched my little tent right near a little creek... very pleasant.

[Crankin]

I did a supported tour from Czechy-Krumlov to Vienna. The last 2 days we rode on the paths that you describe. The scenery was breathtaking! We stayed in a hotel in Durenstein, overlooking the river, which was awesome. One thing I found about the paths, is that they were really crowded, with all kinds of riders, making it hard for me to look at the scenery, because I was so busy making sure I didn't crash into anyone. It seemed like everyone was touring.
I also liked riding some of the farm roads in Austria. It's amazing that people drive on these one lane roads, in between corn stalks that were so high, we couldn't even see the road when we were looking for them.
And then there were those 15% grades on the climbs...