I am so not a morning person. I wake up early, but it takes forever to get going. It’s as if every blink lasts for minutes, and before I know it, two hours have slipped away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knowing the start would be tough, I geared up for the day. Little did I know, the road ahead would be, to put it mildly, soul-crushing. The initial climb on paved roads and cobblestones was manageable, just drop to a lower gear and pedal on. But then, surprise! The pavement disappeared, leaving me with a gravel road. At first, it was solid and reliable, but as the kilometers ticked by, it turned into a gravelly mess. No big deal on the climb, as if I didn’t scream “fuck” from the top of my lungs, even when it hit a 21% grade. But every uphill has a downhill, and oh boy, what a ride. You know the saying, “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight”? Well, don’t bring a road bike to a mountain trail either! The downhill was a disaster. I thought the uphill was tough until I started descending and found myself longing for more climbing. The road was a chaotic mess of water damage and giant rocks. My downhill speed was slower than the climb. It took two hours to cover the first 30 km. Also, a good thing: some random hiker on these trails will find a new Kryptonite lock cable and a multifunctional scarf. The bad thing is, they’re mine. I realized too late that they fell off the back of my saddle bag. Stubbornly, I stuck to the course, aiming to finish the day’s first leg. Another uphill, and of course, it was gravel. Luckily, only the uphill was terrible with mud and potholes. The downhill, for once, was just sturdy gravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I endured these ups and downs, the sun decided to make an appearance, giving me the boost I desperately needed. Without it, I would have thrown in the towel. I joke that I’m solar powered, too long without the sun, and I start wilting like a plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to cut the route short for the day. I did only half of day 4 and plan to take the second part tomorrow, adding an extra day to my journey for some well-deserved rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, cutting the day short gave me enough time for a proper dinner, much to my waiter’s surprise. I downed two schnitzels with sides and topped it all off with an apple strudel and vanilla ice cream. With a full belly, I wandered the city like a tourist and stumbled upon a free opera concert. Not sure what the opera was about, but it looked spectacular and sounded even better. An unexpected encore to cap off the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, it’s time to recheck all the routes to avoid today’s chaos, fingers crossed I don’t stumble upon an extra 300 km lurking in my future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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