Day 21, 17 6 2014, Innsbruck to Niederndorf
It is an easy ride along the Inn river cycle route from Innsbruck. It is mostly off-road, on sealed, well-marked paths, and flat.
It was a bit of an anti climax after the mountain stages of the last two weeks, exacerbated by a brisk headwind and flat light that gave a somewhat dour impression of otherwise spectacular country.
Headwinds are hated by cyclists. The bike feels dead and pushing against the wind just feels like hard work. Today it knocked our speed back from about 25Kph to 19Kph. It is always a mistake on any touring ride to vary your work load much. The most efficient way to ride is to pick a workload that you can sustain comfortably, and let the conditions dictate your speed.
The river until the town of Kufstein is a raging torrent but there are a couple of barrages that tame it, so that a few km north of Kufstein there is barely a ripple, and it looks like a lake.
While we were in the hills we saw large numbers of people on motorcycles, which strikes me as an optimal way of viewing the alps. The problem with the bike, at least for me, is that there is a cumulative tiredness from the sheer hard work, and this leads to compromises on what might be an optimal sight-seeing trip. We have often looked at options while in the mountains, and decided that some climb is just to big for the rewards it offers. Besides which, I have been besotted with motorbikes since puberty some years ago.
We saw a lot of groups or riders, up to a dozen, often with a chap on a Harley Davidson bringing up the rear.
It is a fact of travel that different cultures and conditions deserve different modes of transport.
The Inn river cycle route area is remarkably well-serviced for bike tourists. Every village seems to offer a choice of accommodation, and the coffee and pastry option offered by town bakeries suites me well.
95Km for the day, including a few tedious ones.
Roz says: I am so lucky to have man rider, so all I have to do is draft!! This makes light of a big head wind!! The villages en route like Schwarz, Rattenburg and Kufstein are so beautifully renovated they are highlights for the day.
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