Autumn at the Pinfold

A frosty morning back at the Pinfold

Goodbye Austria

We boxed the bikes (thanks to a cycle shop in Sölden who supplied some freebie bespoke cardboard) and the Guflers delivered us to Innsbruck airport with the bike comfortably accommodated in a rather fine aluminium trailer. The Lufthansa Express bus then took us to Munich for the flight to Manchester. The biggest obstacle of the day was manoeuvring them through the narrow, one-way, automatic, double doors that are the exit from the Green Channel.

 

The eGolf was fully charged and waiting for us at the Meet & Greet and, with a little huffing and puffing, we squeezed the bikes, complete with boxes, into the car. Because they were an exact fit both driver and passenger seat had to be rammed as far forward as possible leaving no room for legs and knees.

We switched to digital for the day

After many hundreds of muscle powered cycling miles in Europe we went digital for the day. The slopes in the Alps are very steep but yielded to our hired eBikes with ease. We shot up 1,200 metres in a flash and were rewarded with fabulous, autumnal Alpine views before hurtling down the forest tracks with brake disks sizzling.

We have had a memorable few days with Rosemarie and Seppl in Huben with walks to Fuerstein and Bergstein but tomorrow the rain returns and it will be time to box our bikes ready for the return flight from Innsbruck to Manchester. 

We have have had a wonderful 4 weeks of European cycling with memorable stops in Vienna, Ljubljiana, Trieste, Grado, Salzburg and the Oetz Valley. Looking forward to being back in Wales.

Cycleway Signposts

With a little help from Austrian railways we cycle up the Oetz Valley

A soggy bus trip to Salzburg

The forecast came true and the 5 hour bike/bus trip to Salzburg was wet and murky all the way. Tomorrow we take the train from Salzburg to Oetztal Bahnhof to cycle the purpose built track up to Huben before the next cold front arrives.