Some hills you can see. You see them in front of you and you know, that’s going to be exhausting. Or you see the way downhill, excited about the run you are going to have. But then, there are these hills you are not able to see. You just feel them. First you are wondering why it is suddenly so exhausting to drive, but then you notice it.
Driving upstream beside a river means driving this sort of hill up almost the whole time. But at least I have an excuse why I’m driving that slow then.
Today’s travel data:
Date: Friday, 15 July
Way: Linz – Altmünster, taking the Traunradwwg
Distance: 82km
Time: 08:45 – 16:15
Weather: cloudy and rainy
It was not raining when I left Sarah, so I was quite motivated. First I followed the way Google Maps told me to, as always. It was very reliable till now.
From time to time I saw the signs for the Traun bicycling route, the R4, but then Google Maps lead me somewhere else. I followed it, intelligent as I am, but I soon had to notice that it had lead me on a locked road. So I had to drive a few kilometres back, till I found the R4 again, and from that point on I followed the signs. I think, I have made many detours, but it was quite beautiful. And I always knew where to go due the signs, which was very nice.
One time I decided to make a short break for eating. I told myself, at the next bench I see, I’m gonna stop and take a break. The next bench I saw was right before a hill. I don’treally like it to stop at the bottom of a hill, but I thought, I promised myself, so I have to stop here. The bench was wet (who wonders?), so I got my rain trousers. Just in that moment I had them on, it started raining like pouring out buckets. While eating my sandwiches in the pouring rain, I still had to laugh.
By the way, every time you read something like that, I’m never in a bad mood because of the weather. I still enjoy driving, I still like being on the road, I just sometimes like complaining. So, it’s never that bad as it sounds.
After my break it only rained a little bit. After the hill I met another bicyclist, who was sitting on another bench, as well very wet and eating. Needless to say that I had to grin at him.
Anyway, the rest of the journey wasn’t very excited anymore. I drove through a lot of small villages, got a lot of wondering glances from the people there and it stopped raining at some point as well.
With arriving in Gmunden I already liked the city. It seemed nice and cozy, and the view on the lake was really amazing. I drove a bit around there before making my way to Altmünster, where I was able to sleep at the place of friends of my Grandmother. Still no camping in the rain, yess.
I spend a very lovely evening there. From the start I felt welcomed, got a lot to eat and a lot of stories to hear. For me as a calm person, who prefers listening to talking, that was really nice.
Things I have learned from today? Not much, I think. At least I can’t remember much.
😊❤