A few weeks before leaving Steyr for good, I am beginning to appreciate the advantages of living in this small town. The close mountains, as well as the valleys of the Enns and Steyr rivers, offer great opportunities for cycling.

In the end of July, I went biking on Damberg for the first time together with some colleagues. We did a tour of approx. 45 kilometers, going from Steyr via Damberg, Kleinraming, Kürnberg, Behamberg and Wachtberg back to Steyr.

In early August, a friend of mine visited me in Steyr, and we explored the Steyr and the Enns valleys by bike.

The ultimate reason for biking around Steyr, however, was the Damberg Time Trial, which was initiated by a fellow colleague. This route leads from Citypoint Steyr to Dambergwarte, passing some specific waypoints in between. Even though I do not own a mountain bike, I was tempted by this route. Therefore, on August 19, I just tried whether I am able to do it with my trekking bike – and suprisingly enough, I did not only manage it, but I was not much slower than my better-equiped colleagues.

Encouraged by this good result, I tackled the route again one week later (on August 26). I managed to arrive at Dambergwarte within 57:13 minutes of leaving Citypoint Steyr – which is, in my opinion, a very respectable result. The following day, I rode my bike again up to Dambergwarte, this time accompanying a fellow colleague of mine.

For reasons of documentation, I have tracked my rides with my GPS. The map below shows the official "racing track" in red (in the "scenic route" variant during the open routing). Two possible ways back into town (which are also managable on a trekking bike) are shown in blue and green, respectively.

Apart from the joy of mountain biking itself, this route also has another bonus: a great view of Steyr from atop Dambergwarte – provided that you can manage to climb the stairs after the climb with your mountain bike …