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Krimml to Zell am
See, 43 miles by bike
Day 2: Sunday, May 26 , 2002
We awoke to clouds and fog, but no rain! Unfortunately, the cloud cover was low and blocked most of the beautiful snow-capped peaks that I remembered from my trip the previous year. We had a very good buffet breakfast at the pension, along with the many people staying there because of the race. A lot different than last year, when there was almost nobody at the pension! We packed up and got started around 9:00 a.m. and stopped briefly at the sign at the start of the route near the falls, where we asked a passing race fan to snap our photo.
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| At the start of the Tauern bike path in Krimml. A cloudy and gray day. The path begins just to the right of this parking lot. |
Off we went down the curving, gravel path toward the stream at the bottom of the falls. The path turned into a fairly rough track through the woods (basically a logging road), but it's really pretty. Right away we were glad we installed our drum brake for this trip, as the first downhill was pretty steep! After riding through the woods for a bit we followed the signs to the left and rode across a wooden bridge over the river, where we rejoined the main road near the Krimml train station. (Note: if you are planning to arrive in Krimml via the narrow-gauge Pinzgaubahn railway, be aware that the station for Krimml is actually in the valley, and that you must then bike up a pretty good-sized hill to get to the town of Krimml.)
Four mountain bikers had passed us on the dirt trail section, and now we blasted past them on the pavement. They seemed surprised as we cranked past. It's hard to keep up with a loaded tandem on a downhill! Although the morning was cool, after riding a bit in Gore-Tex parkas over T-shirts we were actually hot. Toward the bottom of the hill we rode past a farmhouse with a fenced-in enclosure for goats; they had their own little climbing gym for hanging out and looked pretty content with life.
It had been a continual downhill ever since we started, but we were only really able to take advantage of it when we got to the road. While the path through the woods is pretty, I think it would have been much more enjoyable to ride the long descent from Krimml on the road rather than on the dirt path. (On a subsequent trip we did, in fact, ride down the main road, and it was a glorious downhill!) Thankfully, we had pretty wide tires (26x1.5) on our tandem, but those with narrower road tires might have problems on the initial section of the route.
Occasionally we followed the road instead of the signed route, because the route occasionally takes long detours to avoid the main road, adding hills and extra kilometers when it's not necessary. This is pretty common on most "official" bike routes in Europe. It can be nice if you don't like riding with light traffic or if you have children in the group. Being used to sharing the road with traffic at home, the lightly traveled roads in this area seemed like heaven to us.
A right turn brought us into the small town of Hollersbach, featuring a neat old building from the 1300s that houses the town's tourist bureau (TI). Unfortunately, it was closed because it was Sunday (no toilets open!), but there was a water fountain in front with water pouring out of a pipe into a log from which I refilled our bottles. It didn't warn "kein trinkwasser," so I assumed it was OK. I had no problems last year filling my bottles there.
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| Building in Hollersbach from the 1300s. Tourist info office inside. |
A few minutes' riding after Hollersbach brought us to the town of Mittersill, and the route directed us through the main square and right through a Sunday "flohmarkt" (flea market) in the middle of town. We stopped and looked, but didn't really see anything interesting. We thought about stopping for lunch in Mittersill, but it was only 11:00 and we figured we'd wait because we weren't hungry. We stopped again in Niedersill to look for lunch, but didn't find anything open. We split a peanut butter PowerBar that Ginny brought from home and continued on to Piesendorf hoping for some food.
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| Riding along a small farm road in the Tauern valley. |
At Piesendorf the route makes a right to bypass the town itself, but we continued on a spur route (marked with signs) up a hill, under a bridge, and into town where we found an open bakery and bought a few pastries. We had hoped for a wurst or some sandwiches, but had to settle for pastries. Not the healthiest lunch, but when in Austria…! We rode back down the hill to a soccer field and sat on some benches and enjoyed the pastries washed down with warm water-bottle water. There is also a nice-looking pool just as you come into town that offers short-term rates for bikers to use the pool, something like 2.50 Euros for an hour or so. I’m sure it would be a nice rest break if the weather was hot.
Further along the route outside of Piesendorf we passed through a swinging gate. Thankfully, it swung away from us, so we just approached it slowly on the bike and nudged it with our front wheel to get it to open, and let it close by itself. Why the gate? Cows! Five reclining cows on the left side of the path looked up at us as we approached, and then started to get up. We stopped, not knowing their intentions. They looked at us, not knowing ours. They were a lot bigger than us, and had horns (yes, cows with horns), so we let them make the first move. They decided to cross the path no more than five feet in front of us. One stopped to look us over, but the cow in back of her prodded her with a horn to get moving. We rode through more cows along the way to Kaprun, but none so active and close as this (most were just reclining by the side of the path).
With the exception of the short dirt section from Krimml down into the valley, the route from Krimml to Zell am See is paved and quite scenic, with some rolling hills. In fact, we both consider this to be one of the nicest day rides we’ve ever done. The route through the narrow valley feels intimate, and the surrounding snow-capped peaks provide a dose of grandeur that complements the tableau of grazing livestock and farmers working in their fields. Of all the riding we've done in Europe, I can honestly say this is probably our favorite section to ride.
The path comes out to the road in Kaprun, where we stopped at a trailside Imbiss (snack) trailer and got a really good Bosna wurst (highly recommended, this is the second year in a row I've stopped here – I even noted it on my map!).
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| The Imbiss (snack stand) near Kaprun. Try the Bosna wurst! |
As we got closer to Zell am See we saw many more day-trippers. Many folks take the small train from Zell and do day rides back. After riding a mile or so on a short, paved path bypassing Kaprun, we took a left turn toward Zell that goes past a small general-aviation airport, where several people were engrossed in watching a small plane take off. Some more city-type roads led us toward Zell.
Just at the edge of the lake, a sign pointed to the right to the Zell am See Jugendherberge (hostel). It's a pretty nice hostel, right on the lake, overlooking the town of Zell. We stopped to see about a room, but it was only 2:30 and reception didn't open until 4:00. We rode on into Zell, looked around a bit, and rode back, but it still wasn't open. We took the time to ride through the nearby suburb, seeking out a few Privat Zimmers that we saw advertised. We knocked on several doors, but nobody seemed to be home, so we headed back to the hostel.
Finally, the hostel reception opened and we got a private double room. 33 Euros total, including breakfast. Ginny had never stayed in a hostel, but my brother and I had stayed in this one the previous year and found it to be really nice. It's literally right on the lake, with a great view of the town and the surrounding mountains. An excellent location and a good price, too. The room was small, with bunk beds, but had a private bath and was clean and nice. I volunteered for the top bunk (chivalry is not dead!). We spent time wrestling with the duvet covers, and Ginny liked my method so much she took a photo. It's not as easy as it might seem… I guess we just don't know the trick!
We cleaned up a bit and headed into town (about one mile along a bike path) to find pizza. We ate outside at a decent Italian place, with very good pizza with excellent sauce. The weather was a bit chilly, but not bad after riding all day. Plus, we could keep an eye on the bike. Just when we finished the rain started. It wasn't too heavy, so we made a quick exit and rode to the hostel. It was a bit noisy, with a few kids running wild (younger kids, around 8 or so). Finally it quieted down around 10:00 p.m. and we drifted off to the sounds of light rain and lapping waves from the lake.