Laa an der Thaya

What a lovely day's riding, and a hotel at the end? Luxury. 

Today I got myself all set up, ready to go, had a chat with the charming dachshund, then, just as I was about to take down my tent, it chucked it down.  The rain was short lived but my tent was now rather damp. I waited half an hour, went to see if the little food shop had anything good for breakfast - I had to settle for stale rohliky - then packed up. 

Off I went. The delightful thing about today's ride was meant to be that I was starting at the highest point, not going far and staying in a hotel at the end. But, ladies and gentlemen, it gets better. Today I had a tailwind. All day. A good strong tailwind to give me that extra little boost. 

I just rolled along, through vineyards and fields. There was one big push, I'm going to call it vertical, but it was only about 50m long. I did have to stop every 10 steps though. And there were times when the surface wasn't brilliant but, overall, a great day of riding. 

My automatic hotel check in was complicated by me missing the l off my email address. The attached bistro helped but they didn't speak English and, once I tuned in, my high school German hadn't prepared me for such things. Because email and the internet weren't a thing. Anyway I managed 'reservation' and showed her a picture of said reservation. She said I had to pay, I said I wanted to pay, we worked it out in the end. Onto cycling vocab and I was back on safe ground, got the code for the bike shed and set off up to my room. 

Don't think I just collapsed into luxury. First things first, set powerbanks to charge, they take ages. Second things second, sort out washing, third thing, wash self and enjoy an untimed shower. Then wring out washing and hang all around the room. Then unpack rest of clothes to let them air. Then go to spar for food (pre-packaged sandwiches - exciting!!) then relax. 

In the evening I went to the bistro for something to eat. High school German did prepare me for this so naturally my waiter spoke English. A little glass of fizz and a pokebowl featuring salad (been a while) then off upstairs for bed.  

I think this is a communist era border watch tower. It had an attached long drop with a very modern looking seat and an upside down door so I decided not to avail myself of the facilities. 

I wish I could use photos to convey the gradient on these climbs. To push I was at such an angle that the rear panniers were in my way. That will mean nothing to you if you've never pushed a bike with panniers but trust me, it's a sharp angle. 

Evening meal.