Eight years ago I made a solo cycle trip from Milan to Trieste. My route took me through southern Austria, along some of the trails I repeated today. My memory of back then was a very positive one—sun, smooth cycling on an excellent bike path, and wonderful scenery. Today began with mixed sunshine and clouds, with a forecast of rain, and I wondered whether one can ever go back, whether good memories of the past are doomed to disappointment. But such was not the case. The day turned out excellent, the path was smooth, and the past was recreated.
Our route followed a river that had carved a wide valley between two high mountain ranges. It passed through several small towns, with their distinctive Austrian character, and routed us through well groomed green fields. It was flat and wonderful, and only at the end of the day, as we moved into Italy did we run into any problems. We passed through the Italian town of Tarvisio and headed up a canyon towards Predil Pass, our entry point into Slovenia. But it soon became clear that there probably would be no place to stay short of going over the pass itself, which would be a formidable task. We found a local man working on his home and asked him what lay ahead. His response was that there would be no place to stay short of Yugoslavia. His information affirmed our concern, but also gave us insight into his generation—what was over the border was still Yugoslavia, not Slovenia. In any case we turned around, headed back to Tarvisio, and found a nice small hotel for the night.
Back nine years ago I had cycled from Austria to Italy over Wirtzen Pass, and had experienced one of the steepest hills I had ever ridden. On the maps it is now noted that the gradient of the pass reaches 18%, which is incredibly steep, and it felt like it. This time Brian and I decided to try a different path between the two countries, and it was completely different—the line between Austria and Italy was imperceptible, there was almost no gradient at all either exiting Austria or entering Italy. If only I had known that those years ago…
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