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Back in July of 2000 I did a bike tour of the French Alps with Erickson Tours. On Glenn Erickson's tour you always get great routes, hotels and sag wagon support. But it is expensive and you don't have too much room to customize your tour. All the logistics are done in advance for you. This is nice, but this year my goal was to try to figure it all out on my own. Much of what I was able to learn came from the Internet (see links at bottom). This helped me enormously to figure out how to travel light and find the best routes. The more I read the more I realized that I could always find a good hotels and great food while in route. All I needed was a small pack and credit card = freedom! Clearly the simplicity of this trip made it attractive. I started my tour at Stef's Mom's home in Garmisch. Rose Marie's Garmisch house is only 45 minutes from Munich and is where the Alps suddenly rise up from the farm lands that surround the city. From there my goal was to eventually ride up the king of the Alp passes, the Stelvio and finish my tour in one of the most beautiful cities in the Dolomites, Cortina d'Ampezzo. Here are the details.... Day one - Garmisch to Reschen (78 miles and 4921ft climbed) In order to get the Stelvio my fastest option was the Fern Pass. But it isn't the best way. A better route would be through Mittenwald and the Leutasch valley. However this would have added 2-3 days to my trip and I didn't have the extra time. I did get an early start and avoided the Fern pass traffic. It wasn't so bad. Nice descent into Imst and great bike path to Landeck. I finished my day with a nice ride over the Reschen pass and stayed at Reschen.
Day Three- Bormio to Cles (60 miles and 7218ft climbed) Bormio is a great town and sits between the Stelvio and Gavia passes. The Bormio tower in the center of the town dates back to middle ages and it has great views of grand peaks in most all directions. The downtown is full of activity. A pretty cool place. I started the day with the climb of the Gavia pass. The Gavia is spectacular but is a much easier climb then Stelvio. It is also well known amoungest cycling enthusiats. The Gavia is where an American, Andy Hampsten won the 1988 Giro d'Italia bike race during very bad weather. The stage was contested during a blinding snow storm, a true epic event. After the Gavia I descended into Ponte d'Legno, then climbed and descended the Tonale pass. I cruised on these wider and less steep roads. After a long winding descent I found a nice bike path along the river to avoid the industrial sections after Dinaro and I headed into Cles. Cles is located in the northern end of the Trento region. This area is full of vineyards,and further east apple orchards. Historical riches from the wine business have left this area full with castles. Day Four- Cles to Canazei (70 miles and 9515ft climbed)The ride from Cles to Mendola pass was beautiful. Again more castles, vineyards and orchards. The climbs were very easy too which meant I could more easily enjoy the beauty of the area. As I headed down to Bolzano I was amazed how rich and fertile this region is. Unfortunately the lower section of the Karer pass was closed which required a painful detour through Steinegg. It was steep and hot and 15% gradient in some areas. A better route would have been through Tiers. Still the remaining climb up the Karerpass was gorgeous. It is the Grand Strada della Dolomiti, a road built between 1895 and 1909. On my left were the RosenGarten peaks and on my right the peaks of the Latemar group. The pass lie directly between these two monsters, leading down to Vigo d'Vasso. This was my first day in the Dolomites and my expectations here high. But, fortunately this region lives up to all the hype! Its just as drop dead beautiful as they say. Day Five- rest day (000 miles and 000ft climbed!) Canazei is the last town in this valley before the big peaks rise up again. Spectacular views in all directions and it is almost impossible to get a hotel room without a great view. Its a good place to hang out and call a rest day. I spent 2-3 hours at the EGHes wellness center and even got great message for only $23.00. I also wrote many postcards and enjoyed yet another day of sunshine ! Day
Six- Sella
Ring(40 miles and 6726ft climbed) Although this loop is only 40
miles it has four beautiful passes to climb- the Sella Pass (2244m),
Gardena Pass (2121m), Campolongo(1875m) and Pordoi(2239m). The loop
is scenically exceptional and great for bicycling. I made an effort
to not ride too fast so that I could see as much as possible. Day Seven- Between Sella and Marmolada (42 miles and 5658ft climbed) Stef joined me today as we ride between the Marmolada glacier and Sella group. I think she was a little embarrassed that although she had grown up in Munich, this was the first time she had had seen this beautiful part of the Alps. We climbed the Fedaia Pass to the Marmolada, then after a long lunch headed up the Pordoi. After the usual espresso we head down the wonderful serpentine descent into Canazei. Fortunately we got ahead of a slow bus and had most of the road to ourselves! Day Eight- Monte Cristallo Loop (24 miles and 3050ft climbed) After sleeping in and having a nice breakfast at the Cristallo Hotel we drove to Cortina d'Ampezzo. From there we did a very easy route to lake Misurina, passing the Tre Cime d'Lavaredo and eventually heading up our last pass, the Passo Tre Croci. We didn't climb up to the Rifugio d'Auronzo opting instead to save this for next time. We were feeling a little lazy and instead had a nice lunch at the lake. A highlight to the ride was when I suddenly realized the Jobst Brandt was coming down the Passo Tre Croci as we headed up. Although he lives in Palo Alto California, I've never met Jobst but had known about him since he is a legend in the bike riding world (see links below for more info about Jobst). His distinctive yellow bike and lean cyclist body makes him easy to spot. I yelled "hey Jobst" and he pulled over. I introduced myself and Stef. We spoke of routes and about life in California. He was on his way to some road that he hadn't yet ridden and looked fresh even though he had just climbed 8k at over 15% grade! With apparent ease, he routinely rides 2-3x as far and 2-3x high then most all other cyclists. He has been doing touring in the Alps since 1959 when most of the Alps passes were only dirt roads! I was amazed how out dated his bike gear is and realized that you certainly don't need the "latest and greatest" to do awesome tours in the Alps! He clearly is an inspiration! Wrap it up- The daily details are probably more then you need to know. But if you to plan a bike trip to these regions I'm sure all this information could be helpful. I've also included most of the links (see below) that helped me plan my trip. Without these websites I doubt I would have done this great tour. I love the Internet ! I should mention that if you plan to go the credit card route then do everything possible to keep your pack light. I found that the additional 6-7kg or 14pds on my bike made climbing difficult. With the additional weight, I was 30-50% slower on the climbs. The steeper the grade the slower I went and the Stelvio took forever! Instead of climbing 500 meters in 30-40 minutes it took me sometimes over an hour. Pack light and don't use a backpack. Regarding gearing, I reccomend a triple chainring. I had a 52/42/30 with 13-27 and was glad I had it. Be prepared for all weather, you should have high quality rain gear if you plan to ride the ALps. It might even snow on the passes! In fact, since I've been home it has rained alot and currently some parts of Northern Italy and southern Germany are flooded. I was very lucky not to have any problems with the weather, but more likely is that you will get some rain. Regarding the time of year, I suggest that you don't do this trip in August since all over Europe has vacation and the crowds can become a real killjoy. That's all for now, enjoy the pics and RideON ! LINKS Jobst Brandt's Tour of the Alps collection Jobst Brandt and His Photographs |
Day
two- Reschen
to Bormio (48 miles and 6234ft climbed) The Stelvio is known as
the King of the Alpine Passes and today I found out why. It is spectacular
and nothing I have seen compares. I had only wished that my pack
didn't weigh so much as I forced to slowly crawl up much of this
climb in 30/27 gear. I hung out at the top for 2 hours enjoying
view and spaghetti bolognase, strudel and espresso. What a hang
out up there, I certainly wasn't the only cyclist doing this ride!
