Austria 2024
After a lot of time (too much probably) that, for various reasons, I had no 'real' vacation, this year I decided to leave my cats to the care of my neighbour and take a bit of a tour of Austria.
In fact, in the beginning I had a much more daring plan, but as you know, "no plan survive the contact with the enemy", in specific, the weather wasn't really cooperating (as usual), so I decided to scale the plan down to a week in Austria. The "plan" was actually to go "kinda that way" and then follow my nose, keeping away from motorway and sleeping in campsites. I didn't reserved anything and simply made up some sort of a route using google maps and the gps.
After arranging the vacation with the office and leaving stuff more or less in order, I started to look how to organize the bike.
As said before, I wanted to pair the GPS (garmin) with a "simple" mobile phone, to see which one was working better as a navigator, to do so, I spent some times installing a support for the phone on the bike. Another thing I wanted to check, was the connection between the GPS and an interphone in the helmet (interphone that wasn't interphoning anything, since I never installed the microphone). All this required me to spend a lot of time in front of the PC with my helmet on...
...that doesn't look very smart.
Both things (phone and intercom) turned out to be a complete waste of time since I never used them. Not once.
Go! Or not
And we get to the Monday when I was supposed to go, I woke up at 4.23 (that is the 'normal' time for me) and I hear the rain on the roof. And I start cursing right away. Ok, let's hope it stops. The forecast was "cloudy with some rain".
If you have any doubt, it never stopped rain. In fact it got worse. I wanted to leave around 9.30 ~ 10, to avoid the worse of the morning traffic jam, but I ended up leaving at 9 when I see an opening in the rain. Of course as soon as I turn the corner it start raining again.
I got to Maastricht, about 280 Km later and not only is still raining, I start also feeling a bit wet. And here there need some explanation.
At the end of last year I replaced my old jacket (Dane) with a new one (Dainese), the new one is a so-called "all season" because it has a rain proof membrane that can be removed, allowing to use just the exterior with the protection and not much more. Now, I wasn't very convinced, also because the rain-proff liner is kinda stiff and not very comfortable to use. So I was using a different "liner" that turned out to be not very rain proof... Ok it is also 10+ year old and I'd never really tested under the rain.
At this point, it was around noon and I stopped in Maastricht to eat something and to decide what to do.
I had 3 options: 1. go on and risk to get a flu or pneumonia, 2. stop in maastricht, in an hotel 'cause I had no intention of mounting a tent with that rain, go to get an actual rainproof jacket and leave later, this would have probably costed me 2 days since a quick check told me that all the shops were closed on monday, or 3. turn around and go back home, at least I can sleep at home, dry everything that needs drying, go to get the rain jacket and all that I need.
After considering the pro and con, I decided that turning around was the best option and so I ended up at home after 500+ Km without going anywhere.
I immediately tossed the 'non-watherproof-jacket' in the garbage and the next day went to get a real rain jacket, the kind of thing that is so yellow that hurt your eyes, but keep the rain out.
We start again from Wednesday. And this time it doesn't rain.
Amsterdam - Saarbruken (~560 Km)
I leave home before 8Am, I get a bit of traffic around Utrecht, but the weather is holding, a bit cloudy but not rainy, I reach the border with Belgium and keep pushing into German territory. I reach the goal of the day: Saarbrucken, where I get to a campsite (not sure if it was the same I looked up on google and I don't care), pitch my tent and go catch some food for the evening.
Despite the problems to start, things looks a lot better now, in the end I rode for about 560 Km (I forgot to reset the counter).
Saarbruken - Lindau (Bodensee 418 Km)
The next day I get up early, take a shower to get rid of the sleep, pack up everything and depart as soon as they open the gate. The route I picked goes through some hilly and green terrain and also some small mountain, traffic is present but not impossible, I stop along the way in a fuel station for refueling and breakfast.
Around 3 pm I reach the Bodensee, localize the campsite (again: not sure if it is the same I looked up), the campsite is basically empty.
Lindau - Inssbruck (317 Km)
The next day I leave directed to Innsbruck
The weather is cloudy and sometimes I get one or 2 drop of wather, but is 2 drops, not buckets.
This was supposed to be a short treck, but turned out to be a lot longer than I expected, a bit because of the traffic, a bit because in most of the town the speed limit is 30 Km/h, and a lot because of the works on the roads.
The road turns out to be a lot of fun and even a bit "weird" sometimes...
A weird thing that happened: while I was waiting at a traffic light, a german guy on a very old BMW approaches and asks if I can fix bikes... I respond that I take mine to a garage. He explains that his clutch is acting up... and has done so for days (!). I asked why he didn't stopped at a garage along the way or why he didn't called the road service... we are in Austria, not some forgotten african country. I am not really sure what he replied. Anyhow, I repeated my suggestion and then I told him good luck.
I reach Innsbruck around 3pm, and decide to stop in an hotel tonight.
I wanted to stretch my legs a bit and since it's early for dinner I wanted to get a coffee and relax a bit, so I went to take a little tour of the place. And while I was sitting outside a bakery/cafe drinking my coffee, I saw something that looked really weird. The question is: are al the people that drives campers complete assholes or is the buying the camper that make the "latent-asshole" in full power?
All'explain. Near the cafe/backery there was a parking lot. Clearly marked as "private property - do not park here without authorization", and every single spot was marked the same. Well, a guy with a camper arrives, get in and then makes 23000 manouvers to try to park in one of the spots, sent also his wife to make gestures, gives up, another 3000 manouvers and end up parking like so:
Then both got out and went somewhere else...
Now, the thing that let me confused is: see that fence behind the camper in the picture? Now, behind that fence there is a space, as large as the parking lot, reachable by the same road, paved but without any indication whatsoever. There were no "private" signs, no "no parking" sign and nothing. So.... why the jackass parcked is garbagecamper in that space instead of using 3 parking spaces that are clearly marked as "no parking"?
I swear, if I had a car, I'd immediately parked behind his ass, just to troll him.
Anyhow, after the coffe I went to the local fuel station and bought the goddamned "vignette" for the motorway. I tried, very hard, to avoid it, but it seems that sometimes, even for just 200 meters, but you have to put the wheels on a motorway. In fact, both the gps and google maps, refused to use some routes that I was trying to program without any explanation, the "problem" was a spot that required the tol. Well, I tried.
After buying the 'vignette' and attaching to the bike I go get something to eat.
Innsbruck - Villach (317 Km)
The next morning I leave directed towards Villach, in the south-east of Austria.
The sky is blue, with a huge dark cloud on the top of the mountain, but I'm going the other way, so it shouldn't be a problem.
I begin to cross an infinite sequence of small towns, each one with a speed limit of 30 Km/h, that require to step down to first gear to proceed. This means that the road takes a lot longer than I anticipated.
I reach Villach around 2 PM, localize the campsite on the Faakersee (lake), at the reception there is the fastest and multi-taskiest receptionist I ever met before. She talk to me, answer the guy behind me, input data on the computer, pull papers from the printer and give them to her collegue and help the other collegue with the software all at once!
I place myself in a spot, a while later a bunch of germans with 4 trikes arrives, you know 'trikes'? those things that have all the con of cars and all the cons of bikes and none of the pro. They occupy the spot besides me and proceeded to make a mess until midnight, then they started snoring like a battaglion of polar bears.
So I was very happy to leave the next day, hoping that they went in the opposite direction.
Villach - Graz (281 Km)
And this is the moment things goes a bit awire. It seems there is some sort of race (marathon) nearby and the police has closed all the nearby roads. In an attempt of figuring out where to go, I ended up in Slovenia (!). And sadly, it is also raining there. I end up on a mountain road that has seen better day and between the condition of the road and the rain it takes me 2 hours to get back in Austria.
The map below reports the routes I had prepared, but the actual route I have no idea how it was.
I also stopped at a cafe' and managed to drop the bike, I thought I had extended the sidestand, but that one had other ideas so my bike ended up on the ground...
Also, the day after I noticed I had some damage at the right leg of my pants. I think that when I dropped the bike the pant contacted the bottom of the bike where the exhaust is (my bike lack an enginge skid plate) and the result is a melted pant. I improvised a repair with some duct tape, and when I'm back I'll try to put a patch on it.
Once back in Austria and having left the black cloud and the rain in Slovenia, things are looking better. I reach Graz and pick my camp on the Schwarze see.
Graz - Linz (250Km)
I leave Graz before of 8am, and I'm not even the first one! Trusting in the weather forecast, I've removed the rain liners from pants and jacket and at the beginning was even a bit cold. Traffic is histerical, and I realize that today is Monday. I completely lost the sense of time. The road climb up a mountain and then climb down on the other side and keep repeating for each mountain until it gets to the plain.
Reached Linz pick a campsite near the Piclingersee (lake). Tomorrow it starts the actual "re-entry" trip, that is probably going to be a very long ride on the motorway.
Linz - Frankfurt - Amsterdam
I leave Linz around 7.30 and enter Germany, I can immediately see the difference between refueling on normal roads and the motorway, before I could get 1.6 ~ 1.8 euro per liter, after price begin levitating around 2.1 ~ 2.2 (!).
Now, I usually stop in Nuremberg, but Linz - Nuremberg is way too short, so I decide to keep going and reach Frankfurt, so to do 2 middle-lenght day instead of a short one and a very long one.
So I arrive in Frankfurt and I'm thinking to stop in an hotel for a change, I get to an hotel and ask. Nope, all full.... Ok... I go to the next one, Nein! Alles Volle! .. ehuu... ok.. next one... Niet! Todo pleno! What the fuck??? The European Footbaal Championship of course!
In the end, I move away from Frankfurt about 20 Km and stop in a camping. Camping that is full of Danish, Scottish, English and wathever.
The next day I ride the last bit and reach Amsterdam around 2 PM. Tired but satisfied. The counter marks 3041 Km total.
A couple of annotations about my equipments and the rest
Besides the story of the rain liner, I'd better avoided to leave on monday and delay until tuesday or wednesday, I'd had a lot less problems.
Anyway, the equipment performed ok.
The sleepig bag, after last year that was not warm enough, this year was too warm! And I had 2 sweater one of which spent the whole trip on the bottom of my topcase.
I've said already about phone and intercom, and I even carried around the laptop that I never used. Maybe in a longer trip.
The folding chair I bought after last year instead saw a lot of use, basically I used it every day. What I missed is something like an hand fan, in some places was really warm.
Another useless piece of equipment was a small backpack that I decided to take "in case", that thing spent all the time attached to the bike.
It is useful, in campsite, to ask if it is possible to get a socket to recharge the batteries, in some places it is and it doesn't cost anythihng.
Costs
My total is 964 euros. Of which 476 were spent for sleeping (the hotel is the largest offender here), 211 for dinner, lunches, coffees etc. and 265 euros for petrol. To that count I need to add 12 euros for the "vignette".
Davide Bianchi
23/06/2024 17:08
