The usual visits of neighbours and friends, and to neighbours and friends continues. There are meals with Marina and Riki at our place and theirs. We ride out to Anna and Christian's hutte on the Danube a couple of times for long, lazy lunches. We catch a movie, 2 vs 1, a funny look at an interesting change of curreny 'event' that occurred in the dying days of East Germany and all in German.
Sebastian (Wolfgang's son), Jadwiga (Wolfgang's wife), Oxana (Wolfgang's son's wife), Verena, Wolfgang, Gerlinde and Sebastian and Oxana's girl, Anna Aurora at Wolfgang's garden.
Unfortunately, to fit the bike in the box, I had to remove the rear derailleur and did not replace it properly, stripping the thread, so it was 5 days later (and 131 Euros) before I was able to go for a spin in the woods again. Nikki went out with me on that first Sunday morning, where we had lunch at Fire Fighters celebration in Maurbach.
On a early ride in the Vienna Woods with Susanna.
Suz and I leave for Salzburg on Tuesday the 16th of July with a quick ride around Untersberg on the Wednesday before we then leave for Switzerland on the Thursday. Details are below.
Almost always I ride a section of Hameau Trail in the hills behinds Susanna's parents place. Finally, a week or so after I get back I decide to the ride the full length of Hameau Trail. It is overcast but dry when I leave in the morning but I come home in heavy rain.
A lost monument to the war dead against the Turks from quite a few centuries ago - I got lost at the back of the Hameau Trail.
Volker, Anke and Mitja turn up late on Monday the 5th of August for 5 nights.
There is a visit to Museum Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts) on the Wednesday.
And in the evening, Volker and I go out for a spin with Nikki and Alf.
We end up going to the big pool around the corner on the Thursday and Friday. I leave on the Saturday to catch 3 trains to Wurtzburg in central Germany to stay with Kevin and his family there. Upon arrival, we go immediately to have a BBQ at his friends' place before we returning to his place after dark. On the Sunday, myself, Kevin and Norbet and another friend go mountain biking around the surrounding hills before we hit the town proper as tourists. Apparently it is one of the top 3 places to visit in Germany. I remember a large, metal model of the town damaged as it was at the end of WWII at the town hall.
View of the town centre from a cycling bridge in Wurztberg.
On Monday, I take the whole day to get back to Salzburg but not before Norbet replaces the chainring with a 30 tooth one (down from 32 teeth, thankyou Kevin!). Along with the replacement of the front tyre with something with bigger knobs and a larger front brake disk, the bike is slowly getting there.
I meet up with Suz at Salzburg before we catch the train on Wednesday to Gastein and ride out to Prossau for lunch.
On the new road to Prossau, above and below.
The view just outside Bad Gastein . . . our stay is in the distance.
Since the landslide last year, they have had another but have managed to get the road out there sorted. We take Thursday easy with a walk in thongs upto Anna Hutte for lunch and to the sauna in the afternoon.
On Friday, we train to Zell am See where we ride out to Maira Alm for lunch.
We swim in the Zell, the place is full of holiday makers, before returning to the railways at Taxen where we continue back to Salzburg. Sunday was a ride out to Bischofswiesen and a quick swim in the biopool before the rain sets in. We return to Vienna on Monday and the rain finally gives up.
On the evening of Wednesday the 21st, I ride out with Nikki, Alf and Guoorg and we go up the very steep and long Klosterneuberg hill before we have dinner at an Heuriger (wine producer/eating house). It is 56 odd kilometres (and 750 vertical metres) before we get home.
The others ahead and just beyond the top of the hill at Klosterneuberg.
I leave for the UK on the Friday (details below) and am back on the Tuesday in time for yet another Wednesday night ride with the gang and this time we cross the river. Suz joins us for dinner at a local lokal and it is a good hour to get back home.
The first week of September was spent in the Salzkammergut, the Austrian lake district, details below.
A final ride with Susanna on the 11th of September in the Viennese Woods.
During the last 5 days, it rains almost continuously. This means we drive out to have breakfast with our immediate neighbours, Kirstan and her husband at Mana Maierei. It was as good as ever, to see them again.