Vienna rewards the rider who parks the bike and walks. The Innere Stadt, the old centre, sits inside the line of the Ringstrasse, the great boulevard laid out in the nineteenth century where the medieval walls once stood, and it is lined with the opera house, the parliament, the university and a procession of grand museums. At the heart is Stephansdom, the cathedral with a roof of coloured tiles and a tall south tower that has been a landmark for centuries. The Hofburg, once the imperial palace, takes up a sizable chunk of the neighbourhood.
The city's culture is a culture of tables. Coffeehouses, with marble tabletops, newspapers on wooden holders and waiters in black, are recognised by UNESCO as part of the intangible heritage, and a single coffee can buy you an afternoon. Wiener schnitzel, thin and crisp and served with potato salad, is the standard meal, and Sachertorte, a dense chocolate cake with apricot jam, is the standard sweet, though locals disagree about where to eat the best one. The Naschmarkt has stalls of olives, spices and fresh produce, and the Prater, with its giant Ferris wheel from 1897, is a cheerful reminder that Vienna once led the world in amusements.
Riding out of Vienna is easier than riding in. The Höhenstrasse climbs through the Vienna Woods to the viewpoint at Kahlenberg, a good road for an evening run with views over the Danube and the city. East of town, the land flattens and opens into the Pannonian plain, where roads run straight through vineyards and fields, and where the shallow, reed-fringed Neusiedlersee waits in the heat, a steppe lake that feels like an entirely different country. Trams, taxis and cyclists make the centre a place for patience, and parking rules are strict, so ask at your hotel.
Fuel is easy at stations around the ring roads and on the main exits, though there are few in the centre. Summer can be hot and humid, winter is cold and grey, and the best months are May, June and September, when the evening light lingers. Be gentle with the cobbles, and mind the tram tracks in wet weather, because they are slick and can catch a wheel.