Dennis B Murphy >>>>>>>>>>

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Travel

Austria, France, Switzerland 2001

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I was in Graz, Austria twice in 2001 for work. The first trip was in August with the Program Manager (Deb) to assist the launch. The second trip was alone in November for which I traveled to be there four days and ended up staying 18 days and traveling to Zurich Swizerland ( and visited Mulhouse, France on that weekend).

August 2001: Deb is a cyclist too. She had been to Graz earlier in the summer and rented a bicycle from a shop downtown. So when we arrived on Monday we went downtown and rented bikes again. This time, I targeted mountain bikes and we ended up with matching Konas. The Sunday of the next weekend, the plant was down so we went on a bike trip along the Mur River. Our journey ended up being about 78 miles down the river, crossing over near the Slovenian border and riding back to Graz. The image below shows the elevation drops at many of the power generation dams that are in the river's pathway (the entire river had levees to maintain its path).

Note- some of the images are poor as I shot film and had to scan later.

Deb and I in front of the sign with the maps...and the biker bar at which we had lunch pizza and a great beer- Wieselberger Dunkel.

Below a few shots of our journey... Deb on the left at an intersection.

The ride went through small towns, along farm fields, and on roadways. Most of it was paved.

Graz is a very bike friendly city. We rode downtown quite a bit to see the sights.

We also visited this historic manor outside Graz.

Narrative: August 2001

Well, I missed the Ft Custer time trial since I was sent to Austria by my employer for work. What at treat. I thought I would give you an idea of the nature of my cycling experience there.

We went to a town called Graz, which is in the south eastern section of Austria. It is a city of about 250,000 and has a river flowing right through the middle, which makes it very similar to Grand Rapids.

We got to Graz about 930am Austrian time Thursday Aug 23. We went to the plant via cab first, then made our way to the bike shop early in the afternoon. My colleague, Deb, is a cyclist also (a roadie by nature, but oh well). She was in Austria a couple months before and had rented a car which cost over $100 per day! So, she suggested bikes. She did rent a bike the last visit and had described it with low opinion, so I was expecting to rent a real junker. But she had looked at road bikes then. I went to the back of the bike shop and found two Kona Nunu’s that were in excellent condition. One had a small frame and fit Deb well. So, we rented the bikes. The cost was 700 Austrian shillings per bike for a week, which equaled about 46 dollars.

We rode to our customers’ facility each day, which only took about ten minutes. We frequently rode around town and into the downtown area in the afternoons. Let me tell you about the nature of urban cycling there. First, when no specific cycling lane is provided, cyclists ride in the road. Most bikes stay close to the curb, except when needing to make left turns, and essentially share the road with the cars using the same rules. The amazing thing is that auto drivers are so VERY tolerant of bikes. In a lot of other areas of the city, there are specific bike lanes painted up off the road on what is the sidewalk. The lanes are to keep bikes and pedestrians separated while keeping bikes off the road.

On Sunday, the plant was closed so Deb and I made a 78 mile journey through the Austrian country-side. There is a dedicated path that runs on at least one, and sometimes both, sides of the Mur River all the way to the Slovenian border. Most of the path is paved with asphalt, but occasionally becomes a gravel type surface. Elsewhere, the path goes through typical Austrian villages or through corn and pumpkin fields and the path is then also a roadway, although it is essentially only one lane. (See photos) The path south was very well marked whether dedicated or part of a roadway. We rode south to a town called Leibnitz, where we decided to get lunch and turn around. It was now 130pm and we had been riding since leaving the hotel at 845am. (We did not ride continuously, but stopped occasionally to get something to drink- another subject itself).

Here we at an Austrian biker bar (See photos above) (as in motorcycles) and had a great pizza (the topping was a really good cheese and an Austrian ham) and the best beer we had tasted since being there (no small feat since all the beer was good- this was Wieselburger dark beer).

The trip back was more eventful. We decided to ride back on the northern side of the river. We found this was less clearly marked as it is an alternative route, not the main route. We ended up doubling back a couple times, adding miles. At one point, as we were getting a bit tired (about 300pm), we took a left at a fork in the road to avoid a pretty steep climbing route. The road signs said we could get to the next town going either way. However, we ended up dead end at the river.

The Mur river has several hydroelectric dams on the path we rode and is bordered by a substantial levee which has trails or tracks along it for motorized travel (maintenance, I assume). Gates bar access to this path for cars. So, here we are at the river and must either go back or go “off-road.” I talked Deb into the off road route, figuring as long as we were going along the river we were headed in the right direction. So, I got a bit of true mountain biking experience since the trail wasn’t very heavily beat down. Eventually, the levee trail came to another regular road access and we were back on pavement. We then made our way back to the city of Graz.

Water- can’t get it there. Not in bottles anyways. Bottled mineral water that is carbonated seems to be the norm and to get just regular bottled water is nearly impossible. So we stopped a few times and had a beer at the little beer gardens or stands that dot the countryside along the trail. At one stop, the proprietor of a little stand did not speak English, but it was clear there was no beer here. “Nein bier” he said “Most.” Okay, I nodded. We will try it. It was apple wine, mixed 50-50 with carbonated water. I drank half the 16 ounce glass, and that was enough. Deb took two sips and decided she did not like it.

The previous day, Saturday evening, we rode the city area and climbed the Schlossburg castle hill. (See photos) This was a climb of over 500 feet most of which was 45 degree grades winding back and forth along the north side of the mountain.

All in all it was a great trip. The food, biking, beer, and people were fantastic.

November 2001

The last time I came to Austria, I had a great ride down the Murradweg- a dedicated path for multi use but mostly paved or gravel covered. This time I wanted a true off-road mountain bike ride.

Well, first it was cold (about 40f). I would also realize later that I should have brought my seat bag for repairs.

About 9am local time, I dressed up and headed out. I had heard that there were trails east of town and you can see mountains and hills east of town. I just rode east until I hit one. I found a road climbing up and proceeded to continue into the hills at about a 45 degree angle (and climbing is my poorest skill). As I went up I eventually saw a wide two-trackish path and followed it. Along the way I passed alot of hikers. I was actually getting off-road! After riding up here for half an hour or so, suddenly three mountain bikers went riding by. So, since they looked like they knew what they were doing, I followed them and hit a downhill single track that would make Pontiac Lake or Yankee Springs proud. Some of the climbs, and scenery reminded me of Glacier Gorge. At the bottom the other three stopped and I rode up and asked if they spoke english- which they did pretty well. So I met Tony, Varena and Peter. They invited me to ride with them which I was happy to do. The next couple hours were a great mountain bike ride.

Along the way we discussed riding here. The land we were on was private land as the landowners had been up cutting down trees for fire wood, etc. But apparently, land use in Austria is a rather public concept. Even though someone may OWN the land, they cannot really keep people off it for recreational use. There were literally dozens and dozens of hikers (family groups, couples walking dogs, young people) all out hiking. (If you read my previous Austrian biking report, Sunday here is a real get-out-and-do-something type of day). But back to the land issue. So the land is used by the land owner for various purposes (lumber, hunting, etc) and yet the public may enjoy it also. Tony and Peter said that the landowners discourage bike use (but cannot really prevent it) as the nature of the law is that in the event of an injury, the owner of the property is usually assessed to cover expenses through his insurance. And most landowners consider mtbing more of a risk to them than hiking.

To highlight this point, during our return trip, three guys on mtbikes came literally speeding downhill past us yelling to get out of the way in German! They were going so fast that they could not have been in control in the event of a need to stop, especially given the real multi-use nature of the trails.

So, the mtbers have some of the same issues here we do in Michigan. There is also a small percentage of riders that will always give us a bad rap (like the three gonzo riders here were likely to do when they encountered hikers).