By Bike

Day 20 (23rd August) – Innsbruck to Rieden

Off again early. A pink glow above the towering massif announced dawn and another glorious sunny day on the bike.

We wound our way into the city along a bike path overlooking the Sill River, through forest and beside apartment blocks situated only a couple of kilometres from the city centre. Joggers, walkers with and without dogs, bike commuters, e-scooters all shared the path.

A short-cut through the old city connected us to the Inn River. The distant hum of autobahn traffic, the smell of garbage trucks. The distinct sense of a city waking up.

With the morning sun warming our back, we headed upstream west for about 50 km along beautiful side roads and paths before turning north and into the mountains again at Imst.

An excellent selection of chocolates, ice-cream and pastries and very good coffee at the Regensburger Cafe. Just what Sam and I needed to get up the climb to Hantennjoch. The Schaumrolle (kind of chocolate éclair) was particularly good.

As we’ve become accustomed to, the climb was long, hot and hard.

And equally, the reward was a ripper descent with spectacular views.

We descended into the Lech River valley, a wide and highly braided, multi-channel system of glacially blue cascades and continuously shifting gravel. Recognised as one of the last wild rivers in Europe, we rode through a section designated as a nature park, along paths hugging limestone cliffs, through forests of beech and spruce and across islands of stunted pine.

Eventually, we met up in Rieden with Liz and Sue. They had been on their own adventure to Hohenschwangau Castle in nearby Bavaria.

Then a short hunt for a campsite… which we found not far away in Heiterwang.