Day 2 – Lounging in Lienz

I arrived late to load my bike to get transport to Lienz. The lineup was already full of all the racers and their bikes. The buses were double-decker with trailers to haul the bikes. To speed things up, I found a spot underneath in the bus storage that would fit bikes upright. I lured all the people with small frames and we started loading our own bikes. (photo - check the snow under the cloud-line)Joerg managed to get us seats at the front of the top of the double-decker. The views were great. It was scary whenever the bus turned a sharp corner as we came inches away from trees and buildings. The scenery was nice though it was a little disappointing not to see a lot of snow on the drive to Lienz. The weather was warmer once we went over the pass and down the other side of the mountain. The mountain road we were to ride today was open to vehicles. Just a bummer the race was called off.

At Lienz, we arrived around noon. We were served goulash soup and sandwiches for lunch, which was unexpected and nice. I found my accommodation at a private house 1 km away. I had thoughts to go for a bike ride though riding in the bigger city wasn’t as appealing as lounging and taking a nap. I really needed the rest. Browsing Day 3’s race course, I decided to take the next day’s race at a training pace on the first two monster wall climbs within the first 20-km. (photo in Lienz)At the evening pasta parties, I’ve been hanging out with Leah and her mom, and two other Canadian women racing on "Team Tanner", Erin McGann and Sandra Foweraker. Erin’s family, daughter Tanner (7-yr) and partner Greg, are here as well taking interesting side tours while we’re racing. (photo - Marg, Leah, Tanner, Erin, Sandra)We concluded the big city Lienz was our least favourite place for the pasta party and accommodation. Our favourite place so far was teeny Neukirchen, each of us having very personable hosts at different B&Bs.

Leah’s mom has been searching for roasted chickens for us but hasn’t had success yet!