Landeck to Reschen
(Sorry for the long delay with my posts. South Tyrol is a great place, but still offline unfortunately.)
I left Landeck with a certain degree of aprehension since this was the big stage and I wasn't sure how I was going to manage. So I proceeded gingerly for the first 40 km through some pleasant forest trails and climbs, occasionally crossing the now lively River Inn. The river turns sharply southwards, swirling up the water and there were a number of white water rafters about. The weather was dry, but windy at times, depending on which corner of the narrow valley you were riding ing along.
Then I had my brief 10 km forray into Switzerland, which treated me to some dramatic views of the pass, a "warm up" 1070 m climb and a really nasty headwind. It felt like riding with a puncture, even when I was going downhill.
After a light lunch (fruit bar and gummibears) and a chat with the Swiss border guards, it was time to say goodbye to the River Inn, our trusty companion for hundreds of kilometres, ever since Passau.
I crossed into Austria again and headed up and over the Reschenpass. 11 hairpin bends awaited, all numbered. After the first 3, I thought, cool, I can do this! Then things got steeper and hairpin 4 didn't arrive for ages. Turns 5+6: Nice distraction as a couple of old timers drove past and waved encouragingly. Turns 7+8: Time to shift into the granny gears. It didn't seem like I was going much faster than walking pace. The wind got stronger, sometimes pushing you up the hill, sometimes slowing you down to virtually standstill. Turns 9+10: Well yes, this is quite hard work, but not long to go now. Turn 11: The euphoria of defeating the mountain dragged me up and it was a great feeling to be on top, looking down into a whole new world.
It took about 40 minutes of exhaustion to get to the top. By comparison, the professionals needed a mere 18 minutes (a Category 3 climb for them) when they came up here during the Tour de Suisse earlier this year - and they didn't stop to catch their breath at the top. They must have their own special gummibears...
The final bit to Reschen was supposed to be easy, but there were some extremely strong winds that later made the local news and taxed us cyclists up at around 1500 metres. On one occasion, the people coming up a slope could freewheel, while we hardly made any progress working our guts out to get downhill!
When I got to Reschen/Resia (now in Italy - border crossing No. 12), I arrived just in time to witness the whole town in a funeral procession to the church. So it took a while to find a hotel with anyone in it. I was ready for bed very soon after a celebratory pizza.
Today's run: 67 km - more than enough today!
Total s far: 1337 km
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2 comments:
Wow, seems like you had quite a day, what with the weather and the climbs! well done, must've been a great feeling at the top!
Makes my day cycling in Epping forest seem quite puny, even with a sizeable, but entirely minor by comparison, climb to High Beech.
Keep up the good work, hope that's the worst of it. enjoy those beers and pizza.
Cheers Nils.
Watch out for the bikers in High Beech!
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