Today was a big day in the saddle. We managed to hit some steep grades and higher elevations today on a longish 60-mile ride. There were four and one-half climbs. And four of those were legit, get out of the saddle and get your groove on climbs. A few sections tickled 18%, but for the most part it was a routine diet of 11% long drags. Like a chain smoker after getting out of the hospital.
The first climb was a bit brisk as the road was guarded by the tall forest as it wound up the hills. The other climbs were much warmer bordering on toasty, but once you hit the shadows of the trees it was perfect. The descents were super fun today, except maybe for the first one which had some fresh tar spots that had about two feet of warning on blind corners. The rest were so flowy and the pavement smooth like the roads you used to know in the US. You know, when they were new. And not old run down surfaces of the moon.
We stopped for lunch in Birkfeld with a big group of other riders and managed to find a waitress that could hack her way through English better than we could even attempt in German. The food was amazing and beyond filling. I felt like I had a small baby in my gut afterwards as we started to make our way up the third climb. But that feeling was short-lived as the road tilted up along with the heart rate.
We would continue up and up until we broke through the trees and what seemed like treeline to overlook the entire eastern edge of Austria. As we made our way to the top of the last climb you could see several herds of Styria cattle grazing and crapping along the road. Then it was a swift descent down into Fladnitz on some steep and curvy turns but the pavement was as if an “IMBA trail crew” had been there to buff out any of the rough spots. Other than a couple tight turns, you could pretty much let it fly. Though, I’m sure Sagz would have gone full Super-Sagan and not even considered a brake lever the entire way to the hotel. That is, if he wanted to miss the hotel on the way. There’s a 14% section on a corner about 200 meters from the driveway here at the Vital Hotel Styria.
At the hotel, it was an evening of food and drink by the tonne. And boy did we get our feed on. Tomorrow is a “rest day” in that we are staying at the hotel for another night, so if you don’t want to ride you don’t have to but we’re going to do the suggested 30 mile loop around the Fladnitz area and see what kind of pastries we can find. We found one this morning on our way through Ratten, and it was pretty dang good. I’m at a -2 pastry deficit right now, so I’ll be back to neutral after breakfast, but with the ride that means I’ll be able to have two or three before dinner.
It’s kgs per bike, right? Not watts per kg?
