“THE COLD IRON CURTAIN RIDE”
Most of the people don’t ride in the winter. They are afraid of the cold, the salt, the snow, etcetera. I try to ignore this dislikes.
Surely, when the whole countryside is covered under much snow I also stay at home. But once the temperatures are reaching 5°C I take the chance and fight against the winter blues … . This day ride report is one of these “Winter rides”. And no: I don’t ride with heat grips or a heated jacket. Good clothing gear does this job well enough.
DATE: December 2017; DISTANCE: 320km or 250mi; GRAVEL/STREET RATIO: 50/50; HIGHLIGHTS: 3-Country-Corner AUT, HUN, SLK; Panoramic Views, Loads of dirt ^^
The plan: This day we rode clockwise on eastwards mostly on gravel roads until we reached the three country corner between Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. From there we followed the borderline between Hungary and Austria within Austria southwards til the far most eastern point of the “Seewinkel”. Then we went on to the lake “Neusiedlersee” We followed its shore northwards. After that we went back home to the city Vienna. Total covered distance this day: 320km or 250mi.
About an hour after dusk Чернотa and I started in this cold winter ride. We passed the …
Refinery Schwechat and also the near …
Airport Vienna. There, lurking through the fence, a …
Practice site for the airport fire fighters was seen. Probably they train there a plane accident scenario. It would be cool to watch such a practice when this wreck is burning. Near the village Schwadorf this …
old trailer has been found. It seemed like it’s standing there for a while. Austria’s far most eastern part is …
characterized by loads of power supply lines …
and wind turbines. Plenty of …
wind turbines. Most of the people don’t like them but I do. Here, …
seeing this huge parts of a turbine on the ground, I got an idea about how complicated it has to be to mount them. I’m not sure how tall the biggest oft this power plants in eastern Austria are but at any rate they are impressive when you stand directly in front of them!
Near Parndorf this old radio-station was found aside a field track.
At the time of the Cold War was there a radio-beacon installed, which led air planes to the airport. Having a look inside nothing special, aside …
this body of dead cat was seen.
We followed some …
grass tracks until we …
reached the eastern Austrian border region. There the wind was constantly blowing …
an pushed the temperatures down near zero degrees. We arrived now …
at the three country corner and likewise Austria’s far most eastern point.
Here at this landmark the borders of Austria, Hungary and Slovakia coming together. After a short walk at the old sculpture park there, Чернотa and I …
rode on …
southwards. Near the village Nickelsdorf …
we fought us through heavy mud. The worn out back tire, a Mitas E07 spinned through a lot.
Riding along the border, in the south of the border control point “Nickelsdorf” we found this old cemetery, which seemed to belong to a big farm not far from its location. I had a look at it. Besides a few old graves this cross was seen:
“In memoriam to all unknown and forgotten”, was engraved on this metal plate. That’s a nice one! Anyway, we went on further south.
I was lucky to see this spectacle with my own eyes: A sleeping deer stand! With a gentle throttle hand we went off. ^^
While just using field tracks out there …
plenty of interesting views have been offered. Here, in the middle of endless acres was the place of a former chapel, which have been knocked down long time ago. Following the border between Austria and Hungary …
this was the first time that former iron curtain was really well noticeable. The fresh green on the left lies in Hungary, the gray green in the middle was the former dead strip (there’s also one old concrete pole from the fence left over), and on the right the gravel track lies in Austria.
Here, a old watchtower was built up for memorial …
near at the …
Bridge at Andau. You can see it in the background of the fence in the picture above. It’s a history charged place.
The honest girl Чернотa was pushing hard at high speeds …
…
with me on its back through the flat Seewinkel-Area.
Here we found that tent for Austrians soldiers which were still controlling the border to Hungary. I was wondering how they keep their boots clean in this mud hole. :/
We followed some railways support lines until we …
finally, came to this remnant of the iron-curtain-time. That’s the classy tower shape which was mounted on most sensitive border points between east and west.
The scenery was changing when we arrived …
at the reed belt from Lake Neusiedlersee.
I wasn’t sure if this Mangalitsa Pig or Чернотa was the filthier piglet. ^o^
The views which the lake …
offered have been great. Also the panorama …
from its banks in the back country was a real stunner! At late afternoon …
the moon came up. The temperatures have been decreasing due to sunset was incoming, so …
Чернотa and I rode homewards via some well known …
tracks. After …
nearly 330km or 200mi we reached, now slightly frozen our home in the big city.