Up the Ybbs River and down the Urlauf River valleys.
Mostviertel is a region east of Salzburg and north of Salzkammegut where a number of old railways have been converted into trails. We plan to ride there on the way back to Vienna. On Sunday, 5th of August, we catch the train east from Salzburg and get off an hour later at Amstettern. It takes a while before we are sure we are going the right way, a bike only bridge across the Ybbs River.
An impressive bridge for just bikes . . .
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Schloss Ulmerfeld castle at the top of short but steep hill. The tower has a collection of weapons from the ages on display as you walk up the stairs and at the top.. |
The way is mostly flat with the odd very steep bit, Suz working her up and around and up another hill.
It is quite warm, so we detour down the steep unsealed road to the river to the Ybbsnaturbad Kematen for a swim and a river crossing on an aluminum cable raft thingy. Lots of purple damsel flies.
Most of the time, the trail is converted railway, though sometimes it is just a support road.
The surface was good enough for roadies out training, but we also passed a number of family groups. Suz stopping in front of a hydroplant, the top of the hill being a good couple of hundred metres above us. We stopped for the night at a village called Hollinstein (an der Ybbs) in a place right beside the road going up the valley. The building was hot so we needed the windows open but it was noisy so . . . After dinner we go for walk into town, this place appears to be mountain bike central . . . though it is just literature we see. There is a beautiful old cemetary surrounding the church below.
I take this photo early the next morning as we continue up the valley.
The cycle way has outstanding signage;
And furniture built from bits and pieces from the old railway . . . It is getting quite warm and we managed to find a spot amoungst the trees for a quick change and a dip.
We reach Lake Lunzsee at Lunz with a formal swimming entrance (pay to get in for access and change rooms and food) as the day heats up. We have a swim and lunch all the while observing very dark clouds gathering to the south.
Where the Ybbs runs out of the Lunz Lake
We leave Lunz up a new route and in trying to find it, we end up taking shelter from the rain under a bridge crossing the valley. This is after 15 minutes previously sheltering under somebody's garage roof, a few hundred metres higher up the hill. The rain does not look like it is going to clear, so we remove shoes and put on thongs. Dispite the rain, it is not cold and we already wearing raincoasts.
We spend the next 2 hours riding up the valley of the Bodingbach which flows into Lunz, over the pass at the village of Bodingbach and down along Mittaubach river in constant and heavy rain. There is a little traffic and it has almost finished raining by the time we reach Kartause Gaming which is a very large and very old Monastery. We stop for lunch.
Feeling better and a little drier, we continued down the Erlauf valley to Purgstall. Long before we get there, we are dry and getting quite warm.
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A very impressive example of guerilla knitting and the only example I have ever come across outside Fremantle. The place we are staying at is central. Meaning the church is across the road. A nice Catholic church with bells that ring loud and clear in the early morning air. Another warm building that needs the cool of night air . . . It also has a fine dining resturant attached. But the kitchen is not open on that night. Of course. We shower, change and go for a walk to get something to eat. It is a hour before we end up at a fast food (ok, Austrian, but still very ordinary) place. Afterwards, we walk over to the gorge as the sun sets.
On the way of out town . .. |
We return the next morning . . .
The cycleway follows the river closely and we continue on through apple farms. At one river crossing, we manage to see a deer making it's own crossing further upstream. There are also numerous and sizable fish keeping position in the shade of the banks.
It is getting warm again and it feels that the farms are getting smaller and the builtup areas bigger. We arrive at Poechlarn Station just in time for a train to Vienna, and that final hill back home.
The map of the area, displaying all the various tours is here, rightclick and save as (2MB).