The Alps Part 2 (Sept 5-11)

Sleepy towns, rainy days and missed climbs, but it is still the Alps.

We decided to try to extend our stay in the Alps because the first part was so good (see previous blog). We had a choice to meander around the Innsbruck region or to head straight east through the Alps towards Slovenia. We decided to head towards Innsbruck with stops in Kitzbuhel and Garmisch, two skiing meccas, along the way. Although we had a great time biking through the valleys and along lovely rivers, we found ourselves wearing down a bit, for a few reasons:

1) We both were getting antsy about staying in small villages with nothing to do and being in bed watching the US Open by about 9:30 every night;

2) One of the big climbs we anticipated, from Matrei to Kitzbuhel, became nothing more than a bus ride when we were told that the secondary road was closed due to rockslide and the main highway was too narrow for our comfort, requiring us to take a bus the 60 kms over the pass we had wanted to climb;

3) For the first time, rain interrupted our plans three times. We lost one day to a downpour in Brixen, another ride on the day we were to go from Garmisch to Innsbruck (it rained instead), and finally we had intended to leave our bags behind and try to climb, on our bikes, a ski hill in Innsbruck. Unfortunately the path was hard-packed earth and it rained the entire night before, leaving nothing but mud puddles that our bikes could not have maneuvered.

We did have some lovely rides, specifically out of Kitzbuhel on the way to Ubersee.

Kitzbuhel itself was a highlight. We were there on a lovely day and got to take a cable car to the top of the horn and had some great views. We spent a few hours with a group of British ex-pats, making their living mountain biking and skiing. The city itself was lovely, and it was a great stop.

By the time we got to Innsbruck, on a rainy afternoon, it was clear that travel fatigue had set in and perhaps an afternoon apart would not be a bad thing for both of us. Alice spent the afternoon unsuccessfully trying to buy a new outfit and Peter wandered, preparing to lose that evening at poker at the local casino. A great dinner and accommodations helped a bit, but the rain overnight negated any benefit, given our excitement about trying to climb one of the local ski hills.

All in all, this part has been underwhelming, though the weather has played a significant role, as has general travel fatigue (it has been 2.5 months after all) and a lack of the climbing we were hoping to try one more time before leaving this fantastic region.

The Alps Part 2 grading:

• weather -C- (rain, the threat of rain, and a bit chilly)
• landscape - B (fantastic, but it somehow felt further away than in the previous section)
• cycling challenge - easy to moderate (a disappointment as werer looking for a few more climbs
• physical and emotional response (B-) ( we were a bit lackluster, and wondering where the next adventure and challenge lay for us. Not here, we think...)
• food - A (Austrian restaurant fare feels like home comfort food; especially warming as the weather cools)
• accommodations - A (Gathaus settings, smaller hotels, good breakfsts and good sevice)
• other people - B (We met Uwe, a fellow cyclist, several times in one day as we leap frogged eachother on a similar route. And the British ex-pats in Kitzbuhel were a pleasure and very helpful. We also met a woman from Hong Kong, a British couple and a young man from Fort Lauderdale, all on the train from Garmisch. Nice to speak English with others who speak English)
• entertainment - C The cable car ride up Kitzbuhel Horn was lovely as was the view. The only other form of entertainment, besides watching the US Open, were the memories of us bickering a few times, leading to our 'day off' in Innsbruck)

Overall Grade: C+ (maybe meandering in order to extend our stay in the Alps without a plan of what to do or where to go was not the best route to take, so to speak...)

The Alps (Aug 30-Sept 4)

Peter's fav picture - Bernina Pass

We left Bodensee with the intention of conquering the Alps. We bought ourselves a 'trans alps' bicycling touring book (in German, unfortunately), and picked a route meant for beginners that led from Bodensee through Switzerland to Lake Como, Italy. The book, for each route it offered, had a variety of difficulty levels, ranging from beginner to 'go wild'. As the pictures in the book were all of road bikes, with no paniers, we decided that the beginner routes would be sufficient.

So off we headed, slowly climbing, then more and more and more. And steeper and steeper. We noted that although there were a lot of cyclists, we were the only ones with bags, and Alice was the only female cyclist we saw. The day was supposed to have been (according to the book) a gentle slow rise, kind of a warm-up day... Well, after Alice stopped crying, halfway up the steepest part of the mountain (we later learned it was about a 15% grade), we decided to take another look at the book. At this point, we realised that we had followed the wrong route and were solidly into intermediate territory. We became even more concerned when we realised that there had been NO mention of this one climb that was killing us in the book at all, implying harder climbs to come. So we turned around and went downhill retracing some of our route and intersecting with the beginner route some 40 kilometers back...

Alice cried...

The end of the ride into our final destination for the night (some 90 kilometers from our start) was down into a town called Altstatten. The town was fine but mostly it was a relief to get there. as the ride down was one of the hairiest and intense downhills yet. Steep grade (-10%), sharp hairpin turns, barely any shoulder, and Ferrarris and sport motorcycles doing what they were made to do (race!). It went on for 10 kilometers, and caused Peter's fingers to actually cramp from squeezing on the brakes so hard for so long. It was WILD!

View to Altstatten

The second try, the next day, had us going through a valley until a big climb. But after the previous days' excitement, we decided that the ride would be too boring and took a train to the base of the first climb, which we considered to be a tester of a beginner ride through the alps.

We started from Chur and Alice soon noted that her tire felt low and perhaps mine looked low as well. We passed a tire pump and stopped to fill it up. Well, two tubes and three hours later, after visiting a bike store to finally get it right, we decided that our day of riding was done. Instead of wasting another day, we decided to take the train up the first climb and start from there the next day.

The ride to St Moritz was lovely, and gave us a sense of the elevation, the scale of the Alps and how much colder it was at 2000 meters than at sea level. St Moritz was odd. The contrast of Chanel-type shops along the street and non-descript 'budget' hotels in the lower part of the town. An undeveloped lake front and lack of central/historic/restaurant/walking areas left us a bit bewildered. So did the price of the train ride and hotel. Switzerland is waaaay expensive! On the train ride up, we looked through the cycle tour book again and decided to change our route to bike through the alps instead of over them towards Como. The ride from St Moritz to Innsbruck looked lovely and doable, but challenging.

The first leg was from St Moritz, Switzerland to Livigno, Italy and included two climbs that we nervously anticipated. The first, called Bernina Pass, took us from an elevation of 1700 to 2330. The climb took place over 17 kms or so, and the average grade, we estimated was no more than about 6-7%. We were challenged, but had not too much difficulty, climbing slowly up to the serenade of cow bells and little else. Alice noted the different levels of vegetation that we passed through as we climbed - from evergreen covered slops to bushes and flowers to rocky outcrops to glaciers.

The view and the ride down the other side was unbelievably beautiful. We did have to be careful as the hairpin turns really are sharp and steep, but no real problem. We descended about 500 meters and immediately entered Italy and started the next climb, the Livigno Pass. Though only about 300 meters ascent in 3 kilometers (which would make it a 10% grade average), there were climbs within it that equaled up to about 13%. Peter was able to make it slowly, but Alice was only able to make it about 1/4 of the way.

Alice walked...

We stopped at the top to have a coffee and enjoy the view, which was indescribable. See the pictures below and use your own adjectives... The ride down (16 kms) was gradual, gentle and lovely and we felt rewarded for our days' efforts. This whole day only had us cover 45 kms or so, but we decided that the effort was enough and we ended up staying in the town Livigno.

It was a lovely town, mostly oriented towards skiing and winter activities, though many tourists and cyclist were partaking. The architecture was markedly different from anywhere else we had been so far in that many of the buildings were wooden-plank structures, clearly old though in great shape. A lovely town nestled in a valley of ski hills.

The next day had us take on our third Alps pass, the Offen Pass. To be honest, we did not even really pay attention as on the map this did not seem equal to the other two that we had attempted. Leading up to this was a ride of several kilometers in a tunnel on the side of a mountain, protecting us from erosion and no doubt snow fall in the winter months. It was a lovely ride along a lake on the side of a mountain. When we reached the bridge, we were told that we could not ride out bikes and had to take a shuttle through a 3.5 km tunnel that was too narrow for bikes and cars. The ride over the Offen pass was a surprise. It rose about 450 meters in about 10 kms and included up to a 15% grade climb. Peter laboured his way up and then started to walk back, thinking that he could help Alice as she walked up the final part of the climb. To his surprise and thrill, he saw Alice making her way up to the top. It brought tears to his eyes, amazed at her persistentce and ability.

Alice CLIMBED!!!

This dog-on-the-move also climbed!

In the one and a half days since Offen Pass we have descended 1900m over 130km! The landscape has been apple orchards, riversides, and beautiful mountains lining the valley. We stayed in Naturno one night and made our way to Brixen the next night where we were rained in the next day - so we took a break. We decided at that point to extend our stint in the Alps by weaving our way further through the mountains before our intended arrival in Innsbruck. We also enjoyed taking in the Italian Alp culture, with its Austrian overtones and wonderful pasta, gnocchi and pizza.

Naturns

Alice in Naturns

Brixen

The Alps grading:

• weather - B (beautiful sunny weather but cold! time to put on all of our gear...)
• landscape - A+ (how can it not be an A+?!)
• cycling challenge - moderate to very difficult (definitely pushing ourselves on the passes and on the downhills)
• physical and emotional response - although Alice cried and walked, Alice then climbed; Peter was like the energizer bunny (kept on going uphill :)
• food - A (Italian food was unbelievably delicious and Austrian/Swiss breakfast buffets are to die for)
• accommodations - B+ (nice hotels, good sevice)
• other people - n/a (people, what other people?!)
• entertainment - n/a the passes were our entertainment on this leg (and then we slept or watched the US Open)

Overall Grade: A+ (we decided to extend our stay in the Alps because we were having such a great time... see next blog!)