Tour 2008, 25 - 28 June
| stage | distance (km) | climbing (m) |
|---|---|---|
| Wien-Hietzing - Semmering | 182 | 2660 |
| Semmering - Gai | 148 | 2900 |
| Gai - St. Nikolai | 141 | 2460 |
| St. Nikolai - Elsbethen | 157 | 1290 |
| total | 628 | 9310 |
Stage 1: 25 June 2008
I took advantage of a meeting in Vienna to start my tour 2008 from there, having
taken the bicycle along when going there by train. I started early in the morning
after the end of the meeting. I did not have to cross the whole city, but to ride
out of Vienna was not easy and i had to ask several times how to get to Kalksburg.
From there, it was much easier. I rode to Breitenfurt-West, then over
Kleiner Semmering to the Vienna
River. For a short distance, i went along this valley, where there was quite some
traffic, but then it was quiet for the rest of the day. The next three small passes
led me through the Wienerwald: first the
Hengstl, then
Forsthof and
Klammhöhe.
The sky had been partly cloudy, but now it was clearing up as i was reaching
Hainfeld. It was warm but not too much. Riding through Ramsau was not easy because
the road was being rebuilt and the sidewalks were at places very narrow.
Nevertheless, i could continue towards
Dürrholzer Kreuz, then down to Hölle
(no, in spite of the name it was not hell). A very gentle climb led me south to
Kalte Kuchl, where i joined my
2005 route for a short stretch. This time, however, i
did not ride over the Rohrer Sattel but over a parallel pass,
Haselrast. It was a very nice little
road and an easy climb from the west side (the other way would be markedly harder).
This, however, was leading me eastwards, which was not really my main direction.
Thus, in Gutenstein, i turned right to the Klostertal valley and to the
Klostertaler Gscheid. The next
descent, into the Höllental, had again nothing to do with hell. There were many
curves in this narrow valley. As it was opening to a plain near Reichenau, i went
right to Prein, and then left on a small road towards Semmering. My counter was
already showing close to 170 km, but i did not mind to ride up one more time. I
just did not yet know that it would be up (to
Orthof) and down and up and down and
up till i would reach the Semmering
pass, where i could find an hotel.
| distance (km) | altitude (m) | climbing (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hietzing | 0 | 190 | |
| Mauer | 12 | 320 | 130 |
| Kalksburg | 14 | 250 | - |
| Kleiner Semmering | 23 | 460 | 210 |
| Pressbaum | 29 | 280 | - |
| Hengstl | 39 | 530 | 250 |
| Klausen-Leopoldsdorf | 46 | 370 | - |
| Forsthof | 54 | 560 | 190 |
| Laaben | 58 | 350 | - |
| Klammhöhe | 65 | 620 | 270 |
| Hainfeld | 73 | 430 | - |
| Dürrholzer Kreuz | 88 | 710 | 280 |
| Hölle | 95 | 490 | - |
| Kalte Kuchl | 105 | 730 | 240 |
| Gegend | 107 | 650 | - |
| Haselrast | 118 | 780 | 130 |
| Gutenstein | 127 | 490 | - |
| Klostertaler Gscheid | 139 | 770 | 280 |
| Reichenau | 161 | 490 | - |
| Orthof | 170 | 920 | 430 |
| Adlitzgraben | 174 | 730 | - |
| Semmering | 182 | 980 | 250 |
| total | 182 | 2660 |
Stage 2: 26 June 2008
From Semmering, i went only a few kilometres down to the valley before turning
left to Pfaffensattel. This climb
was first very gentle, but then steep. The road was in bad state. Fortunately, the
other side was better and i could ride fast down to Rettenegg and Ratten. From
there, i went up to Auf der Halt and followed the mountain crest down to
Reisenegger. I remained along this
crest to the Toter Mann pass, but
this was only an unpaved forest road. Still along the same crest, i came down to
Kreuzwirt and, on a good raod again,
to Schlofferegg. The descent to
Birkfeld was very nice. I climbed in the town of Birkfeld to the other side of the
valley and took the road to
Strassegg. Up to Gasen, it was an
easy climb, but later it became steeper. There was little traffic and the
temperature just above 20° allowed me to enjoy this climb. The descent to Breitenau
was easy and quite fast. Near Pernegg, i had to ride on the main road and the
traffic was just a continuous line of cars and trucks.
Fortunately, this was only for a short time. On my map, there was the
Eisenpass waiting for me. Not clear
from the map, however, was the state of the road, first narrow but perfect, then
unpaved but easy, and finally very steep (more than 15%). If i had known, i would
probably have chosen to ride over Bruck, in spite of the traffic; but i was already
on the way and did not want to go back. Then i even took the wrong way at a
crossing without signs, but this was already close to the pass and i finally found
it, with its small chapel. The descent was also unpaved and i could not pay too
much attention to the nice landscape. Reaching Oberaich (and good roads again), i
was lucky enough to find tail winds to Leoben and further to St. Peter-Freienstein.
This allowed my average speed to recover a bit. On a shortcut road between St.
Peter and Kammer, i found a room for the night at Gai. Later, for the third evening
in a row, there were thunderstorms.
| distance (km) | altitude (m) | climbing (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semmering | 0 | 980 | |
| Jauern | 5 | 810 | - |
| Pfaffensattel | 17 | 1370 | 560 |
| Ratten | 32 | 720 | - |
| Auf der Halt | 39 | 1060 | 340 |
| Reisenegger | 40 | 1030 | - |
| Wildwiesen | 46 | 1160 | 130 |
| Schloffereck | 50 | 940 | - |
| Gschaid | 59 | 550 | - |
| Birkfeld | 61 | 700 | 150 |
| Jägerleiten | 64 | 600 | - |
| Gasen | 73 | 820 | 220 |
| Strassegg | 78 | 1160 | 340 |
| Breitenau | 87 | 610 | - |
| Kirchdorf | 103 | 410 | - |
| Zehnerhalt | 112 | 1180 | 770 |
| Forstgut | 114 | 1020 | - |
| Eisenpass | 116 | 1180 | 160 |
| Oberaich | 126 | 500 | - |
| Leoben | 136 | 540 | 40 |
| Störr | 146 | 730 | 190 |
| Edling | 148 | 670 | - |
| total | 148 | 2900 |
Stage 3: 27 June 2008
The sky was cloudy and the forecasts were for some rain showers as i left Gai. I
was first riding towards the Liesing valley. Because of the parallel highway, there
was only little traffic. The road was barely climbing but, nevertheless, it brought
me to a pass: Schoberpass. In the
descent, i followed the valley only down to Trieben. There, after buying a drink, i
took the road to Hohentauern. It was
first very steep, then more or less flat (but a new road was being built with a
more constant slope). Later, the road was steep but not excessively. In the cool
morning air, the climb did not pose any problem, nor did the long descent to St.
Oswald. Then i turned right towards
Hochegg, a pass easy to climb, but a
bit higher than the previous one. Dark clouds were gathering and, even if it was
noon, there was barely enough light to take a picture of the Gellsee. As i was
turning right towards Oberwölz, it began to rain. I hurried to the next farm and
protected myself under a roof.
Fortunately, the rain lasted only a quarter of an hour and then i could continue
towards Oberwölz. The road was going several times up and down. I stopped again in
Schöder to drink something before attacking the
Sölkpass. In the first half, the
slope was very irregular. The second half was more constant: just steep. In the
last few kilometres, i experienced strong and cool headwind. Arriving at the pass,
i knew that my wind jacket would not be useless. I did not yet know that it would
soon serve also as rain jacket. I could at least start the descent on a steep but
dry road, but i came into a thunderstorm before reaching St. Nikolai. The ride
became wet and cold, everything but enjoyable. I preferred to stop as soon as
possible. After the cold rain, the warm shower in the guesthouse was a great
comfort.
| distance (km) | altitude (m) | climbing (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edling | 0 | 670 | |
| Glarsdorf | 4 | 730 | 60 |
| Seiz | 7 | 640 | - |
| Schoberpass | 30 | 850 | 210 |
| Trieben | 45 | 700 | - |
| Hohentauern | 54 | 1270 | 570 |
| Unterzeiring | 76 | 900 | - |
| Hochegg | 89 | 1300 | 400 |
| Hocheggerbauer | 91 | 1330 | 30 |
| Oberwölz | 100 | 830 | - |
| Vogelbichl | 108 | 1090 | 260 |
| St. Peter | 111 | 860 | - |
| Schöder | 118 | 900 | 40 |
| Sölkpass | 132 | 1790 | 890 |
| St. Nikolai | 141 | 1120 | - |
| total | 141 | 2460 |
Stage 4: 28 June 2008
The sky had largely cleared up during the night and i could look forward to a
dry stage. Humidity, however, had probably found a way into the axis of my rear
wheel: after a few kilometres of descent, it began to make an ominous noise.
Obviously something for the next service. Presently, i just had to endure this
noise... which receded and disappeared later the same day. Except for this
technical problem, the ride down to the Enns valley was easy. At Trautenfels, i
came again across the route of my 2005 tour. The ride
over the Hinterberg and Bad Mitterndorf was more enjoyable than three years
earlier: the weather was nice and i followed more closely the signs for cycling
paths, which cost me some detours but kept me out of the traffic. Near Pichl, i
took the small road to the right, leading me out of the main valley and to the
Radlingpass. From there, the
descent brought me to Bad Aussee, where i just crossed the town, riding to the west
along the Koppentraun River. The road did not follow exactly the river, going steep
up, then almost flat and finally very steep down to Obertraun. At the highest
point, there was a sign indicating "Koppen Pass 690 m", but it is not a real pass
in the geographical sense of a crossing between crest and valley lines.
Arriving in Obertraun, i followed the road to Halstatt around the Halstatt Lake.
There is a tunnel to drive around this town, but the bicycles are led along the
small streets close to the shore. There were many tourists around. After Halstatt,
i continued first along the lake, then turned left (and up) to Gosau. From there,
there was a short but steep climb, and i reached
Pass Gschütt. After the descent, i
did not follow the main road climbing to the other side of the valley. Instead, i
followed the stream (Lammer). Further, at another place named Pichl, i took the
small and nice road up to St. Koloman, with
Wegscheid as the last pass of this
tour. After the last pass came obviously the last descent, which led me to the town
of Hallein. Then i followed the bicycle path along the Salzach River. At Elsbethen,
near Salzburg, i stopped at a hostelry directly at the bike path and at the
river.
The next day, i would only have a few kilometres before reaching Salzburg and
taking a train to Zurich.
This tour had not been very long, but it had brought me through nice landscapes and
on roads mostly with little traffic.
| distance (km) | altitude (m) | climbing (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Nikolai | 0 | 1120 | |
| Stein | 19 | 650 | - |
| Trautenfels | 38 | 640 | - |
| Klachau | 42 | 820 | 180 |
| Neuhofen | 49 | 800 | - |
| Bad Mitterndorf | 50 | 830 | 30 |
| Rödschnitz | 54 | 760 | - |
| Knoppen | 58 | 840 | 80 |
| Äussere Kainisch | 61 | 770 | - |
| Radlingpass | 63 | 840 | 70 |
| Bad Aussee | 70 | 630 | - |
| Koppenpass | 76 | 690 | 60 |
| Obertraun | 79 | 530 | - |
| Hallstatt | 83 | 510 | - |
| Gosau | 101 | 740 | 230 |
| Pass Gschütt | 104 | 960 | 220 |
| Pichl | 120 | 570 | - |
| Schönau | 129 | 860 | 290 |
| Grubach | 131 | 780 | - |
| Wegscheid | 134 | 910 | 130 |
| Vigaun | 143 | 470 | - |
| Elsbethen | 157 | 440 | - |
| total | 157 | 1290 |
PS / 12.7.2008