Mondsee early Friday morning. A beautiful 60km ride round Mondsee lake, with a couple of tricky mountains at the end.
Sunday's 150km club run went over a reasonably large hill, the Haunsberg which came after 70km, and rewarded our efforts with an incredible view and super-fast descent into Bavaria, Germany.
The Bavarian roads are something else, consisting of endless rolling hills, small woods and immaculate fields peppered with tiny farm communities. One of my club-mates, Sepp, grew up in the area and knew exactly where we were, but to me it felt like a maze of left and right turns and I completely lost my sense of direction.
It was definitely tough going. Sepp is one strong dude and was on a mission charging through the lanes like he was in the Tour of Flanders. The rest of us were constantly sprinting out of corners and over the lumpy bits hanging onto his wheel.
Thankfully we took a break at his favourite pub for a Radler (Meaning ‘cyclist’ in German, a Radler is the drink of choice for cyclists in Austria and Germany who want the taste of a beer without the full effects of a 5% alcoholic brew.).
The last 25km home were definitely a bit of a slog. The temperature was approaching 30° and it was mainly uphill but I’d made sure I’d eaten and drunk enough (four litres of water in total) throughout the day and finished up at home after 150km not totally wasted.
