So many trails to ride. And most of them have a pub!

(The K�seralm pub is in the background)

The Trails

After a couple of days of exploration, it became apparent that there was WAY more riding that would need to be done in order to find out exactly what was available to ride. I only explored the small mountain range called Riesenberg directly near my hotel and there were tons of trails and great riding to be found there. This was only a small mountain range which was essentially in the foothills of the real Alps.

My routine consisted of riding to the top of the nearby 1500 meter mountain using gravel 2-track and then bombing down on one of the many tight single track trails. The 2-track climb to the top of the nearby mountain was a 1.5 to 2 hour unrelenting non-stop uphill grunt. Some sections were WAY steep. In fact, just climbing the 2-track roads required me to get off and push several sections. For the first few days, I tried to spin a 34:18 gear combination but it was clear that there was no way that was going to work. After changing to a 34:20 I was still off the bike pushing by foot on several uphill sections. Riding up the single track up was impossible - it was too steep and sometimes along with being steep it was really rocky. I quickly learned the German word for steep: steil. And also the German word for crazy: verr�ckt.

Although the climb required riding 2-track to the top, it was by no means boring or easy. Besides, the reward for the 2-track climb was worth it - tight single track descents. Did I mention that the single track was tight? There are a couple of reasons for the single track being so tight: there are no mountain bike riders widening the trail - only hikers; there are lots of trees; but the main reason is that the slope of the mountain often dictates that there is only a foot or so for trail width. An example is in this picture. Along with illustrating how narrow the trail is, it also shows the slope of the mountain above the trail, making a wider trail impossible. One time I made the mistake of dabbing to my right on this trail while I was at a standstill. I ended up about 30 feet down the side of the mountain before I came to a stop - I am not kidding. The sharp drop off the edge of the trail in the picture is hidden by nice, fluffy green plants that grow up around the trail. It is a virtual ledge to the right.

Another cool thing about making it to the top of the nearby mountain was that at the top, along with having a pub greeting you as you crested the final climb (2 pubs actually), you were looking down the side of this incredibly steep mountain onto the village that I was staying in below. It was exactly like something out of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas cartoon, where you are looking way down onto a small little village from the top of the mountain. This is also where paragliders and parasailers would jump off to float down to the base of the mountain.

I also made lots of new friends while riding.

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