Trötsch #4: in between downpours

27.06.2017 Trötsch #4

Me and Cézanne have a similar attitude to mountains: pick one you like and stick with it. I’ve been working away at the same hilly route from Graz to Frohnleiten since the winter. Did it again on Sunday.

The weather forecast for the day was for plenty of thunderstorms, which wasn’t exactly encouraging. I find the thunderstorms around here pretty terrifying, but on the other hand Styria is simply a very thundery region – so if you spend all your time being put off by the fact that one might happen, you’re never going to go anywhere. There’s the weather forecast, and there’s your own local observation. This was: we’d had a big thunderstorm during the night, it was nice and cool, and I  guessed it was going to take till midday to work up to the next one.

I headed off at 8:45 and on the way out of town felt not particularly bursting with energy, but ok.

First good bit was the humorously-named ‘Bergsprint Höchwirt’ which on Strava goes from the bottom of Schöcklstraße up to the Höchwirt pub. The best bit is a little section in the middle which according to a road sign is 23%; it’s just about 200 m long. Mostly I’ve needed to stop at the top of this for a breather, but yesterday I managed to keep rolling. With some less-than-dignified panting, but I don’t think anyone was looking.

It’s a bit brutal that this thing comes at the beginning but it certainly functions as a lung-opener for the rest of the climbing. The weather was relatively cool but relatively means the mid 20s and there was a lot of tweeting, chirping and buzzing going on. And it was humid. The sweat was splashing off my crossbar, I’m telling you, sweat pledge people. (Note: Sweat Pledge was a website/social platform started by Kajsa Tylen)

In Road Animals this week we have what I’ll call a European June Beetle (it’s June and we’re in Europe, so …):

(If you listen carefully you can hear the forest life. It would be really cool to go out there and just record the atmo sounds through the seasons.)

Bit of a poor substitute for the toads I failed to take photos of on my recent night rides, but still. I like watching a beetle beetling quietly along. Though there was far too much rustling and cheeping and fluttering and tweeting going on to stop and investigate all of it. Lots of little animals fitting in their daily activities before the next rain.

Carrying on across from Kalkleiten towards Martinelli’s pub on the Leber, I noticed the pumpkins were in bloom. Fun fact: pumpkin seed oil is to Styria roughly what whisky is to Speyside.

The rest of the climb up around the north side of the Schöckl, through the Steingraben to the Theisslwirt and on to the Jägerwirt (notice how the geography of the area is based largely on pubs) went fine.

I notice that across the road from this little hut, which looks like it’s been used as a place of refreshment in the past (several hiking routes up the Schöckl begin here), a new bog has appeared in the woods …

Just after that I heard that telltale carbon bike noise approaching from behind and a very elite-looking bloke (calf muscles, omg) passed me. Thank you, probably-famous road-racing guy, for the friendly “Griaßdi”.

The new 24T chainring behaved well, though in the current state of adjustment of the front derailleur, the chain won’t shift onto it under pressure (I can live with it till I get a chain catcher – hopped off to shift a couple of times – have had enough snarly chain suck incidents). Not much of a view, big mountains barely visible through the steamy foggy air.

Had my sandwich up at the top of the road just past the Theisslwirt. Descent into Semriach and ride out to the Häuserl im Wald (another pub) were uneventful. Most of the cows in the area were lying down but the sky still looked and felt ok to me.

Then comes … dum dum dum … the Trötsch. It’s the last hill over to Frohnleiten. The road snakes up it in curves that aren’t quite hairpins, but for 1.2 km there isn’t a yard of it that eases off even a little bit and the general slope increases a good bit in the second half, up to around 15%. I’ve generally had tired legs at this point before and the last time, when I was not in great form (probably due to pollen allergy) I think I took 5 or 6 stops on the way up.

This time: non stop! Thus completing my first sweat pledge.

Descent to Frohnleiten was fine except for a fair amount of grot the rain had washed out of the fields onto the road, and as I emerged onto the main road at the bottom, I realized there was a bank of very dark cloud just coming in from the other side. As I put my bike into the shed, a long-drawn-out crackle of thunder and the first drops of rain came. It was about 12:45. That’s about half an hour faster than before, reflecting less time for breaks.

After lunch and a good nap, the rain had passed again and one dose of cake and coffee later,

I got back on my bike and rode home, the second-easiest way, first time I’ve done that after the Trötsch route. Legs were fine though not particularly keen on hills. According to Strava, for the day that’s 83 km with 1924 m of elevation gain. This kind of thing is gradually becoming more of a normal ride and less of an adventure 😅 😇.