Wildlife Adventures in Our Backyard

Sometimes you don't need to travel far for a little adventure.

Yesterday I was catching up on some paperwork when Julie, just back from college, excitedly called from the back door. I was sure she was going to point out the pair of wild turkeys that have take up residence. What we saw was just a bit more dramatic. A red-tailed hawk had successfully hunted a rabbit and was now preparing his afternoon meal.

Although we missed the hunt, we were allowed to witness the culinary event. The hawk took his time prepping his meal. He rolled the rabbit onto its back, ripped open the the gut and carefully pulled out the entrails, leaving them in neat pile beside the carcass. He then enjoyed a leisurely meal in the shade of our oak tree.

The hawk couldn't be bothered by my photographic efforts and cared even less about Julie watching, with a combination of fascination and revulsion, from the deck. After about 15 minutes the predator had his fill. He attempted to move the remains, but with great effort he could only drag them about a foot away from the pile of entrails. He flew up into the tree for an after meal rest until heading back to the woods.

You might say our townhouse with its shared yard is a representative microcosm of New Jersey. New Jersey is the most populous state in the country. Traveling the Turnpike through refineries outside of Newark airport, you could be excused for mocking our motto "The Garden State" embossed on millions of license plates. But you don't have to travel far off the highway to find miles of rolling country roads. Similarly, we only live a few hundred yards from Rt. 1, but our yard backs up to the D&R canal and beyond the canal is a large track of protected woodlands. It is encouraging that the wildlife is clearly thriving in spite of the continued development.

A Hill Slug Rides the Vienna Hills

After some quick scratching on the back of an envelope, I calculate that I've spent more than 1500 days traveling on business over the last 20 years. Yet, I can count on one hand the number of trips where I've been able to combine any leisure other than a nice dinner, maybe a quick walk around the city, and too much time spent in the bar. Not one trip where I've been able to combine any cycling – until my last one...

As soon as I found out that I had a pending business trip to Vienna, I emailed my friend Ernst to let him know that I could be in town on the Sunday morning, and asked if he would be up for a repeat of the mountain bike outing that we had done last September when I was there on vacation. Ernst is, for all intents, my big brother, having lived with my family for a year as an exchange student when we were both teenagers. When we rode in September, he seemed to get a lot of pleasure out of briskly riding up hills where I was forced to dismount and walk up the steepest sections. Fortunately, Laura's rides have continued to improve my conditioning.

After an overnight flight, I find myself at Ernst's on a temperate, overcast Sunday morning. A great day for a ride! We're joined by Bizzy, Heinz, and Heinrich. Ernst lives in the 19th district on the very edge of Vienna. It is only a short ride through residential neighborhoods until we're on a dirt road riding through vineyards. Beyond the vineyards is the Wienerwald (Vienna Forrest). The overcast skies and misty conditions resulted in photos that don't due justice the beauty of the rolling hills.

After about 30 minutes, it becomes clear that Ernst and I have some become separated from the rest of the group. Fortunately Ernst's ever-present mobile phone works in the hills and soon the group is re-united.

Soon we come to a fork in the road, I can't read the sign, but Ernst lets me know that now the climbing starts and that it will be uphill for the next 30 minutes or so (oh joy!) While not as steep as what Ernst brought me up in the Fall, it was pretty steady climbing (think 3 or 4 climbs up Long Hill Rd strung together.) At the top, the loggers conveniently left a makeshift chair for Heinz to rest upon and enjoy the view while he waited for me to slug it up the hill.

After a combination of ridge riding and climbing, we made it to Kahlenberg. Kahlenberg is at 484 meters is a popular destination for locals out for a hike or bike, as well as for tourists. There are broad terraces that offer wonderful views of Vienna. In clear weather you can see through Lower Austria to Slovakia. In spite of the limited visibility, we still took a moment to enjoy the broad vista. This picture below (from Wikipedia, courtesy of Clemens Pfeiffer) gives a much better sense of the vista.

Behind the terrace is the Baroque Church of St. Joseph, also referred to as the Polish Church. The church was built to honor King John Sobieski of Poland who stopped to pray here before leading his troops to the defense of Vienna against the Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

The ride back from Kahlenberg featured some spectacular downhills, a few reasonable climbs, and some great vistas as we rode along the ridge. All too soon, we were riding through the vineyards and back in Ernst's neighborhood.

On the way back, we stopped so that Ernst could give us a tour of the house that he recently bought. Ernst and his wife, Margit, are renovating this to be their dream house where they will spend the next 50 years together. I was pleased when Ernst pointed out that the renovation includes a nice guest room!

The new house is within walking distance from Ernst's current house. After a quick final ride, we put the bikes away, and cooled off with a dip in the pool and a nice Austrian beer.

In closing I'll provide my comparison of a typical Hill Slug ride with my Sunday excursion in the Vienna Woods.