From Schongau into Austria it was uphill all the way, for a full, day up to the pass at Mittenwald... for a total elevation of about 750 meters in two days.

Then I enter Austria at Scharnitz and my first view of Austria is the Seefeld castle just passed Scharnitz...

From the pass, it was downhill... dramatically, for the next 15 kms, with grades of 15% and more. The road disallowed bicycles (on the way down, not up), but where else was I to go ? The only other way was back up into Germany, so I went down anyway... I quickly understood why bikes weren't allowed... Every 5 minutes, I had to stop and let my wheel rims cool off, from the braking... They were so hot you couldn't put your fingers on them.

On one of my stops, I met a couple of Germans resting as well... They were going uphill... on a tandem... pulling a baggage cart... My hat's off to them !

By the time I reach Innsbruck it was 8 PM, I was tired and dirty (from road dust caked into sweat all the way up to the pass) so I hit the first hotel I saw in the center of the city... a Best Western (now owned by) which has been operating as a hotel for the past 600 years and reputedly has catered to such famous guests as Mozart, Goethe... Nice !... They even let me park Titus in an unused section of the restaurant.

I shower, walk the city a bit and then come back for dinner at the hotel, and finally crash for a deep and well deserved, sleep.

In the morning, I spend a little time taking pictures of Innsbruck...

...then leave southwards, up the mountains, the first 30 kms or so uphill, to an elevation of 1,374 meters, the pass altitude. Too bad I couldn’t spend more time in Austria (having to get to Rome in about 10 days). The scenery here is just grand ! I spent just about a day in Austria...

Well Austria's scenery is certainly dramatic, all within the Alps, with picturesque little villages nestled here and there in the mountains, but a real hell to cycle... you sweat buckets going uphill and have to take frequent stops on the downhills to let your brake pads and wheel rims cool down (and they really get scorching hot...).

I found the people to be certainly friendly but the food to be uninteresting as it appeared to me that Austrians have borrowed a lot from their surrounding neighbours (Germany, France and Italy), though a white wine I tasted was superb... (I forget the name of the grapes, but was told it makes up 40% of their national production)... dry with a very rich fruity and spicy taste...