Leaving Vienna in route to Prague, Part I

Getting out of Vienna was proving as challenging as finding something cheap to do there. The day started out mild, albeit slow going as I was under the weather, but finding the correct path to Euro Velo 9 was a bit of a hassle. However, once we found it we were graced with paths like this:

Stunning, no?

Countryside routes were well marked...until they weren't, but we were use to that by this point

As with a lot of our trip, the days started off nice but turned to wet in a heartbeat

The countryside does have some flair

A tip for riders: if you see wind turbines, expect that you'll be in for a struggle with air flow. It's rarely at your back

Going through the countryside wasn't too terrible, if you subtract the fact that we got stuck in a brief storm with a bit of hail, super strong winds, and horizontal rain. Luckily we were able to duck into a gas station/diner and eat lunch until it lightened. The paths were nice, sometimes dirt(of course), but with most bike routes, they're not direct. So we opted for small highways, which was great until a major one ended onto the small one we were navagating. The above picture of the turbines was just off that main highway to the right. We were so stressed from the struggle against the wind and passing lorries, that we switched to farm access roads. Once we got back on the designated bike routes however, it was hilly smooth sailing with ominous clouds.

Just outside of Poysdorf, where we camped 

Look I'm smiling! A rare moment. I also danced in those fields, theres a video somewhere...

 Poysdorf was a beautiful small village that boasts it's likeness to California's Napa wine country. I'm pretty sure Napa is not this beautiful or modest. No offense Napa

The church was the biggest building in the town

 The next day saw us rolling into the Czech Republic. Crossing the boarder was the longest point of no safe bike routes, only a couple of kilometers. Otherwise, I would say Austria is pretty bike friendly. A brief note of interest: we ran into a group of bicycle tourists from Seattle on Bike Friday folding bikes. Random and cool

Just over the boarder. 

Some of the amazing bike routes in C.R.

While on this trip some of our favorite lunch spots were at various religious establishments

Always an unfortunate sight

Why yes, we did ride into that shit show

After that nice downpour we camped by a lake

calm and peaceful until nightfall, when I thought our tent was going to blow away

Storm aftermath

Epic Metal Bro