Salzkammergut: Alpine idyll for road bikers

For several years now, we have been coming regularly to the SalzburgerLand - Salzkammergut racing bike region to train in the impressive landscape between striking mountains and picturesque lakes. Last season we participated in a marathon here for the first time. The middle distance of the "Eddy Merckx Classik" with its 101 kilometers and 1,430 meters of altitude, has excited us so much that we immediately signed up again for the next edition.

Together with Tom, Mike and Christine, I'm staying at the Hotel Mohrenwirt in Fuschl am See, which specializes in road biking and triathlon. The head of the house, Jakob Schmidlechner, is himself a passionate road biker and triathlete. Several times in the past he has accompanied us on tours through his home region. At the gates of the cultural and festival city of Salzburg, an enchanting interplay of beautiful lakes and mountain landscapes is presented, which are connected by panoramic roads, passes and bike paths. The racing bike region SalzburgerLand-Salzkammergut around Mondsee, Attersee, Fuschlsee, Eugendorf, Dachstein-Salzkammergut and the Salzburger Seenland offers with a route network of 6,000 kilometers the best conditions for varied rounds in all degrees of difficulty. Along the shores, you first pedal more or less hard to then enjoy the crystal clear waters of Austria's most beautiful lakes.

Jakob knows that we want to get on our bikes immediately and spontaneously decides to accompany us on a short ride on his "house circuit". Right at the beginning we have to master an ascent of about 100 meters in altitude, which immediately gets our tired bones going. After we reach the shore of the Wolfgangsee in St. Gilgen, we find ourselves a curvy dream descent later already at the Mondsee. The speedometer shows just 15 kilometers, but we are already worlds apart from work and everyday stress. While we easily cycle north along the eastern shore of Lake Mondsee, we completely forgo slipstreaming in order to enjoy the gorgeous landscape to the fullest. Only when we are parallel to the highway on the way, we line up behind each other and make proper speed. We now have a good 300 meters of altitude to climb on the way back to the Hotel Mohrenwirt. Our guide leads us first along the Mozart cycle path to the village of Thalgau and later on low-traffic side roads to the starting point at Lake Fuschl. At the latest now, the vacation feeling has set in with us.

After we have stowed our racing bikes in the video-monitored garage and satisfied our greatest hunger with small bites from the après-bike snack, we devote ourselves to relaxation. The small but fine Mohren Spa with Finnish sauna and steam bath offers sufficient possibilities to loosen the stressed muscles and to become fit again for the coming challenges. Afterwards, we enjoy a non-alcoholic wheat beer on the outdoor terrace on the 4th floor and enjoy the magnificent view of the local mountain "Schober". The Hotel Mohrenwirt also has a lot to offer in the way of culinary delights. So we let ourselves be spoiled with a multi-course evening menu, which is a real treat for the palate thanks to fresh products from regional producers. As dessert, of course, only the popular Kaiserschmarrn from chef Patrick comes into question - delicious!!! Later we tell Jakob Schmidlechner about our plan to tackle the long course of the "Eddy Merckx Classic" this year. "Good idea," says the sporty hotelier, "then we'll ride the loop tomorrow."

Tour 12: Eddy Merckx Classics
In order to start the 168-kilometer tour well prepared, we made an extra round at the rich breakfast buffet and stowed the energy package included in the full board for athletes in our jersey pockets. After all, there are a considerable 2,449 meters of altitude to overcome. The altitude profile is undulating with many short climbs. This corresponds exactly to the terrain of our home country, which makes us optimistic.

From Fuschl am See we first go via Thalgau and Hof bei Salzburg to Faistenau, to Hintersee, which we reach after an hour's ride. The descent through the wonderful Strubklamm is followed by the longest climb of the day towards Gaisberg. I laboriously work up altitude meter after altitude meter, while Jakob, with a broad smile on his face, easily cranks along and still has enough puff to entertain us with stories from the region. At just under 1000 meters above sea level - fortunately we don't have to climb to the summit of the Gaisberg, which is even 300 meters higher - we reach the roof of the tour before using the descent to recover and bring our heart rates back into the basic range. Briskly we then drive our bikes north. We pass Wallersee and Obertrumer See before we cross the border to Upper Austria in Perwang am Grabensee. In addition to the beautiful landscape, with its unique variety of crystal clear lakes, we are particularly enthusiastic about the low-traffic side roads, which give us a perfect racing bike feeling. Since today's ride is not a race, we have enough time to settle down at the Irrsee for an extended lunch break. We make ourselves comfortable on the terrace of the Gasthof Seewirt and enjoy a cappuccino with cake and the view of the water.

Even though the break is good for you, it's hard to get back into the swing of things afterwards. Sitting comfortably in the sun and just letting your mind wander - that would be a nice afternoon program, too. "Let's go guys!" - Jakob Schmidlechner rudely rouses us from our dreams with this invitation. Somewhat reluctantly, we set off again. After just a few kilometers, there is no sign of fatigue. The lake landscape in the border region of Upper Austria and Salzburg, as well as the magnificent mountain scenery in the south, which we are now heading towards, provide sufficient drive and motivation. Little by little we increase the pace, we take turns at leading, we really enjoy it. Even the fact that at the very end of the loop the 300-meter climb awaits us, which leads from Mondsee first to Wolfgangsee and finally back to the starting point in Fuschl am See, can't slow down our euphoria. Big thanks go to our professional guide. Jakob has always chosen the pace so that none of us has been overwhelmed and we have nevertheless progressed quickly. In the fall, when the "Eddy Merckx Classic" takes place, we have to be careful not to waste our powder right at the beginning. Fortunately, we now know the exact course of the race and can therefore manage our forces much better.

In the racing bike region SalzburgerLand-Salzkammergut there is another marathon event that appeals to us. Already at the end of June the "Mondsee 5 Lakes Marathon" takes place. Here, too, there are several distances to choose from. Especially the long distance with Mondsee, Hallstätter See, Traunsee and Attersee has aroused our interest. However, with 200 kilometers and 3,000 meters of altitude, this is still a much greater challenge than the "Eddy Merckx Classic". Jakob proposes to ride this route in autumn, together with him, and then to tackle it next year as participants. A very good idea - we can't get enough of the mountains and lakes of the SalzburgerLand-Salzkammergut region anyway.