Somewhere in these forests a beech tree has been standing since before anyone thought to draw a border here, and the Kalkalpen National Park exists largely to keep it that way. This is the largest protected forest area in Austria, spread across the limestone ranges of the Sengsengebirge and the Reichraminger Hintergebirge in Upper Austria, and parts of it belong to the UNESCO listing of ancient and primeval beech forests of Europe. Urlach lies on the edge of that wild country, in the folds above the Steyr valley between Molln and Windischgarsten.
You do not ride into the park proper; the roads stop at its edge and the interior belongs to walkers, chamois, red deer and woodpeckers. What you do ride is wonderful in its own right. The Steyrtal road follows the river through a valley of green pools and limestone gorges, and the side roads toward Molln and up toward the Hengstpass climb through forest with tight bends, narrow lanes and patches where shade keeps the tarmac damp long after rain. Watch for forestry trucks and gravel on the inside of corners, and for cyclists who know these roads as well as you do.
Molln is the nearest village with real services and has a curious claim to fame: it has been a centre of Jew's harp making for centuries, and the little twanging instruments are still produced there. Windischgarsten, on the other side, sits in a wide green basin at the foot of the Pyhrn and is the more convenient place for food, rooms and petrol. For a bigger town, Micheldorf and Kirchdorf on the Krems valley side are about eleven kilometres off.
The smell is what stays with you: wet limestone, resin, wild garlic in spring and, in autumn, the dry sweetness of beech leaves turning copper. The streams here run clear and cold over white gravel, and the national park visitor centres in Molln and Windischgarsten explain why so many rare beetles, owls and orchids still live here.
Late spring and early autumn are the best seasons, with fewer people and the beech canopy at its most dramatic. In midsummer, thunderstorms build over the limestone peaks in the afternoon, so plan your ride for the morning and leave the evening for a cold drink in the valley.