Tank Tours

Didn't sleep well last night and waking up to a rainy day with grey skies was not ideal. Looking on the bright side, it wasn't cold. Never thought I would say 11 degrees as not cold but thats what it was. Max (from Austria), the guy I met yesterday; we briefly discussed what challenges lay in front of us and how best to dress for it on our respective bikes, him on motor bike and me on my pushy. After a fond farewell, Max was the first to leave with me half an hour later by which time the rain had ceased but the roads were pretty wet with patches of pooled water, just what a cyclists doesn't need. I was very mindful riding out of Bled doing best to avoid car/bus/trucks spray and the occasional splash of water from the water pooled on the roads. Captured this photo which hopefully depicts what my day looked like making my way out of Bled. Mainly on bike paths and occasionally on minor roads through small villages which by now were coming alive with cars and people about ma...

Today’s ride was short but sweet at least for the first 24km, beautiful deserted bike path through lush green countryside and then a ball breaking 150m mountain climb on a winding 2km road. Almost made it to the top but not quite, got off the bike to walk the last 500m. Then it was all down hill into Bled. Happy days. Only one event grabbed my attention during the ride was a 3km queue of trucks on the highway running parallel to my bike path, otherwise it was all about riding; a touring cyclists dream. Probably the highlight of the day was the people ( unfortunately  their names escape me and my apologies to them) that I came across   to exchange life and travel experiences and the   ride around Lake Bled. Starting with these lovely girls from Romania. Followed by this lovely couple from Camden, Australia,   Followed by this lovely couple from Kuala Lumpur Followed by this lovely couple from Ahmedabad, India ...

Not often does one get an opportunity ti ride through 3 countries, Austria, Italy and Slovenia on near perfect bike paths in a day. Starting in Villach, Austria on a lovely day, in complete contrast to yesterday, I headed towards Tarvisio in Italy with hardly anyone on the streets. Being Sunday morning, the church bells were in full cry; I stopped to see if this young lady, 70 years old needed help as she stood beside her bike. Turns out, she was just taking a breather but was pleased that I stopped to ask. Moving along on a perfect bike path, headed towards the Italian border where I took the opportunity to take theses photos. At the Italian border, a young lady, (they all look young at my age) leading a group bike tour kindly took these photos, I am standing in Austria (divided by the red line), cross it and I would have been in Italy. Moving along, followed the bike path until I got to this sign post, turn right and end up in Tarvisio, turn left and end up in Kranjska...

A long day in the saddle today; bitterly cold with a constant drizzle that only Europe can serve up. Not quite what I had in mind on my birthday but worth it all the same. That old adage, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger…. you learn a lot about yourself on days like this. I was the first one at breakfast, stuck to my routine of making sandwiches to take with me along with some snacks, and then have a leisurely breakfast. First up was a 5km ride to Böckstein, in bitterly cold weather, all uphill of course to grab the train that takes cars, motorbikes and bicycles through the Tauern tunnel to Mallnitz; departs 20 past the hour. Took the opportunity to get take some photos and one taken off me at the station. On arrival at Mallnitz, it’s all downhill, starting with a steep descent of approximately 500m through a long and winding road; hope these 2 photos capture the scenery which was quite breathtaking as most of Austria is.  By the time I got ...