I had a massive breakfast, so big that I needed a lie-down afterwards 😀
There was a stiff southerly breeze out, with a storm promised around lunchtime. No time to waste, I was off.
As soon as I left Poysdorf I was climbing through open countryside, vineyards giving way to vast fields of sugar beet. Weinviertel is Austria’s largest wine growing region, but I honestly expected to see more vineyards.
The clouds looked ominous, the headwind was hitting hard, and the pace quickly became glacial. Gusts would stop me in my tracks, or knock me sideways with the extra baggage. The only respite came during a short ride through a sheltered forest towards the large town of Mistelbach.
From there it rained, and conditions were tough as I found myself back in the open, facing a gradual ascent for nearly 15 km. I pedalled-on defiantly, making slow progress.
At this stage the route signage became confusing, and I got lost in Ladendorf. Although Eurovelo 9 was marked, it took me off in a northerly direction, wind at my back. Something wasn’t right.
After 30 minutes I decided to turn around and follow the #940 instead towards Wolkersdorf, where I resolved to have a hot lunch.
No such luck. By now the storm was in full throttle and I was soaked through. Limping into the village of Unterolberndorf I found the only place open – hotel Zum Grünen Jäger – and made light work of a schnitzel while chatting with two chain-smoking policemen.
Interestingly, in the 1980’s the hotel was used as a political base by Ugandan rebels to overthrow Milton Obote. The ‘Unterolberndorf Manifesto’ served as basis for the Ugandan constitution. When one of the rebels later became president, the hotel owners were invited to his inauguration as state guests. Cool story bro!
After an hour the rain was still pelting down. So I changed plan. There’s no point in cycling into Vienna in these conditions, only to start looking for overly expensive accommodation in the dark.
Rather, I decided to make it the 10km to Wolkersdorf and find a room. From there it’s flat 15km to Vienna, which I can hit shortly after morning rush hour. The weather forecast for tomorrow is much better, though still windy. Thursday and Friday are promising to be hot and sunny. Great!
Wolkersdorf is a fairly big town, but like many I passed this week, it seems completely deserted. 7,000 people and I saw maybe 10 as I walked around, one of them a pizza shop owner who was slumped over his counter, sound asleep.
I got a cheap room in the only hotel (with a welcome sauna!) and eventually found a run-down bar that served me a decent chilli.
A tough day overall. I reckon about 65 km traveled. All things considered, that’s not bad.