Loose Ends

After all that happened the past week we thought the curse over our Festive500 was lifted after the treat of ride that the Lago di Garda loop was. We were soon proven wrong when we hit a blizzard on the drive home, causing us to average 40kph on the Autobahn all they way home. With the snowfall increasing as we entered Salzburg we already knew that riding the remaining 19 km might be just as challenging as the 155 the day before. 

Arriving at night we didn't really see the damage until next morning when we had to wade through half a meter of snow to get our bikes out of the garages. With bike paths being unplowed and main roads packed with all of Salzburg trying to use the last day of open stores at once, we decided to hit up the city trails near the river.

The hardships of the last week made themselves clear when Boban's bike decided to give him a surprise nap time in front of some Italian tourists. Ridiculing him for riding on 23c wheels John's fully winterized All City didn't really save him when he was laid out immediately after. We stood around for a while and watched other cyclists hitting the treacherous spot and built some bike installations but after an hour outside we were still only 6 km in so we decide to bite the bullet and do another 10 km on a bigger plowed road. But as usual, not without problem. Our playtime in the snow had frozen Boban's cleats. After some stomping and cursing we were on our way. 

With the 19km finished we reached John's house and had an impromptu celebratory photoshoot in his snow filled backyard. 500km ridden and over 7000m of climbing between Christmas and New Years through snow and sun - done.

Prost. Cheers. Salute.