What an amazing day of cycling.
Most of Sunday I spent with either a river or a rail line beside me (sometimes both, and at one point two rivers and a rail line).
Amazing vistas surrounded me for most of the day.
When I stopped for lunch at 30 km, I learned that the PIN code for the credit card I gave to Linda doesn’t work. Just a core piece of European traveling advice – make sure you know the pin code for your credit cards. Hopefully we have Linda sorted out, but I spent a while working on it.
About 30 km out of Bischofshofen – my intended destination for the day – I disovered that the campground there is permanently closed. That mean I could either stop short at 60 km, or push on 60 km to the next one. However the next pass was only 20 km away, which should mean that the remainder of the ride would generally be down.
I crossed the first pass at 72 km. After days of gradual climbing, I’d come to expect a shallow descent. I was wrong. The 20 km down into Bischofshofen passed quickly. The only minus was the occasional section of highway without bicycle lane, as the mountains closed in.
Bischofshofen marked the end of EV 14, and my entry on to EV7 towards Salzburg. I’d slowly climbed for days, and I got that elevation back today. I blew through the next 20 km, although with more harrowing sections of highway. Then I saw a gorgeous, glorious castle up ahead of me in Werfen. Way up and ahead of me.
I had decided I did not have time to climb up to it, when I noticed on OSMAnd the funicular. I pulled in, and rode up to the top. The tour of the castle wouldn’t start for another 45 minutes, which likely meant I wouldn’t leave the castle until 6:00 p.m., not leaving myself a lot of margin. I called the campground and let them know I would probably be there about 7:00 p.m. and received a friendly response. Great.
I rolled out of the castle at 6:00 p.m. I had seen rain coming in behind me from the castle bell tower. The tour guide had noticed my cycling gloves, and commented that a train ran every 30 minutes to Golling if I wanted to avoid the rain. I told him my plan was to outrun it.
Then I made a harrowing descent. Much of that drop did not come with much more than a shoulder on the highway, and heavy traffic.
About 5 km outside of Golling I came to another pass. I’ve been pushing hard to stay ahead of the rain, and the last kilometer of climb over the pass almost did me in. Thank goodness for the bicycle path, as I wasn’t steady enough to be climbing and riding on the shoulder.
The remaining descent was on dedicated bicycle path. I rolled into the campground almost exactly at 7:00 p.m. The friendly host greeted me and got me squared away in a space next to a permanent shelter – a place to hide out from the incoming rain.
I grabbed dinner, and spent part of the evening talking to a group of Polish cyclists. They started their trip in Salzburg, and are headed for Venice. They asked if I was riding an electric bicycle, and were satisfied with my credentials when I said I was not.
Now I’ve overachieved. I hadn’t paid any attention exactly how far away I was from Salzburg, expecting it was still several days. Yet Salzburg is a (flat) 28 km away. Linda traveled away from Salzburg, and plans on returning on Thursday. I need to come up with an intermediate plan. But apparently I’ve got some time to figure it out!