Balzers!!
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2011
1
99
147
Trip End
Jan 25, 2012
Balzers, Liechtenstein
Monday, August 29, 2011
90 kilometers
We made our way through the town of Einsiedeln, past the Abbey and the Carnival, which looked to be in full swing for at least the next several days. The town is fringed by a lake and there was a bridge across it that we were trying to locate. The view from the bridge was absolutely stunning. Once across the bridge, we had a short climb up a ridge to start the day. Mark had mentioned that it should be fairly easy, but it wasn't. Not at all. My legs must be toast, as I could barely push the pedals around. It was only 3km long, and I was shattered at the top. It was a complete and total meltdown. If this is easy, I don't want to see what's next. My legs feel like rubber bands.
Mark admitted the climb was hard for him too, and that is was much more challenging than he had realized. We'd climbed about 300 meters in those 3 km. That's essentially a 10% average grade. Sweet Jesus! No wonder it was so difficult. All I can say is that I am glad we weren't climbing up the other side, as we descended about 750 meters in wide switchbacks to the valley floor on the other side. Phew! My hands were cramping from the pressure I had to apply to my brakes just to keep my speed below 25 miles per hour. (As my cycling friend's know, I have a semi-irrational fear of going down steep, curvy roads.)
Once at the bottom, we planned to stop for lunch along a lake. Too bad the lake ended up being much farther away than we thought. But, it was well-worth it. The lake was a glorious blue, and there were steep peaks on either side. Stunning. We enjoyed our bread and cheese picnic, then dealt with another flat. Good grief. This one seems to be a slow leak, although we aren't sure from what. I'd suffered a nick in my tire about 1,400 miles ago that we patched with a $5 bill and duct tape. Maybe that was finally giving way. You don't usually go that far with a patch like that.
From the lake, we skirted a steep cliff down to the water, including two bike path tunnels and one ridiculously steep climb. We rounded behind a building and the path went from a little steep to 25% without any warning. Mark was able to cycle all the way up. I only made it halfway before losing my momentum and power to turn the cranks. It was even hard to push my bike up the short hill, as my cleats were slipping on the pavement. Goodness!
We'd decided we wanted to cycle into Liechtenstein, as we were right on the border. Liechtenstein is the sole remaining polity of the Holy Roman Empire, having been created out of the counties of Vaduz and Schellenberg in 1719 as a sovereign fief for the wealthy Austrian House of Liechtenstein. Its population is over 35,000. Owing to its geographic position between Switzerland and Austria, it was not swallowed up during the massive reorganisation of Germany following the French Revolution, and avoided incorporation into the German Empire later in the 19th century. It's the fourth smallest nation in Europe.
It was an easy ride down the Rhine, which we'd just rejoined. There were a couple of options -- stay at the one hotel in Balzers, or cycle another 10-15km (and up a steep hill) to the next town. We negotiated the price in Balzers, but there's not a lot of negotiating power when they are the only place in town. And, this was a pricey hotel. We dined in the only open restaurant in town. The other was closed on Mondays. We also got to enjoy the hotel's hot sauna. Not my cup of tea, which you could have boiled in there, but Mark seemed to enjoy it.
PS: "Balzers!" has become our new exclamation of choice!
Comments
Your pictures are beautiful. I'm enjoying all your post.