Munich→Venice Day 2 to Schwaz, Austria

Nathan’s stats: 74.6 km, 631m climbing, 3:38 riding time

Our second day riding was similar to the first in distance, with a little more climbing, but even more scenic and fun. After breakfast we rolled out of town on a gravel bike path that gradually climbed. We had a nice rest stop on top of a dam at 25 km, with snacks and chats with a German cycling group also doing Munich to Venice.

After some more riding we crossed the Austrian border and were happy to see that the bike path continued.

There was one steep gravel section that was hard to ride – Nathan had to figure out how to shift onto the small chainring which the bike didn’t want to do. Answer: push it with your foot. Soon we arrived at lunch at a gorgeous lake. There were so many other cyclists enjoying this valley and the lake – most of them with “E” (electric assist). In our group, we have 9 with “E” and 16 without.

Katie and a few others braved the cold water – Katie made it look comfortable swimming around for quite a while but later admitted it was colder than the Pacific at Santa Cruz.

The final section to Schwaz was about 30 km. It featured a quite steep gravel downhill section with many switchbacks but it seems like everyone made that ok. Nathan had fun drafting Geoff and Betty on their “E” tandem – they do NOT slow down for short climbs.

We made it to the hotel in Schwaz, a little hot and sweaty, but the showers felt great. The bathroom in each hotel room had a transparent glass wall between the shower and the bedroom – first time we’ve seen that.

We had a walk around town, some gelato, and looked through a city park that surrounded a pretty looking old church but before we knew it it was 7pm and time for dinner. The whole group ate outdoors at a nearby restaurant. It was another long, long pre-sunset evening, looking up at tall mountains and enjoying good company and food.