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Today's fiasco started:
Gus had bought some shiny new Castelli shorts which he hoped would make him go faster. but when he put them on today there was a twist in one of the shoulder straps. We tried for 45 minutes turning the shorts inside out, backwards, one leg in, one leg out and still the twist remained. Hunger got the better of us so we set off to the cafe with the plan to call in at the sports shop on route. The lady at the shop took one look and said that the error was in manufacturing and exchanged them immediately. There was 45 minutes of my life that was I was never going to get back.
Croissants for breakfast and then we set off with a view to cross another set of alps in to Austria. We asked a local person to take a photo before we departed. He had the same photography skill as the yank had kayaking skills ... Hence no before shot. Lol
Another Alps crossing!! What were we thinking!! Now we realise that it was the Wurzen Pass at 3520 feet.
The road was steep (see photos) and at one stage
some one past me carrying a huge circular backpack (see photo). The only saving grace of this pass was that it was reasonably short. After 4 kilometres we were at the top and crossing in to Austria. A quick stop at a cafe just over the border for a hot chocolate and to look at an old American tank then it was a monster ride down. We stopped at one stage to take a look at a bunker museum but after busting a valve to get to the top of the hill ..... It was closed. On the ride back down we discovered another bunker and decided to explore it. Looked more like a safety bunker or machine gun nest for those with a vivid imagination.
More downhill!! In fact I stopped to take a photo of the hairpin and Gus later told me that he wanted to take the same photo but his brakes couldn't stop him so he sailed past.
On the other side of the hairpin we met Thomas and Naomi, a Swiss couple who were on the
way up... Poor buggers!! (18% uphill)
The road in Austria was in need of repair and
undulating for the next 40-50 kilometres. Doesn't appear to be a lot happening on this side of the alps and we struggled to find accommodation. Fortunately my limited German came in to play when we needed to order two beers and book the accommodation. Gus was able to draw on the German learnt from reading Commando comics when he was a teenager. Vunderba bar!! Achtung!! Etc. Some where along the road I lost my rear light ... Very expensive.. Very bright... Very upset. It was so bright you could almost see it from the moon. Air traffic control sent me letters asking me to turn it off..
The Ratz hotel is mega old. Wifi is available but you have to stand on the balcony with a spoon in your left hand. Problem is that the spoons are all off forking somewhere.
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Tot: 0.055s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0352s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb