Before I get started describing the day, Nate would like to make it very clear that it rained all day (again), and he is not happy about it. And he's ready to go home.

That being said, today was a pretty nice day. After dinner last night at a "Gasthof" (where we all order wienerschnetzel and the waitress laughed at us) we went to bed at 8pm and got 11 hours of sleep. We woke up early, had a fast breakfast, and we're on the trail by 7:45am. Today had a lot more elevation then yesterday.

We crossed the border into Switzerland without any issues. (We literally rolled through, we think the guard waved us through but we might not be here legally.) Right after we crossed the border, we took a nice detour up 500 ft into a small town, and didn't realize our mistake until we were at the top.

After that, we went back down, and then up the other side of the valley (yay!). The trail in Switzerland is nowhere near as nice as in Austria. There's a lot less signage, and the trail spends a lot more time on dirt roads.

We're all really enjoying the small towns that we bike through. I don't think we've biked more then 10km between towns. The alps are also beautiful when we can see them, and the towns are very quaint.

We're now in Scoul, Switzerland. Everything here is super expensive (it's 49 Swiss franks to camp where we're camping). But we're setting on a deck, drinking beers, and looking at the mountains. The sun is out, all our stuff is drying, and we're just shooting the bull.

To quote Nate "It's a hard life, but someone has to live it."

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! Especially Paresh Patel and Jerry Schulte.

View from our campsite:

Town of Scoul

We were supposed to leave by 8 this morning but due to Matt's unpreparedness we weren't out the door till 8:30, at which time the light sprinkle turned into a heavy rain.

We biked east from Innsbruck along the Inn river to the town on Landeck, which we measured to be an 84 km ride. We averaged 20 km/hr which is not breaking any speed records but good enough.

The trail was stupidly well marked. We only needed a map once and even then we really didn't need it. We would ride along the river until hitting a small town, in which we would bike through the small roads before getting back on a path for the next town.

These small Austrian towns are gorgeous, they all have beautiful buildings and great views. The ride would have been spectacular had it not been for the rain and low clouds obscuring our views of the peaks.

We are biking along the same pass the Romans used to build a road through the alps. Which means it's mostly nice and flat, with a couple small climbs. The highlight of the trail was passing a cow. Which was just wandering down the path on its own. It got right out of the way for us. We found her buddies a little later.

Upon are arrival in Landeck we set up camp, went to the store, found some food and gas for the stove, and then crashed for a nap back at the tent.

Now it's off to dinner and then to bed... Did we mention it's still raining.

Today was our last day to explore Innsbruck, so in true bum fashion we didn't get out till 11. This bros place is just too comfy. It didn't help that we broke down our bike boxes at 11 last night into tiny pieces.

The goal today was to get to these things we found online called mountain carts which is basically a tricked out tricycle to ride down the mountain. We tried to navigate public transit to get their but with everything in German, we were struggling. Google Maps was our friend though and after Matt bought the wrong tickets and Mark saved the day with getting half the right ones we got on a bus.

The bus only took us half the way there. We didn't have tickets for the next bus and it wasn't coming for an hour so we hiked through the rain for an hour. Thankfully there was great signage (and Google Maps when there wasn't). The hike had some great views at least.

We got to the place and rode a gondola to the top. It was still drizzling and so the views weren't so great but we did get a preview of what was to come.

When we got to the top, it was pouring rain. But they were still open and so we got our 3 trikes put our rain gear on and got ready to ride. No safety talk, no waiver. Just pointing towards the start.

The video is posted below, but it was nuts. We flew down the hill, probably hitting 30-40 mph. They had a brake on the left and the right wheel so you could skid around corner. It felt like Mario Kart, flying down DK mountain. There was no safety nets either, so it's a good thing we were professional drivers.

We found a train that would take us right back to our place. The train station had the most beautiful view I have ever seen at a train station.

Tomorrow we actually start biking so we'll head up the Inn River and out of Innsbruck. We're currently getting packed, getting food, and then going out for drinks.

We went out for drinks with Nate's friend Rachel and her boyfriend Joe. They were both really great and showed us some great bars in Innsbruck. Joe was hilarious and did a great Austrian impression. We had some great Austrian beer and then mixed drinks. Bed time for an early wake up and bike tomorrow!

Today was a very relaxed day. Matt woke up at some ungodly hour of the morning trying to combat a pesky fly, but I managed to make it until 9:30 or so and Nate, of course, had to be roused from bed at around 10. Breakfast was bread and scrambled eggs, nothing fancy but tasted good enough for us.

After breakfast we went to the supermarket to buy lunch and trail food, and then walked over to the Hungbergbahn, a funicular (a street car like device that has two cars and uses the weight of the uphill car to pull the downhill car up), to go up to Hungerberg. From Hungerberg we hiked 4km or so up to Hottinger Alm, where we had "drei biers" (one beer per person) from a little restaurant up there. We really can't order any specific type of beer, because we can't pronounce any German, but the owner understood we just wanted beer. At €3.10 per liter, it was pretty cheap, and paired nicely with lunch we had picked up from the supermarket that morning.

After lunch we hiked back down to the funicular and rode it back into the city. We spent about an hour walking around the old city part of Innsbruck, and then went back to our apartment. And, guess what, Nate proceeded to nap. (Matt joined him)

After a dinner of pasta, meat, and veggies, we all took showers for the first time this trip, and are sitting here deciding what to do tomorrow. It looks like we're going to take our bikes over to the Olympic ski jump in Innsbruck (where the opening and closing ceremonies where held in the 1976 Olympics) and then go to a castle in the city.

Everybody here is in high spirits, with Nate complaining about "never traveling again" hourly and Matt wearing his fancy shoes around town

. We're all outclassed by the Europeans with their footwear however. And based on our dress, we must stand out like a sore thumb.

Anyway, bed time over here. Tomorrow should be another relaxed day, and then Saturday we start our trip.

Today was probably the most stressful day of the trip so far, and it wasn't that bad. We slept in until 9:15 or so, and then had breakfast of bread and cheese kindly provided to us by Michiel and Maureen. We made it to the airport with plenty of time, got our bikes and panniers from storage, and made our way to the transavia counter. With 2-4 pieces of luggage each, checkin took awhile, but went without incident.

Our flight was uneventful, with all of us in an emergency exit row. Innsbruck has a small airport, and the Boeing 737-700 that we were on took the entire runway to land. No jet ways in Innsbruck, so we took steps off the airplane and walked to the luggage area. All our luggage arrived (yay!!) and we went through Austrian customs. The customs agents stopped us to have a dog sniff our luggage. Unfortunately for them, the dog was not well trained and was much more interested in sniffing the new people in customs then sniffing our luggage. He looked like a puppy who wanted to play. We held back for as long as possible but when one of the guards starting to smile we couldn't help but crack up. The trainer kept telling the dog to sniff boxes but the dog was having none of it.

After making it through customs, Nate and Mark went on an expedition to find a taxi while Matt stayed with the gear. We found cab drivers who seemed reluctant to drive us with all our gear but finally drove us the ten minutes to our AirBnb. The guy who was renting it to us wasn't able to find a cat to pick us up, so we were stuck with Taxis. It took two taxis, but we made it no problem and waited on the sidewalk for the owner to show up.

Imed, the owner of the apartment, is a first class frat star. The apartment is a studio apartment, with a large TV, small kitchen, pull up bar, and punching bag. We arrived and he helped us move out stuff in, probably because he doesn't want his landlord to know that he has AirBnb tenants. Apparently, he's not actually allowed to have any AirBnb renters in his place, so that's fun.

Anyway, our bikes are all built up, so if we get kicked out we can just start biking. It probably took around 6 hours to complete the bike building process in this guys apartment. But, to be fair, that was mixed with drinking beer and just being lazy.

Tomorrow we're going to go to a mountain and go for a hike. We're not sure how much elevation we really want to do, so we'll play it by ear. We also will buy some more food and plan the first few days of our trip.

Matt and Nate have been adding photos to stories after they've been published, so you may want to look back and check them out. For now, goodnight!