Yesterday morning after writing my blog post, I made myself two fried eggs for breakfast. Since Katy and Michael were still asleep, I left Katy’s house quietly after packing up.

I started my ride at 9:15 AM and I could feel the morning heat rising. As it turned out, that day was the toughest riding day of my bike tour. I encountered high heat in the morning, hours of rain in the afternoon, and a big hill where I had to push my bike for over an hour in the rain. And on the way down the hill I had to be extra careful to not go too fast or else I might slide due to the wet road. On certain turns, I was worried that a car might come from the opposite way and not see me. Also my brakes didn’t feel they were adequate enough for the downhill.

All these fears, along with the rain, lightning, and thunder, put a damper on my ride. For a while, I felt I was riding in a bad dream. I started thinking that maybe I’m not cut out for a bike tour, but then I regrouped my thoughts and told myself that I need to get over the tough days in order to have the good days. And yesterday was certainly a tough day.

Good thing that I had lunch at Gasthaus Pension Baumgartner in the village of Aspang-Markt before the rain because I didn’t get to the Komfort-Apartments & Gästezimmer guesthouse in Oberlungitz until 4:45 PM. I was drenched when I arrived after riding 42.4 miles.

After checking in, the owner actually offered me a plate of homemade Austrian food that I just couldn’t refuse. Since there wasn’t a restaurant nearby, I was glad that was my dinner.

I took a shower then did laundry. There wasn’t a dryer so I had to hang my clothes. This morning, my clothes are still a bit damp so I might stay another night at this guesthouse. I will also take a rest day today since yesterday was such a difficult day.

Looks like a nice day, but the heat was too much.


<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glad for the shade</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passed by a timber yard</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had an early lunch at Gasthaus Pension Baumgartner in the village of Aspang-Markt before the rain</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking my bike up the hill</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still more to go</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A covered rest area that someone built</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saw many crucifixes at rest stops</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the top</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cows have a good view of the valley.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dinner at the end of the day, given to me by the owner of Komfort-Apartments & Gästezimmer guesthouse</td></tr></tbody></table>