Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Europe Bike Tour: Summary

I've written this overly long series of entries to act as my personal diary of the trip. I sincerely believe it'll be tedious for anyone but me to read. Here are some of the photos with a catchy tune.

Yes, I stopped my trip before the end. I don't feel too guilty about it. I was on the road for almost exactly 2 months and, overall, I loved it. There were emotional ups and downs, but that's what makes cycle touring great. Over the months since I finished, I've had these flashes of places I visited. I've spent a lot of time trying to work out in my mind where various spots were in the geography of my ride.

I saw at least 4 snakes. In places, they basked on the road in the sun and would wriggle out of my way. The largest was in Croatia on the edge of the Danube. It was pretty long. I saw one in the Alps near Tarvisio, which I would've expected to be too cold for snakes. I'm less afraid of them now. I got a strong sense that they just want to be left alone by people.

In Croatia, I saw a lizard that was a vivid shiny blue and in Germany I cycled along a road that was covered in dozens of squashed frogs. In Croatia, I slept in a stork sanctuary. In France, I shared a freezing camping ground with a reindeer and in Germany tiny field mice scampered around near my feet.

Overall, I fell off my bike 4 times:

  • Twice in Italy around Udine, on cycle infrastructure that was unsuited to pouring rain
  • Once in Zagreb, riding up a dry river bed in the dark
  • One other time that I've forgotten - none caused injury
My body held up pretty well. I was extremely unfit and overweight when I started, and my daily distances were low. My distances improved after I climbed the Alps. I didn't suffer any injuries. Somehow in Germany I got a scratch on the tip of my nose that left a huge scab that made me look like a dog, but it healed.

Germany is probably my favourite place to cycle. There are good paths, the people respect cyclists, and there are camping grounds.

I completed a number of cycle paths, including the Neckar Radweg, Barbarossa Radweg, the Via Julia and the Alpe Adria. At the point where I stopped, I was cycling the eastern half of the mammoth Eurovelo 6 along the banks of the Danube. The Alpe Adria route was the nicest overall cycle path. Every country had its individual charms. Slovenia stood out for being remarkably green. I didn't love Serbia, but I hope to try it again some time.

The Trangia stove was great. The generator front hub was expensive junk, although its headlight was useful. I was disappointed with my Sealskin gloves, which were not warm or waterproof.

Equipment List (this is mostly just for my own use in future):


Re-purposed Fuji Sunfire, maybe 1995
2 x water bottle cages
1 x Topeak fuel bottle cage, attached with hose clamps
Mostly Deore parts
North Road handlebars
Ski jump bar ends (not useful)
Brooks saddle
Madison steel rear rack
Old Man Mountain front rack (too heavy, but can't find smaller that will fit)
Heavy Ortlieb tires
Shutter Precision USB hub

On bike:

2 x water bottle (ignore fancy, just buy water bottles from shop)
1 x 500ml meths bottle (1L, ideally, in future)
Sea to Summit dry bag containing:
   Old Macpac sleeping bag
Strip of elastic to attach dry bag
Black underseat bag (thrown away)
Ortlieb Back Roller panniers
Spare spokes in plastic bag, inside seat stem

Insulated Tesco food bag, generally containing:
   Small cordial
   Emergency meal (tuna, goulash, etc)
   Chocolate or biscuits
   Small bottle cooking oil
   Small bottle detergent
   Washing up cloth

Luggage strap (to attach food bag to rack)

Handlebar bag (old style strap attachment), containing:
   DSLR camera
   Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 tablet
   CompactFlash cards
   Small pot moisturiser

Tool kit, containing:
   Allan keys
   Spare chain links
   Small adjustable spanner
   Puncture repair kit

(Next time, consider taking 2 x spare brake pads. Although they don't wear out instantly.)

Electronics bag, containing:
   Data card adaptor
   Various cables for USB hub /eWerk
   Cache battery
   Camera wall charger
   Tablet/phone wall charger

Left Ortlieb Back Roller pannier, containing:
   Macpac Microlight tent
   Thermarest bed roll
   Thermolite Reactor bag liner
   Silk bag liner
   Trangia 27 Hardanodized cookset
   Cooking tool roll:
      Vegetable peeler
      Can opener
      Sharp cooking knife
      Child-size knife, fork, teaspoon
      Wooden spatula
      Trangia handle
      Bottle opener

Right Ortlieb Back Roller pannier, containing:
   Sandals (In future, replace with jandals? outside compression sack)
   Lock and heavy cable
   Paper / notebook
   Sea-to-Summit fold-up washing bowl (average)
   Clothes bag (Snugpak compression sack):
      Sealskin gloves (useless in proper cold weather, not waterproof)
      Cycle gloves
      3 x undies (Icebreaker merino were best, double-layer are slow to dry when washed)
      2 x bib shorts
      Red cycle top
      Merino base top
      Merino (Icebreaker) heavy top
      Thermal leggings
      Thermal beanie
      Quick-dry travel shirt
      Quick-dry t-shirt
      Ground Effects trousers
      2 x Cycle socks
      Heavy merino socks
      Scarpa Mojito half-boots
      Neck buff

Next time, consider waterproof leggings

Ortlieb end pocket:
   Chain break
   Strong plastic shopping bags
   Inner tube

Medical supplies:
   Various sizes of band aids
   Gauze pads/wrap
   Medical tape
   Savlon cream
   Bite cream
   Baby wipes

Toilet kit (clear plastic bag for flying with liquids):
   Small toothpaste
   Razor (in holder)
   Shaving cream
   Chap stick

Europe Bike Tour (XIV)

On my second night at the camp ground near Novi Sad, I was the only person there and it was in a forest area with few people in the area.

A rowdy group set up camp just next to the camping ground and began burning tree branches. In the middle of the night I was woken by someone rummaging through a plastic bag near my tent. I got up and shone my torch around, but couldn't see anyone. In the morning, I found the rubbish bag near my tent torn open. I guess it was just a rat ripping into the rubbish I had discarded. The sound is definitely amplified when you're in a tent and alone.

My ride started with a serious climb, similar to the motorway near Dunedin, in NZ. It was a busy stretch of road too, so I didn't enjoy it. After a little way, the cycle route turned off the main road and I found myself on quiet country roads past vineyards. That part was most pleasant.

As I approached Belgrade, the traffic got really scary. The road was the main route through south east Europe and there were constant heavy trucks whistling right past me. Apparently, the official cycle guide to the area says to avoid cycling there.

The camping ground was on the near side of Belgrade, which was a relief. I turned off the main road too early for it and found myself at a military base. The guard was not thrilled to see me, although he did give me directions to the camp.

The camp was the first one where I encountered a range of cyclists. The first evening, I spoke with a young German and the next day I spent some time speaking with a young Dutch guy spending 1.5 years cycling to Australia via India and Pakistan. A French couple also stayed the second night.

The German cyclist was going to explore the city, but decided to use the reduced Sunday traffic to get away. The French guy stated that he didn't think the traffic was bad, although he admitted being hit by the bus the day before. Overall, we were all pretty traumatised. The verge of the road was crumbling, so there was no way to get out of the traffic flow without risking riding into a pothole and falling.

A custom German hotel bus also appeared at the camp.

I ventured into the city, but I was not impressed. The main museum was closed for renovation and the second largest Serbian Orthodox church in the world was also gutted for repairs. I wandered around the fortress park area where vendors were selling t-shirts idolising Vladimir Putin.

I went to a local shop for dinner ingredients both evenings, but the local produce that was available was pretty scruffy. I think I made a salad with a cabbage instead of a lettuce by mistake, and I made hotdogs to have with it.

My cycle ride across Belgrade was ...interesting. It improved from the terrible main road near the camping ground and I followed off-road cycle paths to the centre city. There was even a cycle elevator from the main bridge down to the river bank. The Danube bike path is a major European route, but I lost the signs for it and took an uphill detour of some very busy city roads. Navigation was still near impossible because of the cyrillic alphabet on signs. I eventually found the Pančevački most bridge and crossed it, riding on the footpath. From there, the cycle path along the Danube quickly left the roads and I cycled along a dirt track in peace.

I stayed in a camp near the Danube. There were no shops nearby, so the kind lady in charge gave me some food.

Here's where the story peters out. The next morning, I got an email about work at my previous employer. It came at a point when I was lonely and I felt threatened by the Serbian traffic. I cycled to a room at the next town - Smederevo - and a bunch of emails flew back and forth. I decided to try to get back to the UK, but the train to Belgrade wasn't an option. On the Wednesday, I cycled back to Belgrade as fast as I could. It was 38C, but I went really quickly because I knew I would need to get packing materials for my bike. I found a bike shop who gave me 2 small bike boxes. A Chinese market sold large spools of duct tape. I took an apartment for the night and spent hours dismantling and packing my bike. On Thursday, I found a taxi station wagon that carried me and the bike to Belgrade airport and I flew to Luton. I arrived late at night, rebuilt the bike, and cycled to a hotel. I went to a McDonalds for a late dinner. Everyone was speaking English - I almost cried with relief. The next morning, I followed a remarkably serene cycle path from Luton to Welwyn Garden City and then caught a train to Cambridge. I washed my travel clothes at a laundromat and then cycled to a friend's house to stay for a few days.

It was all over as quickly as that.

Saturday 16 May (82km): Novi Sad to Belgrade
Sunday 17 May (0km): Rest day in Belgrade
Monday 18 May (80km): Belgrade to Camp Jabukov cvet
Tuesday 19 May (22km): Jabukov cvet to Smederevo
Wednesday 20 May (80km): Smederevo to Belgrade
Thursday 21 May (4km): Luton airport to hotel
Friday 22 May (30km): Luton to Welwyn Garden City

Total: 3591km

Europe Bike Tour (XIII)

I took a half day to complete my ride to Slavonski Brod. 25km after leaving Nova Gradiška, I passed 3000 km. The traffic along the way wasn't too bad. At one point, I was overtaken by 2 recumbent bikes covered in panniers. I chased them and spoke to them at a stop. They were a Belgian family. One bike had the father and 2 children, the other had the mother and another child. They had been camping wild, which I was shocked at, given the minefields.

I rented a really nice room. There wasn't much opportunity to camp during this part of the journey, but accommodation was so cheap it didn't matter. I wandered along the edge of the Sava river to a supermarket and stocked up. On the far side of the river was Bosnia.

The sweltering temperature of the previous day was a little lower.

The next morning, I cycled north to Osijek. I was aiming for a camping ground listed on Google Maps, but the camping ground was actually near Dubrovnik. Damn you Google Maps, you've screwed me again!

I booked a room in a house. No one else was there, so I had a house to myself for 10 pounds. The house was in a residential area with just one shop - a sex shop. It looked very out of place.

I headed south again and got to Vukovar. It suffered pretty badly in the war. When the Serbs invaded, 291 trapped at the local hospital, including staff, were killed and dumped in a mass grave. The town's water tower is still full of holes. It stands as an icon of the war. Today, the town is trying to stop its young people from leaving, so they can contribute to the rebuild.

It's a strange situation. I spoke to an Austrian Croat who was visiting. He said that there are still Serbs and Croats in the town, which amazed me. There is obviously still tension. If you order a beer in a bar, you need to be careful. The type of beer you order will give away your ethnicity and you might get a smack in the head. The couple who owned my guest house were a Croat and a Serb.

I had dinner in a Mexican restaurant.

On a walk to the town centre, I re-encountered the Danube. I had previously ridden along it in Germany, outside Ulm. The next morning, I rode along the bank of the river. At one stop, a snake slowly slithered across some rocks in front of me. It was decidedly long. I reached a bridge with an international border crossing and passed into my final country: Serbia. I entered at Bačka Palanka, or should I say: Бачка Паланка. I was now in Cyrillic alphabet territory, which I was completely unprepared for. Suddenly, following street signs was nigh impossible and my electronic maps only had the place names in Cyrillic.

Serbia was an instant culture shock. Although the countries had been getting less prosperous as I headed east, and some villages in Croatia were looking a bit poor, Serbia was a whole different level. The cars were worn and blowing smoke and people looked impoverished.  

I went to a cash machine to get some Serbian money. This also proved difficult, because I had no idea of the currency or its value. I jabbed a button and it gave me two 1000 dinar notes. This seemed unusably large, so I went to the bank and got it split into smaller notes. The women smiled, and no wonder, it was actually about 16 Euros worth.

There was a nice bike path from the town, but it only lasted for a kilometre and then I was thrust onto a busy road with no space. The drivers were not accommodating.

Eventually a farm track left highway 12, and I followed it along the banks of the river to Novi Sad. The city itself had good cycle paths. I crossed the Danube near the centre of NS on one of the bridges built after Nato destroyed the previous ones.

The traffic was threatening, the cycling was very stressful and I hated it. I swore never to return to Novi Sad.

I made it 16kms to the town of Sremski Karlovci. I found the nearby camping ground on a map where it was listed as "alpine hut". Damnit! There was only one other couple at the Eco Camping Fruska gora, so I had it mostly to myself. I wandered back to a small village shop where I bought some tins of goulash and cooked them on my stove using the alcohol I bought in Austria. The stove didn't explode, so I consider that a success.

On Friday, I got up and - despite my vow to never return to Novi Sad - I walked back to the village and caught a bus to the city.

Novi Sad is really quite pretty, although it has a lot of ugly apartment blocks. I enjoyed the museum, which had some interesting archaeological remains.

I crossed the bridge to the Petrovaradin Fortress. The Turks held it for 150 years, but the Austrians reclaimed it. Their army, outnumbered 2 to 1, defeated the Turks in a battle at the fortress in 1716.

Monday 11 May (60km): Nova Gradiška to Slavonski Brod
Tuesday 12 May (90km): Slavonski Brod to Osijek
Wednesday 13 May (52 km): Osijek to Vukovar
Thursday 14 May (107km): Vukovar to Novi Sad
Friday 15 May (0km): Rest day in Novi Sad

Total: 3285km

Europe Bike Tour (XII)

I woke up with a messed up stomach. Never mind - I only needed to cover 20 kms to the camping ground on the outskirts of Zagreb. I biked to the Croatian border, only to be turned away. It was not an international crossing point.

I cycled north, only to be rejected at the next border too. I ended up having to cycle to the crossing near Bistrica ob Sotli, which was a long way and behind some steep hills.

I crossed into country #10 with little fanfare. It was already late in the day by the time I found a place that would let me cross. I set off towards Zagreb, but got lost and couldn't work out my location on my map.

I cycled down to Radakovo and then turned at a right-angle, which seems to have been correct. I cycled through Zapresic but the traffic was scary so I choose to leave the road and followed what was marked as a path along the banks of the Sava. It may have been a path once, but it was now overgrown and had tall stinging nettles. I dragged my bike for a few kilometres of that before re-joining the road.

As the sun set and darkness set in, I crossed the river and took a gravel path that ran along beside the river bed. There were a few cars down by the river - up to no good, I suspect. At one point I hit a patch of loose gravel and fell off my bike in the dark. Eventually I got level with the camping ground, but it was on the far side of a massive motorway.

There was a walkway spanning the motorway, but to get to it I had to throw my bike and bags over a petrol station fence and then clamber over myself. I then had to carry my bike up a couple of flights of stairs to get across the motorway. It was after 10pm by the time I got to the camp. My 20km ride with an upset stomach had turned into 105km.

The next day, I caught the bus to Zagreb for a look around. The city is huge and my legs felt quite weak. It's quite a pretty city and the Museum of Archaeology is excellent.

After my rest day, I continue south along the same dry river bed. It was easier in daylight, although it was covered in waist-high grass and wild flowers, which made riding difficult. Still, it made for a relaxing way to get away from the busy metropolis of Zagreb. I cycled south-east, still following the Sava river. At one point, I passed a fire station where the local firefighters were having a celebration. They were dancing in a circle with arms across eachother's shoulders. It looked like Greek dancing to me - perhaps a sign that I was making my was towards Eastern Europe.

At 7pm, I arrived at the pleasant Hotel Tradicije Čigoć, which is a traditional guest house at a stork sanctuary. I camped there.

The following morning as I started cycling, I was surrounded by cyclists. I guess I cycled into some sort of local cycling festival. A photographer took photos of me.

I cycled through villages where one house would be pristine with Disney figurines in the garden, and the next would be deserted with weeds growing through it. I put this down to general rural/urban drift, until I realised that the abandoned houses were not chipped because of neglect - they had been raked with machine gun fire. I was now cycling through a former, recent, war zone.

There are also minefields in that eastern part of Croatia. 1.5 millions mines were laid in the Croatian War of Independence.

I tried to get to Slavonski Brod, but it was over 150km away and it was too hot. I ended my day at Nova Gradiška, where I took a hotel room. A few years ago, the Miss Universe competition was held at that hotel, so I'm going to say I've shared a bed with a Miss Universe contestant.

It was truly hot. Even in the hotel room, it took a long time for my core temperature to come down.

Thursday 7 May (105km): Brezice to Zagreb
Friday 8 May (0km): Rest day in Zagreb
Saturday 9 May (106km): Zagreb to Čigoć
Sunday 10 May (91km): Čigoć to Nova Gradiška

Total: 2976km

Europe Bike Tour (XI)

I left Trieste and ground my way agonisingly upwards. On the climb I met a French Canadian touring cyclist - one of the first I had seen. We swapped notes. He was heading north and had come up the Croatian coast. He warned me that the traffic that way was horrific. I had been considering going that way so I was pleased that I had avoided an unpleasant experience.

I passed through Basovizza, and a few kilometres further on I entered Slovenia: country number 9. It immediately became greener. Outside of Ljubljana, Slovenia is remarkably lush. There is forest everywhere.

The road I was following was pleasantly empty because it ran along beside a major motorway. There were a lot of heavy dump trucks, though. I don't know why, but I encountered many dump trucks all across Slovenia.

This day involved a lot of hill climbs. I paused in Postojna for lunch - some very cheap toasted cheese sandwiches.

The quieter road continued all the way to Ljubljana, but it got increasingly busy as I neared the city. There were short stretches of cycle path that would just end in a pile of gravel, and I would find myself back in the traffic again.

I needed to charge my electronics and wash my clothes, so I took a room in the north of the city at the lovely Penzion Kmecki Hram. I wandered aimlessly into the city in the dark and stumbled on a McDonalds where I made a pig of myself.

The next morning I moved up the Sava river to the Ljubljana Resort Hotel and Camp for my second night in the Slovenian capital. I caught a bus into the city to buy brake pads, send postcards, and get a haircut. It's a beautiful city.

It was starting to get quite consistently hot.

I followed route 108 east from the city, winding along the Sava river. It was a busy road and had signs up forbidding cyclists, but I took it anyway. I stopped for lunch on a grassy patch where a bridge crossed the river at Litaja, and watched the fish in the river.

Snakes were basking on the road, and there were vividly coloured lizards - presumably the European green lizard.

Somewhere along the way, my bottom bracket began grinding as if it was on its last legs. I began working out how to get my bike back to Ljub to get it replaced. It must've just been a piece of grit, because the next day the grinding went away and didn't come back.

There was a camping ground listed on my map to the south of Brezice, called Terme Catez. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a giant water amusement park. There were a lot of different areas you could stay in, including Indian tee pees.

My journal from that day reads: "Epic day across Slovenia to hydro park. Park is awesome! Need to go back with togs."

I was now only 10km from Croatia. In the morning, it would be a quick 20km hop across the border to a camping ground in Zagreb... or would it?

Monday 4 May (109km): Trieste to Ljubljana
Tuesday 5 May (4km): Rest day in Ljubljana
Wednesday 6 May (124km): Ljubljana to Brezice

Total: 2674km

Europe Bike Tour (X)

Shortly after I left Villach, I reached the deserted Italian border crossing: Hello country #8!

I was surprised to have to dodge a snake on the path. I would've expected it to be too cold and high for them.

The Italian part of the cycle route began following a former rail line, making use of the frequent rail tunnels along the valley walls.

It began to train as I passed through Tarvisio, and I stood under a motorway overpass for an hour waiting for it to wane. In the end, I just cycled on.

It was a shame about the weather, but overall this was one of the best days cycling that I've done. It was a gradual descent and the villages were beautiful. The ride through the Pontebbana villages might be the best single day of riding around.

Once again, finding a camping ground proved a problem. I eventually turned off the route at Bordano and cycled over a hill on a series of switchbacks to reach an alpine lake. There I stayed at the Camping Lago 3 Comuni.

Camping on the shore of an alpine lake

The next morning it poured down. I skulked in my tent until about midday, but I could pick up enough to know that a group of Italians at the camping ground were laughing at the guy cycling across Europe, so I packed up my sodden tent and set off in the rain.

I rejoined the cycle route, but the signage wasn't great and I would periodically lose it again. It followed a labyrinthine path through the sprawling city of Udine, where nearly everything was closed because it was May Day. The only place that I found that was open was an icecream shop. It's lucky I can eat icecream in any situation.

In the centre of Udine, it began to pour and I was drenched. I could feel the water sloshing inside my boots and my bicycle computer stopped working because the contacts were soaked. The Italian cycle infrastructure isn't really designed for rain, and I fell off my bike twice - once on a skiddy clay road and once on a metal bridge that was completely slick.

After only starting at midday, I was pleased to reach the Adriatic coast in the evening. It was a shame to finish the Alpe Adria route with one of the more unpleasant days of riding on my trip, but it was entirely the weather's fault. I was thrilled to find the Belvedere Camping Village had a pizzeria and wolfed down a pizza and fries.

I took a rest day and travelled by bus along a long causeway to the fancy island town of Grado. There are archaeological ruins scattered around the town.

I went grocery shopping and bought a 4 pack of toilet paper. I packed a lot of it into my boots to try to dry them out after their soaking the day before. I also did a bunch of laundry in my travel bucket and hanged it up to dry. The high humidity meant it wouldn't dry.

I left Belvedere and cycled back along the causeway to Grado. I followed a cycle route for perhaps 10 kilometres, but it joined a busy traffic road on the way to Monfalcone. I carried on around the coast and something absolutely remarkable happened: the busy traffic completely stopped. For some reason, the police had shut off the coast road to cars and I had it all to myself. I zoomed along on the beautiful edge of the Adriatic all the way to Trieste. I have no idea why - perhaps it was the local marathon or something.

Trieste starts on the waterfront, but it climbs steeply almost immediately. I slowly crawled up the hill to the Campeggio Obelisco above the city. It was completely rocky and I had a really tough time getting my tent pegs into the ground.

I wandered into the town of Opicina for dinner. I had a delicious bowl of goulash.

As I took this photo of Trieste from a viewing platform at the camping ground, a group of about 10 wild boars trotted past in the bush just below me.

Thursday 30 April (115km): Villach to Camping Lago 3 Comuni
Friday 1 May (103km): Camping Lago 3 Comuni to Grado
Saturday 2 May (0km): Rest day in Grado
Sunday 3 May (75km): Grado to Trieste

Total: 2437km

Europe Bike Tour (IX)

I cycled through the centre of Salzburg and and began following the Salzach river south to start the Alpe Adria cycle route, which runs over the Alps to the Adriatic coast. Most of the ride was on road, but it was pretty quiet.

For a while I rode with an American father and his children. The father and daughter were riding a 100 year old tandem and the son was riding a penny farthing.

There was a lot of climbing and by the time I made it as far as St Johann im Pongau, I was exhausted. I found the Camping Kastenhof and stopped for the night.

The next morning I loaded up on chocolate snacks at the local shop and continued. Shortly after St Veit im Pongau the cycle path began to climb steeply. I was cycling close to ski lifts. This was the hardest cycling of my trip. I made it 38km before finding another camping ground (Kur-camping Erlengrund) and calling it quits for the day.

This was one of the tunnels through peaks. There was a separate path for cyclists, but the wind from passing trucks still buffeted me around.

Bad Gastein was not much below the snow line. Apparently, a cyclist camped there a week before I arrived and a metre of snow fell. It was pretty cold.

On my third morning on the Alpe Adria route, I cycled up a steep and busy road to Böckstein. It was fine as I packed up, but once I started cycling it became really cold and began to rain heavily. It can't have been far from snowing. On the other side of Böckstein, I caught the compulsory Tauernbahn train that carries cars (and bicycles) through the highest point of the Alps to Mallnitz.

I was thoroughly drenched and it was perishingly cold. I found a deserted corner of the platform and changed into all my Winter clothes.

Mallnitz was pretty sleepy. It's a ski town, but between seasons there wasn't a lot going on. From there, the cycle route followed a series of switchbacks to descend very steeply. It was a fabulous view out over the valley, but I had to stop twice because my rims were getting too hot from braking. I wouldn't want to ride it in the other direction. I don't think I would be able to make it.

The path became traffic free - it was great. It ran through a series of alpine villages and was very pleasant.

I passed through several villages where I hoped to stop for the night. In each case, the camping ground appeared to be closed so I ended riding all the way south-east along the Drava river to Villach, arriving quite late. I was exhausted and my first impressions of Villach were that it was scruffy and run-down.

This wasn't accurate: Villach is actually a really pretty town and I stopped for a rest day to replenish my supplies. Among other things, I needed fuel for my stove. A local chemist grilled me suspiciously about why I wanted to buy bottles of pure alcohol.

Sunday 26 April (76km): Salzburg to St Johann im Pongau
Monday 27 April (38km): St Johann im Pongau to Bad Gastein
Tuesday 28 April (102km): Bad Gastein to Villach
Wednesday 29 April (0km): rest day in Villach

Total: 2133km