Category: Daily report

The last strenuous day 85 km and 1600 m. It is hard to relieve the second last day. However most of the mileage is along a river valley so not too strenuous.

Today got off to a good start and with a combination of farm roads and main roads I had 500 m of altitude gain behind me. I then cycled down a gravel vey steep road in a very steep ravine all the way down to the river Etsch. The landscape was stunning. The loose gravel made it quite technically challenging. As I came into the town I had to push as there was a street market. The ride along the river was pleasant at first but soon was quite boring as it was straight flat and next to commercial apple orchards. After lunch at a small roadside bar I carried on for 10 km along the river. it may have been better if there wasn’t a headwind so I averaged only 21 km/h along the river. Once leaving the river I began the last 24 km with about 1000 m altitude gain. It started on a main road which was quite busy. The last section was in a national park with extremely steep uphill sections. it eventually arrived at the top and after passing through a small town started on a downhill path to Molveno that really lifted my spirits and was full of energy again.

In summary once again stunning landscape however the most challenging day.

In South Tyrol it is very confusing the names are in German and Italian. The big problem is sometimes the road signs use the German names, sometimes Italian and sometimes both.

Today starts in Brixen (Bressasone) and ends in Völs (Fié Allo Sciliar). It is about 60 km with about 1500 m altitude gain. My knee feels good but the muscles are starting to ache a little, but that can be expected. There will be a short Cable car trip up one of the mountains.

It was a very tough start to the day today. In the first two hours I climbed 800m and the climb was not over by lunch time most of climbing was over. There were a couple of high speed downhill Serpentinen. There was also a couple of off road sections along the side of very high steep slopes. The views today were absolutely spectacula, The Dolomites really lived up to there reputation. I am pleased that I chose this time of year, mid summer would have been unbearably hot. I am so thankful that I have th opportunity and ability to do this, it is an experience of a lifetime.

This morning my knee was playing up again and I almost turned back and had a rest day, but I decided to take it easy and everything worked well. I learned a lesson today you not a sissy when you push your bike you are wise 😊.

The standard route is quite easy 75 km but only about 700 m altitude gain. Snow is predicted on the passes tomorrow but if it is not too bad I will consider adding a variant. The only problem the variants are quite tough.

The day started off good it was dry for about 30 minutes. Once I left the road the rocky sections were very difficult to ride as everything was still very wet. There were a couple of quite long sections where I had to carry the bike. Once I reached the stony road it had a lot of loose pebbles, was very steep and it started to rain so there was also a lot of pushing. Two hours after leaving the Hotel I reached the Italian border and the Pfitscherjoch haus. It was very cold, my Garmin says 4°C but felt like -4°C and rainy with a biting wind. I took a short break to warm up in the Hütte (Mountain restaurant) and had a cappuccino an another Apfel Strudel (getting to be a bit of a habit). After leaving the Pfitscherjoch it is a very long ride down a gravel road. It has lots of damage due to the heavy rains so I could not ride at the limit. There were spectacular views all the way down. It was extremely pleasant to reach the bottom the warm Italian air was a relief and my fingers thawed out nicely. I even took a couple of minutes to play fetch with a border collie.

The ride to Brixen was quite pleasant except 10 km from Brixen there was a detour that took me completely off my route and I had to do some spontaneous re-planning.

The rocky climb in the morning put a lot of pressure on my knee. I hope it will be ok in the morning.

Unfortunately the memory on the gopro ran out in the morning, but I took a few more photos then normal

Today is a bit intimidating, while it is only 40 km it is a1300 m climb with very few flat sections. Some of my things are still moist from yesterday. The weather for today looks promising, according to the weather it should be dry around 10 degrees.

The day went quite well dry and not too cold I managed to get to my destination at about 14.00 and took a short trip to the end of the dam. Most of my stuff is dry ready for the snow which is predicted for tomorrow. This evening the mountain hotel is in the clouds. It was a really enjoyable day today the views were great the photos and Videos don’t do it Justice.

It all started vey early this morning a short 1 hour trip to Frankfurt

After a useful 40 minute wait for my train to Munich boarding went well and found a seat.

About 100 metres outside Frankfurt the train stopped and the driver said we had been routed incorrectly. So we had a detour via Darmstadt and Dieburg to Aschaffenburg. There was an Indian couple sitting across the aisle with surgical gloves and constantly spaying disinfectant, they Must be very concerned about the Dirty germany. i arrived a little delayed in Munich but all went well after that. A quick easy 26 km Ride to Tegernsee checked into the hotel ready for the first real day tomorrow.

Some photos, today was a mostly road and touring tracks: