Day 19 Passau to Linz
It was cold and damp this morning with a heavy mist hanging over the river. A lot of people followed me out of camp this morning. Too many, but I figured who cares if they are all behind me. As we crossed the boarder into Austria we stopped for the maditory pictures at the boarder which is now just a sign post on the road. We stopped at the 30 k mark for coffee and strudel which was really excellent. At the coffee stop Young Al and Phil caught us and joined the group. Now there are way too many riders in a big pack. As we caught up with Maurren and Glen on this corner young Al pulled the same stunt he did yesterday with Curt. He came up on me and then cut into me. Although we wound up in this big sand pile that was beside the road no one was injured. He clearly needs to learn the rules of the road, and he is going all the way to Peking. At lunch I complained to Duncan who is a real straight shooter.
After lunch I made sure that I was out first and went hard. There was no way I was riding with that many people. The pelaton was breathing down my neck but after about 20 k the only guy with me was Joco, who is a really strong rider and muscles his bike around. About 10 k from camp we went through this quick left and then right at around 30 km/hr when Joco’s crank arm on the right side snapped off right where the pedal screws into the crank. He skidded for 50-60 feet with one foot on the ground, but didn’t go down. What a save! He rode the last few kilometres into town to get a new crank arm with only one pedal.
Camp was about 4 k on the other side of town on this very pretty little lake. I rode on out and was the first in. The trip computer puts the ride at 105 kms.
And so ends the first day in Austria.
Terry
It was cold and damp this morning with a heavy mist hanging over the river. A lot of people followed me out of camp this morning. Too many, but I figured who cares if they are all behind me. As we crossed the boarder into Austria we stopped for the maditory pictures at the boarder which is now just a sign post on the road. We stopped at the 30 k mark for coffee and strudel which was really excellent. At the coffee stop Young Al and Phil caught us and joined the group. Now there are way too many riders in a big pack. As we caught up with Maurren and Glen on this corner young Al pulled the same stunt he did yesterday with Curt. He came up on me and then cut into me. Although we wound up in this big sand pile that was beside the road no one was injured. He clearly needs to learn the rules of the road, and he is going all the way to Peking. At lunch I complained to Duncan who is a real straight shooter.
After lunch I made sure that I was out first and went hard. There was no way I was riding with that many people. The pelaton was breathing down my neck but after about 20 k the only guy with me was Joco, who is a really strong rider and muscles his bike around. About 10 k from camp we went through this quick left and then right at around 30 km/hr when Joco’s crank arm on the right side snapped off right where the pedal screws into the crank. He skidded for 50-60 feet with one foot on the ground, but didn’t go down. What a save! He rode the last few kilometres into town to get a new crank arm with only one pedal.
Camp was about 4 k on the other side of town on this very pretty little lake. I rode on out and was the first in. The trip computer puts the ride at 105 kms.
And so ends the first day in Austria.
Terry
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