Today we left Fladnitz and headed to a tiny town just outside of Koflach called Maria Lankowitz. We got an early start to try to beat the heat, and it felt great to ride through the foggy cool air. It also helped make the first climb a bit more tolerable. It was a beautiful climb up through farmland and small villages, and the grade was easy enough (5-6%) to make it quite comfortable. There were a lot of rolling ups and downs, with a few steep pitches here and there. I love flying down a wooded descent and then coming out into the open farmland to see the perfectly manicured village below. For the most part, the roads are perfect and you can cruise down descents and hardly touch the brakes. It makes all the uphill worth it for that 40+ mph descent.
We had one steeper climb today, and since it was about 90 degrees with about a bazillion percent humidity by that point, we were thankful it wasn’t too long. We were far too hot to stop for lunch today, but we did get our daily dose of ice cream in Stallhofen.
The final kilometer up the hill to the hotel was a lovely 15% grade, and by that point I was melting. After a cold shower and a beer, life was good. The hotel served schnitzel for dinner, and an amazing plum strudel for dessert. With dinners wrapping up around 9 or 9:30, it is usually bed time for everyone. Too bad none of the hotels here have air conditioning or fans.
