Transalp 2013

For a change this is not about cycling in Belgium. It's about the 2013 north-south Alpine Crossing (Transalp) on Mountainbikes: 6 days, 12.000m altitude difference, 400 km. All luggage and tools in a tiny backpack with us. It went well in 2012 when we cycled through the Dolomites. But this time the challenge was to cross the Alps North to South in one week. I cycled with four other fellow-Austrians.

Day 1

Starting off in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (or GaPa for the cool kids) the first day was just to warm up. Barely 1000m in altitude difference, arriving in Nassereith. Good weather and lots of beer but no difficulties. What a warm up.

Day 2

OK, it got more tricky from now on. Although the next town was just some 22km away on the road we took two major "detours", one via the Alpleskopf and the other one to the Imsterberg. While Alpleskopf was a easy 800m climb and a great (mainly trail) downhill ride Imsterberg was not that easy. 1,300 m climbing on a steady 13-14% dirt road without any less steep parts to recover and burning August sun. Man, that beer on Venetalm mountain hut tasted like heaven! And the worst: the downhill was boring as hell: no trails, just gravel road all the way down.

Downhill trail from Alpleskopf to Imst

Day 3

Now the real fun part starts. After crossing from Pitztal into the Inn valley via the Pillerhöhe (600m climb on normal road) and a long ride on the valley floor upstream the Inn river into Switzerland we reached Sur En. Time to climb 1,200m through the breathtaking Val d'Uina. We managed to ride 900m uphill to nearly 2,000m but then it was impossible to continue on the bike. This part was carved directly out of the solid rock. So we had to carry and push the bike for 200m or so but this was definitely worth it:

At the top end of the Val d'Uina

 

Just after the "exit" of the Val d'Uina and after crossing into Italy a superb plateau with a great flowing trail led us to the Sesvenna mountain hut for the end of day 3 and just in time before the rain started.

Sesvenna was one of the best huts I have ever been. Great atmosphere and well run. Even though we just got 5 beds in the 30-or-so dorm it still was a great experience.

Day 4

Almost on top at the Umbrailpass

After a long, very long downhill from Sesvenna, back into Switzerland, the next day had the longest climb on the menu: first climbing 1,100m up to the top of the Umbrailpass (2,500m). Most of it was on the normal road with quite some traffic which made it not too pleasant. Lots of people come here for only one day, just to ride the Umbrailpass on the racing bike. We had already done some little hills before on that day and still would continue uphill after Umbrailpass. And we had these backpacks that started to feel uncomfortable and
heavy.

reaching the Punta di Rims at 2,850 m

For the first time this year I was thinking "why am I doing this"? Would it not be enough to take your bike to a normal holiday and ride some hills from time to time?

Like the Stelvio for example. Umbrail is very close to the Stelvio. In fact it is the not so well known side to climb up to Stelvio. Probably because it is the less spectacular side where the road is not as narrowly winding up the hill as on the famous other side of Stelvio.  

Just on top we were in Italy again and we continued another 350m up to the Punta di Rims - at 2,850m the highest point during our Transalp. Time for a break and the great panorama:

Great single trail, great view

Downhill we had one of the best single trails, flowing gently downhill the plateau towards the Lake of Cancano. We had a breathtaking view towards the 3,900 m high Ortler and it's Glacier.

The start of the single trail was technically nothing special but fun to ride. The last few hundred meters, this radically changed:

It is not easy to capture how steep this cliff was where the path was winding down. Fall of the bike and you'll find yourself down in the valley floor. Probably more dead than alive. These serpentines went on forever it seemed. But when we finally arrived at Lago di Cancano, we were all happy to be there. For me this was the best day when it comes to mountain biking. Day 3 might have been more spectacular but this one was just fun to ride.



Day 5

Starting off from Lago di Cancano the plan is to go to Lago di Livigno and then end at Lago Bianco on top of the Bernina Pass.

Sounds like a lot of water. And it was, just from the wrong direction. The day started off well. Although I was feeling tired on the first climb (just some 500m altitude) from Cancano to Livigno.



As soon as we were at the Lago di Livigno the rain started and did not stop for most of the afternoon. Still we had to make it up to the Ospizio Bernina where we would stay for the night.

Not fun.



Day 6

Single trail down to Alp Grüm

What looked like a fun last day turned out to be a nightmare - at least for me. The day started well. Although it was freezing cold we had some great vistas and single trails down to Alp Grüm. Always following the Palü Glacier and the Bernina Railway line, an engineering masterpiece.

Still smiling on the trail

Almost all the way from the Bernina pass to Poschiavo, around 1,250m in altitude, was a  technically very difficult single trail. It was fun to ride in the beginning. Towards the end I was either too tired or just not concentrated enough but I crashed, flying over my front wheel and landing hard on my back. Luckily the backpack had taken most of the damage. But my knee hit a rock and got swollen immediately. I was not able to bend it anymore, so no more cycling.

Slowly I made it downhill to Poschiavo where we had lunch. I hoped to be able to bend the knee afterwards, but still not possible. So even though being just a few kilometres away, I would not reach the end point (Tirano) by bike. Sad ending.

At least I got a ride on the UNESCO world heritage railway, the Bernina Railway which luckily stops at Poschiavo.

After pausing in 2014, the 2015 will see the return of the Austrians crossing the Alps. Route still to be determined. Looking forward.