19 April 2007

My ride to work


It has to be the best commute I've ever had: 32km through the alps, along a canyon and over a couple of tricky climbs. The canyon road is quite amazing, just wide enough for a car and with a short tunnel bashed through some rock (you can just see it to the right of the photo).


This is the last climb - a nasty 1 in 6 effort over the Sonnberg before dropping down to Fuschl where the office is. Gotta love it.
The cycling season is now well under way and I had my first ride out with the bike club (RC Hallein) last week. That turned out to be a 110km in 3hr 15min blast through Bavaria, just over the German border. I felt surprisingly strong given that it was my first proper ride in months, but it was seriously "vollgas" and no hanging around.

10 April 2007

Vienna


We spent our first wedding anniversary in Vienna and had a great time. Lovely weather meant that we were able to cruise around the streets on their special citybike service. It was all very cultural: went to the fine arts museum, the zoo (brilliant) and nice restuarants. It's a fantastic city.


Looking thoughtful outside the Hundertwasser Haus. Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist, environmentalist and architect. He lived out his final years in New Zealand where his only claim to fame are some public toilets he designed for a town in Northland. There are buildings of his all over Austria though, and they are all quite remarkable.