Day 3: St. Anton to Natterer See (Innsbruck) (110 km, 560 vm)

I woke up well rested. St. Anton is at 1400 meters so it was not that hot at night. I was on the bike at around 8. The first 30 kilometres were a dream. Only downhill. When I arrived in Landeck I had an average speed of 28 km/h. I thought to myself that I can make it beyond Innsbruck if it keeps going like that. Unfortunately every downhill at some point hits a valley. From Landeck I followed a bike path along the river “Inn”. The undulating opened some stunning views on the wild river.

At around 10 I could already feel the heat. Not only was it getting hotter by the minute I was also slowly loosing altitude. Two factors that did not increase global but my personal warming. Only after 85 kilometres I took my first food break. I found a little pond in a forest. It measured about 1 meter by 1 meter fed by the river. I took a quick dip. It was freezing cold which was exactly what I needed. Even though it was only about 12:30 the food break was definitely to late for me. My legs felt tired. I checked on google how far my chosen camp ground was. 23 kilometres but with a 300 vertical meter incline. I thought about choosing camp ground more in the valley to avoid the last mountain but decided I would go with my original choice. The camp ground is located around a lake which was exactly what I needed now. An extended bath in a cold lake.

The last uphill was awful. The thermometer was reaching 35 % and some of the inclines on the little side road reached more that 15 %. A road that steep forces me to take breaks every few minutes. All my luggage is pulling to hard down. I reached the camp ground at around 3:15. The view of the little lake made up for all the exhaustion. I set up camp, washed my clothes and then took a long swim. Life’s good again.