Watch my Relive video here!: https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDAVjDrwv

What a day for so many reasons!

Breaking News!
We communicate with each other through WhatsApp, and upon waking I see there is a post from guide Sam that 3 of the Cycletooth Army has tested positive for Covid ( the modern day version of Arnaldia). So everyone else had to test, all but one of us tested negative, bringing the positive cases to 4.  A real bummer, and those 4 will need to isolate in the hotel for 5 days while the rest carry on. Also one of our group thought it best if he fly home, so Team Canuck is down to 2 riders and missing our MVP member. The army will also be missing 3 strong riders for about a week. With reinforcements coming, we will carry on!

This means the rest of us will don  the masks and test daily, because we were all in close contact with each other. From gets crossed that no one else in the group get it, but the odds are not great.

So now for the Ride today!

Because of the Covid situation, we had a late start. The morning started out well under bright sunny skies along a paved  bike path through rural farmland but at kilometre 5, we got an 8km, 10% test of what was to come …check ADF353C4-2D7D-4BF7-9FFF-BB36B8716BCE

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looking back down on Lienz.

examples of the excellent network of paved bike paths!

At about kilometre 25 we met up with the big guy, Grossglockner. Pronouncing this word 5 times fast is difficult but nowhere close to the difficulty of this climb…33 km at 12%!!!…what the ? !
The Grossglockner is Austria’s toughest and most challenging and is the highest peak in the Austrian Alps at 12,461 ft. It is the highest paved road in Austria (8,215 ft) and has been featured twice in the Giro d’Italia. I renamed this climb the Grossf*ckner, hence WTG!

 a lot of info on this sign, lower left and bottom most important!!

  the road up is in the centre of photo…

As usual the scenery was beautiful even as the weather started to turn. Rain greeted so we stopped briefly us about halfway up the ascent to put on some rain gear. The temperature started dropping getting as low as 8C at the summit.

Then the fog set in. And we could not see the summit, but fortunately Sam was there with the van to stop us! A hot bowl of goulash soup and a change of kit fortified 3 of us to take on the 12% descent( the other 3 decided to ride the van with Sam.

the summit in dense fog

Check out this link!
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After the light warm lunch we entered a tunnel and I was was wet freezing for the first 2 km down until another steep uphill gave me a chance to create some body heat…I was never so happy to do a climb!!

 James and roommate from Che trip, enjoying the breathtaking view

  Check this linkCheIMG_4408

The weather also broke, rain stopped, roads dried and presented as Bruce said, “not only fantastic views, but spectacular!”….and James and I justified flew down the mountainside stopping only because of the unbelievable scenery, for photos.

 looking back up to the summit  and the wild flowers blooming   Check this link 751305A7-3503-4588-BCDC-D5D519028829 IMG_4408

We finished in the resort town of Zell am Zee and all spending a night in a beautifully renovated old castle owned by the Porsche car family since  the 1970’s.

 Check this link

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Wonderful  dry Riesling and a Cabernet accompanied a great dinner of pretzels, wild mushroom soup, a pork meatloaf with warm potato and cucumber, and crème brûlée with tart cherry and raspberry.

Legs are sore…but Life is good in Zell am Zee!