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.
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.
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!
In closing I'll provide my comparison of a typical Hill Slug ride with my Sunday excursion in the Vienna Woods.
1 comment:
I see we're both spending our Sunday at the keyboard. It's an honor to have you among our Slug Blogging ranks. My post will be up shortly.
Post a Comment