“THE WEINVIERTEL RIDE”
With the beginning of 2019 I found out, that I was slowly running out of gravel roads in my closer surrounding. Most of them I had already ridden. Hence, I made the plan to conquer new territories and had a closer look to the maps. The Austrian state “Lower Austria” is divided in four quarters, what seems to be a good idea to start with. One quarter is the “Weinviertel”, where I decided to make a gravel focused dual-sport riding day. Here you will find the report about this nice dual-sport-day-ride, which I call “The Weinviertel Ride” …
DATE: April 2019, DISTANCE: 340km or 210mi, GRAVEL/STREET RATIO: 70/30, HIGHLIGHTS: old building, scenic views, abandoned stuff, a huge factory, …
This riding day started in the east of Vienna. It went on along the river Danube to the village Hainburg. There my black beauty Чернотa and I crossed the river and went on northwestwards along different gravel tracks through wide open fields, woods, hills and some small and bigger villages. Near the village Mistelbach we turned southwards and rode on again to Hainburg and further on back to Vienna.
This day ride started in Vienna. It went on along some boring straight tarmac roads until we reached this ancient building near the village “Petronell Carnuntum”. This old ruin is called “Heidentor“. It’s a Romanian triumphal arch, which was built a long time ago. Not far from this impressive ruin is …
the “St. Mary’s church” located. It lies near the village Bad Deutsch Altenburg, above an old stone pit. For getting a closer look to his building we rode up to its backside. On …
What a nice little stone church. After a short walk around I jumped again on my black pony and rode on along the planned route. We crossed the …
river Danube …
and followed some easy …
field tracks, until we reached the …
huge AGRANA-Sugar-Factory, which lies near the village Leopoldsdorf im Marchfeld. This giant areal has also …
been inspected from us both. For me it’s hard to believe that this huge tarmac square is fully covered with sugar beets during the harvest season. O_o *wow*
Чернотa and I left the factory along some railway lines diverting from it. We passed some…
wine yards and finally found ourselves …
in the middle of an old, overgrown sandpit. After playing a bit in the dirt the ride continued.
Besides some single tracks …
we also followed a few short pieces of …
scenic …
tarmac roads until we reached again …
nice tracks. We followed …
this tracks, …
which led us right through the woods …
for a long time northwards.
*pro tip to the holder of that thing: get new front tires!*
Near the city Mistelbach the forest terrain changed…
into wide open fields.
Around midday, we made a short break at a construction site. Later the ride went on along …
this pond and …
wide open fields.
On our way we also found this …
small old railway station. It showed out, that it’s used in the meanwhile for some tourism activity as a muscle powered Draisine-Railway.
After another few miles through …
the forests of the northern Weinviertel …
we took the opportunity and made another break, here at the castle “Niederleis”. Next we went on along …
some nice typical Weinviertel-Scenery …
and climbed the so called …
“Buschberg”, where an impressive radar station of the company “Austro Control” is installed. This company is responsible for the civilian flight safety within Austria. Not far from this station …
Чернотa found this little, old and cozy looking camping trailer. No idea for how long its uninhabited but surely for ages. Just look at its wheels and how deep they have been sunk into the soil!
Pushing the LC4 along this huge plains, …
through this narrow and also …
hilly forest tracks was such a pleasure …
until we had to stop here. The further direction was uncertain. But after a little of zooming in and out on my “D.I.Y.-Waterproof-Wireless-Smartphone-Navigation-Device” the direction was clear. So we went on leftwards …
right to the next huge hilly plain, where an impressive play between bright daylight and dark cloud-shadows was ongoing.
The name “Чернотa” is Cyril and stands for “Blackness” or “Darkness”. Locations like this alwasy inspiring me to make this kind of contrasty picture with my black beauty Чернотa in its center. Thereafter …
we avoided like always the highway and …
went on a few miles along grandiose asphalt road til …
we reached the next …
field tracks which went on …
as far as the eye can reach.
Being a former mechanic such things like this pump jack are attracting my interests on a high level. Hence I made a stop for the satisfaction of my curiosity. After my locally researches one thing was clear: I must have such thing in my garden. *dream* ^_^
The sun was slowly sinking down to the horizon on this Aprils afternoon …
so we hurried up, passed a few wine cellars, …
and went on along some other …
huge plains back to …
Hainburg, where we crossed the Danube like the morning before.
Here in the middle of the picture you can see the ruin of the “Castle Hainburg” on its strategic important location on top of hill. A little southward of the village Hainburg is the …
hill “Spitzerberg” located. From its top the view over the nearby air field and the plains westwards to Vienna was a real eyeopener!
After that last pic Чернотa and I rode homewards and reached the city Vienna after 340 km or 210 mi.
In hindsight this day ride through Lower Austrias “Weinviertel” was a nice one. Plenty of gravel, a bit of tarmac and also many interesting things along the way made this ride to a diverse one.
May the incoming rides through the other three quarters of Lower Austria be similar to this one!