And Down the Other side

Halfway or a bit more up a f…….g mountain  -  Schwatz (nr. Innsbruck)  71.5 kms    749’ascent.

Our emergency accommodation provided for all our needs except that we felt thoroughly unwelcome. We were the only residents and we ate our breakfast under the ever watchful eye of the waiter/ manager and a ceiling camera. Much indigestion followed! This constant observation continued until we had retrieved our bikes and trailers from the garage and started to load up. As the garage door closed, I could hear the Rottweiler growling behind the door. There was a camera here too. Having got used to the Austrian ‘open door’ policy, this behaviour was altogether unnerving. On the positive side, we were dry, rested and fed. We are still speculating about iffy activities going on.

It was with some relief that we hit the road and managed to ride at least until we were out of sight of the guest house! Last night’s storm had passed and left behind a residual drizzle. After a bit less than an hour of riding/walking we reached the summit. Hoorah. The upside of all that climbing was a downhill that seemed go on forever. In view of the wet roads it was unwise (or it was for me) to really let rip, but nonetheless it was great fun to be moving almost as fast as the traffic.

Once we reached the valley floor, the speed decreased but the ride was still gently downhill until we reached the river Inn. I assumed this flowed towards Innsbruck from where we joined it but my geography was all to pot and we were following it upstream. Up/down, it was still a comfortable ride in the sunshine which had gradually re-established itself. As an additional bonus, Alan had located a cycle track which has, so far, been well signposted. We have our fingers crossed that it may remain so, for tomorrow we/ Alan must locate the best route to the base of the Brenner Pass! If all goes well and, barring thunder storms, we could find ourselves in Italy tomorrow. Maybe?!