14 August 2014
Schwarzach to Bruck, Austria (20 miles; Total = 692 miles)

I’m just gonna say it so I can get on with it: today’s route was terrible (too steep, too many criss-crossings of intersections and big roads, too much off and on the bike trying to find our way or simply standing, dumbfounded, in front of the route sign, thinking They Want Me To Go Where? Certainly Not There!) and the weather here this summer is downright awful. Nothing but mist, drizzle, light showers, heavy showers, light rain, rain, heavy rain, and thunderstorms. Someone better FedEx me some new tap shoes – mine are pretty much worn out from all this dancing.

We’ve stopped for the day in Bruck, the village that’s proud to call itself “Mile 0” of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, which leads up and over the highest (paved) mountain pass in Austria. We won’t see Mile 1 because we’ve no intention of heading that direction.

Besides getting our room moments before it was time to start dancing again, the best part of the day was a cheeseburger from Der BurgerBaron. Yep, a good old-fashioned burger lathered in cheese and something akin to Thousand Island dressing, served up with a heap of piping hot fries. Small comfort on a day better left behind.