Wetzelsdorf To Vienna

Thursday November 4, 2010

My campsite for the night, by the Danube river near Wetzelsdorf, Austria.

Okay, one more 200 km day and I'd be in Vienna. I was on the home stretch, and I was confident I'd make it.
I struggled to get up early again but dragged myself out of bed at 6:30 am. I ate breakfast, packed up and hit the road, wasting no time.
It seemed lady luck was on my side because I was treated to a good strong tailwind.
Again it was scenic riding, with a bike path most of the way, apart from a few short sections along a busy road with no bike lane, and some quite roads through lots of little villages.

On the bike path beside the Donau Bundesstraße, nea St Michael, Austria.

I soon found myself in grape vine territory. And it appeared to be harvesting season; there were heaps of people out picking grapes, filling up buckets and bins, and lots of little tractors driving around carrying these bins full of grapes.

Grape vines in the valley of the Danube river, just past St Michael, Austria.

A rocky hill beside the Danube river, Joching.

A rocky hill beside the Danube river, Joching.

A tractor used for carting grapes and grape-picking related equipment, at Oberloiben, Austria.

And all the while the tailwind pushed me along, and some of the time I was sitting on about 40 km/h on the flats, it was unreal. Had the wind been blowing in the other direction, I'm not sure I would have been able to cycle that distance in a day.
I stopped for lunch under a nice tree by the river. A ladybug landed on my hand and I thought "aw, that's nice", before I flicked it off. When I sat down, I saw a few more ladybugs, didn't think much of it. As I made my sandwiches for lunch, I kept finding more and more ladybugs, and I realised they were everywhere! I looked around and there were hundreds of them, and they kept landing and crawling on me, they were really starting to bug me (pun intended).
I got back on the bike and they were all over that too.
Because of the tailwind I made really good progress, and got to Vienna at about 4:30 pm. I passed another genuine looking touring cyclist just coming into Vienna, but he had headphones on so I didn't slow down to chat.
As I was heading into the city centre, a guy on a fixie passed me. "I'll have none of that", I thought, so I sped up and stuck with him, followed him. I figured he'd be heading into the city centre so it'd be good to follow him anyway, save me having to look at the map and work out the route.
And it was good, he led me into the city and it meant I kept up a really good pace as I rode in.
I found some unlocked Wi-Fi and checked emails, and looked up hostels. Hostel Ruthensteiner had the highest rating on hostel world, so I rode to that one, and checked in.
It looked like a really good hostel good atmosphere, friendly and helpful staff, and it was cheap, only €12. I got an 8 bed dorm on the ground floor which was good because it meant I didn't have to lug my bags upstairs. There was one other guy in the dorm as well, an American guy who I had just a quick chat to, since I was pushed for time. I told him how I was touring on my bike and he mentioned there'd been two touring cyclists staying in the hostel for the past few nights, but they'd left in the morning. I think he said they were riding from Britain to South Africa.
I had a much needed shower since I'd gone about 1300 km without having one. I actually don't think I smelt bad, but it's quite possible that I'd simply become immune or accustomed to my smell, and no longer noticed it.
Then I headed into the city centre to meet up with Juls, we'd arranged to meet at 6:30 pm. I'm quite an optimistic person so I didn't leave until 6:28 pm, but unfortunately it took more than 2 minutes to get there - it took 22 minutes by bike, since I was unfamiliar with the bike routes and the city in general. I felt so unreliable, I don't like making people wait for me. Luckily Jul's half expected me to be late so she waited around a bit longer than she would have had I been someone else.
It was pretty exciting seeing a friend in a foreign country. We went to a restaurant that had been recommended to Jul's by some of her work colleagues, although other work colleagues of hers had recommended not to go there too. It was underground, and it was like stepping back in time, it was such a cool place, I'd definitely recommend it. The place really had some character, and the violinists made it even better.

Juls in the restaurant in Vienna.

A violinist and a harpist entertaining the restaurant-goers. I imagine the atmosphere wouldn't have been dissimilar in medieval times!

A violinist and a harpist entertaining the restaurant-goers

I ate some kind of dumpling, sauerkraut and roast pork for tea, plus the rest of Jul's chicken schnitzel and chips. And the best thing was, it was funded by the Australian taxpayer - Juls had a meal allowance which she kindly shared with me.
It was good to discuss familiar people and places again, and good to hear all the news from friends back home in Melbourne.
We also talked about how full time work sucks your soul and leaves you no free time. Argh, not looking forward to this full time work lifestyle next year!
By the time we left the restaurant, the ice-cream shop was closed, so we said our goodbyes, Juls went back to her tax-payer funded hotel room and I rode back to the Ruthensteiner hostel.
There was a kiwi guy behind the bar, I was tempted to grab a beer but being health conscious and a tight-arse, I didn't. Instead I just chilled on the couch, listened to others chat and play guitar while I surfed the net. Yes, the hostel even had guitars for people to play, pretty cool huh?

Back in Hostel Ruthensteiner, with a few hostel-goers enjoying a beer and playing the hostel guitar.

I thought I'd gotten into a good sleeping pattern over the past week, getting to bed before midnight and getting up at 6:30 am, but it seems as soon as I have the opportunity to stay up late, and if the internet is involved, then I end up staying up late. I didn't get to bed until after 3 am.

An overview of my route so far, from France to Vienna, Austria.

My route for the day, Wetzelsdorf to Vienna.

Ride stats:
Distance: 187.89
Average: 22.1 km/h
Maximum: 44.3 km/h
Time: 8:29:17
Total ascent: 547 m
Total descent: 580 m