(Salzburg, Austria to Gmunden)
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Highlights: splendid weather, spectacular scenery, lots of spring flowers, taking too many pictures, tired by the end
Mozart was born here (Salzburg)
Last pic of beautiful Salzburg
Terrific farm road scenery (east of Thalgau)
Reaching Lake Wolfgangsee after last climb of the day (near St. Gilgen)
St. Wolfgang from the ferry (Lake Wolfgangsee)
Spring flowers & mountains (Ebensee)
Last lake of the day (Traunsee) with view of Traunkirchen
Journal: Today I tried to get an early start. The goal was to ride at least 70 km to Bad Ischl (& hopefully farther) so that I can catch a morning train tomorrow to Linz to meet Joe. Since I didn't want to have a stressful day like yesterday (& to avoid the possible afternoon rain in the Salzburg area) I got rolling at 9 this morning, enjoyed a quick ride thru beautiful oldtown Salzburg, then started the first climb of the day (about 700') on a nice paved bike path. The scenery just got better once I reached the top, gently riding down to Lake Mondsee on quiet country roads with scenic snowy peaks off to the distance.
Took a brief lunch break along the lake before commencing another climb that I was dreading along a busy road. Turned out to be not so bad, as the traffic was moderate and I had a small gravel shoulder to use as an escape route if nessesary. The climb itself was 400' in 1.2 miles and took me about 15 minutes (and I didn't even have to use my lowest gear). From the top it was a short ride down to the shores of beautiful Lake Wolfgang. After riding halfway along the lake I hopped a quick boat ride across the lake to the resort town of St. Wolfgang. This is where former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl used to take many of his vacations and I can see why. Simply stunning spot.
From here it was only another 10 miles to Bad Ischl. I got separated from official bike route again (as tends to happen several times a day now) and ended up riding a trafficky road into town, but didn't mind since it helped me avoid several hilly parts. Bad Ischl is another attractive Austrian town that I could have spent several hour relaxing in, but I decided to press on as I had been looking forward to a 10-mile downhill stretch along the river to the next lake. The scenery was quite nice, but the road next to me was busy, noisy & smelly so the ride overall was just so-so.
After reaching the town of Ebensee on the southern side of Lake Traunsee it was about 6 pm and I briefly considered calling it a day (after 60 miles) to avoid a dangerous looking stretch of the road ahead (including a tunnel). As it turned out my maps were slightly out-of-date and there were bike paths around all the sketchy parts. In short order I was rewarded with more wonderful lake views, especially near the tiny picturesque town of Traunkirchen. From there it was a mere 6-7 miles to Gmunden (my final goal) so I kept pedaling along the lake-level bike path the rest of the way. By the time i reached Gmunden (after 70 miles) I was quite exhausted but very pleased with the absolutely beautiful day of riding I had experienced.
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