st. johann - spittal an der drau and with the train through the mountain

We woke up at six in the morning to have some more time. The plan worked out in principle, but we still didn't leave until after eight o'clock.

The weather was initially quite friendly and then turned cold and rainy again. Speaking of cold, the night was around four degrees cold, which woke me up several times during the night.

The trip went smoothly, except that my father-in-law is missing a nut and bolt on his saddle. So that he doesn't have to sit on the bolts, we wedged a toilet paper roll in between.

We had our lunch at a bus stop. Since we ran out of instant soup, we made ourselves a cup of tea to warm up. We had fresh bread from the baker and ham. We also had bell peppers and cucumbers in stock. Whoever thinks can just go shopping... but it's different when all the stores are closed. But we didn't starve.

The climb to Bad Gastein was tough, and before that, we had to climb a few hundred meters in altitude due to a detour. This also drained the batteries of the cyclists, and it was questionable whether the batteries would be sufficient until the end. My physical battery was also weakened but filled up again in the evening.

The train ride from Böckstein was quite pleasant. The waiting room was even better. It was heated. Wonderful.

In the end, we had twice as many altitude meters as planned, but we arrived in Spittal an der Drau safely.

After the hot shower, we went to a restaurant to recharge and warm up. We had schnitzel and for dessert, Kaiserschmarren. We went there and back by bike. On the way back, I was able to buy milk for breakfast from one of those computer-controlled boxes.

This night, I or probably we will pack ourselves better and hope for a good night's sleep.

See you tomorrow.

As always, the statistics are here: https://strava.app.link/BgFF8V8Wqqb