Today's ride was going to bring us west across Austria and then south over the border into Italy. On the way we planned to ride the Gerlos Pass and have a look at the Krimml waterfall, the highest in all of Austria. Our destination at the end of the day was Vipiteno just south of the Austrian border. But we were in no rush to leave - we wanted to soak up our Grossglockner surroundings for as long as possible!
Not wanting to miss the sunrise I was up before 6am. The weather had held overnight and the morning was crisp and clear, perfect conditions to admire the scenery. I gathered up my camera and the drone and headed out to the car park.
A group of German bikers had already pulled into the car park and headed up to the viewing point. The tour leader had brought coffee for everyone and he very kindly offered me some as well. It was pretty cold with a fair bit of ice underfoot. I imagine the group rode up fairly gingerly as I'd seen a good bit of melt water flowing across the road the evening before. So we faced towards the brightest part of the horizon and waited for sunrise.....and it didn't disappoint.
The start of a new day
It was so worth getting up early - I would have been raging if I'd slept it out. Head on me says a different story! :-)
Pretty incredible setting
Just in case you're not sure which mountain is which
Once these guys cleared the way for us it was time to get going
Getting all 'Blue Steel' for the camera
Obligatory Grossglockner group photo
We had missed out on the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe glacier the day before but with a 40km round trip to see it, we decided to continue north on our planned route. We stopped into the Bau der Straße museum which has exhibits on the construction and history of the road - well worth a visit if you've a bit of spare time when passing. It's free in too which is nice. Across the road we picked up a few Grossglockner souvenirs in the Gasthof Fuscherlacke and then it was time to hit the road proper...
Bau der Straße museum in the foreground, Edelweisse Hutte on the highest peak in the background
As we descended off the pass the air began to warm up again. Soon we were back in the high temps that had become so familiar. That's one of the great things about touring - how much things are different from biking at home.
We caught up with some cool tractors as we descended back into the Austrian valleys...
Every now and then we'd get caught up in a bit of traffic which made the heat worse, so we decided to take a break in Mittersill. We pulled over at a plaza which was sporting a few cafés and also had a Spar right beside it so we could stock up on water. We'd taken up the practice of soaking our tshirts but it didn't leave much for drinking afterwards.
Yet another stop in the heat - that shade was glorious!
Once we were refreshed and restocked we got back on the B165 and headed west. We pulled over at the Krimml waterfall and Stuart and Aynsley headed off for a ganders on foot. The rest of us were too lazy and hot to stroll around in our gear so we settled for a pic from the roadside, chilled for a bit and then decided to head onto the Gerlos Pass. As we headed up the hill Jim pulled over to get some photos so from then on it was just Pauline and I on the GS. What a road!
In keeping with the rural theme, we came across some friendly local cows in Schonachtal!
As we descended into Zell am Ziller we were treated to even more hairpins and twisties - you just really can't get enough of them!
We stuck with the back roads as planned, happy to stay on the B182 as it wound itself along in the shadow of the A13 motorway. Looking at the motorway from underneath, it was quite impressive how it was mounted on huge concrete pillars that rose out of the landscape below.
The weather turned to patchy rain as we got closer to Vipiteno, but by the time we rocked up outside our hotel, the rain had stopped completely and we had a nice dry finish to the day's riding. We were guided into a nice secure spot to park the bike and then we made our way up to our room.
A while later we heard first Jim and then Stuart and Aynsley pull into the car park. We met downstairs for a wee pre-stroll beer and then headed into the town centre. Vipiteno is a nice wee spot - after you walk through the arch under the Torre delle Dodici you're in lovely pedestrian area right in the middle of town.
Torre delle Dodici
Pauline and Jim even found a lovely shop!
We settled down for a bite to eat and on our way back to the hotel we came across a few local lads giving it socks in Lederhosen. Well, the two girls were smitten so we nabbed a beer and stayed to watch for a while...
Afterwards we headed back to the hotel for a well deserved rest after a great day's biking and laughing. Best kind of tired there is!
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