I made it – final destination : Fondo, Trentino, Italy

 

I had a great time with the Sprolls, they brought me touring so I got to see all the sights and my legs got a rest. Seen the biggest waterfall in Europe, the Rhine Falls- biggest volume of water, it was very loud! Went for another lovely swim in Lake Constance and seen Stein am Rhine, a really pretty town where all the houses are painted with a different story and we’d a night out at the  local festival, my first night out on the town since Brussels!

 

The next day my journey continued, around the lake, through Switzerland and over the Rhine again to Austria and to Christoph & Elizabeth who I got in touch with through warm showers and who were helping me choose my route over the mountains. Cycling around the lake was fine, good cycle route & easy to follow. It was so busy with tourists and families. Supposedly Switzerland makes more money from cycle tourism than skiing tourism – I’m reckoning that means it makes an awful lot of money! Once I left the lake the route got a bit more confusing and the signage definitely isn’t as good in Austria as Switzerland but after 114km of flat and 1km of super steep I made it to my bed for the night. Christoph & Elizabeth live up a very steep hill with a beautiful view of the Alps. They’ve been car free for 21 years, that includes raising their kids and bringing their shopping up the hill by bike – impressive!

They assured me that I’d make it over the mountains and told me where the bike paths were etc. So off I set on Wednesday morning to tackle the Alberg Pass, 1800m & I made it (and I got to cycle through the land of Milka on the way!) It was amazing to be cycling up a valley between all these massive mountains, some that still had snow on them. The route involved cycling along a minor road that wasn’t too busy but there were  few tunnels. The first one was adamant that cyclists go through it and then the next seemed a bit confused & I thought the sign said to go through it.  The tunnel was over 1km long, all uphill and it was horrible! I don’t think I can describe how loud it was, the noise from the cars was amplified  and it sounded more like an airplane beside me every time one went past. When I finally made it to the end I had to stop and almost cried with relief and then of course I seen the sign saying for cyclists to cycle on the outside of the tunnel, the sign must have been bent on the other side! Thankfully I had lights on my bike and a high-vis on as it was a dull day so I was well lit up in the tunnel. Lesson learned – try to avoid tunnels at all costs!!!

 

After that the uphill struggle continued, a few hairpin turns but it actually wasn’t that bad. I think I  was just so relieved to be out of the tunnel that it took me a while to register that I was climbing! And then, I made it, Alberg Pass, 1800m conquered, a lot of climbing and a lot of sweating but it was worth it. It was an overcast day so I didn’t have the best view but I was just so happy to have made it and as it was the highest pass of my trip it meant I would make it to Italy!

 

And then, is was downhill for the rest of the day – beautiful. I met a local cyclist at the traffic lights and he was going in the same direction as me so I didn’t even have to think about directions, just follow him and then I joined him for a beer in his house after, great finish to such a big days cycling!!

 

I stayed in Landeck that night knowing that the next day involved climbing the Reschenn Pass (1500m) and …. arriving it Italy!! Armin, the cyclist from the day before had given me tips for the cycle and said there was a cycle path more or less the whole way and he also pointed out the tunnels and the alternative route!!

Off I set on Thursday and sure enough there was a cycle route. It was beautiful, the most beautiful day cycling of the whole trip. I was cycling on the Inn cycle path which was part of Via Claudia Augusta, the first route the Romans took from Northern Germany to the Mediterranean so the cycle path goes all the way from Germany, through Austria and down through Italy to Venice.

 

Cycling against the flow of the Inn was amazing, such a loud, powerful river and it’s all Ice melt so a really amazing colour. I then took Armin’s advice and turned off Via Claudia Augusta for a little bit so I didn’t have to go through any tunnels. I cycled along the Swiss Austrian border, divided by the Inn. It was beautiful, down at the bottom of a really steep valley. It did mean that I had 8km of hairpin turns to get to Nauders which marks the beginning of Reschenn Pass and not going through the tunnels added an extra 8km to my trip but it was definitely worth it.

 

I was planning on stopping in Nauders for food but Italy was only 5km away so I pedalled on and crossed the border and made it to Italy for lunch, very proud of myself!!

 

 

 

 

It’s amazing the amount of people that go cycle touring and of all ages. I met a father and son, the son only looked about 12 and they were doing the pass too and the father was carrying a trailer full of luggage. I’m not sure how 2 people could need so much luggage but maybe it was just to add to the challenge. Other’s bring their young children in the trailers and others are well  into their 60’s and 70’s – inspirig stuff!!

 A doggy trailer!

 

In France, Geraldine& Guillaume told me about friends of theirs that cycled from England to Eastern France with 2 kids in tow and another couple that cycled from Norway to South Africa with their baby. The also had a book about a couple that spent 14 years cycling around the world, had a child in the middle of it and continued cycling with the child until she was 8!!

 

So I conquered the Reschenn Pass and has a swim in Resia, swimming at 1500m is very refreshing!! Then once again, the downhill begins and it was all along a cycle path and really beautiful, the little Italian villages are lovely. I wasn’t expecting good cycle paths in Italy but they’ve actually been the best so far, really nicely signed, especially when coming up to towns and villages and all along lovely rivers and through orchards and vineyards. I’ve never seen so many apples in my life, look out for Val Venosta apples next time you’re in the supermarket and that’s where I was cycling.

 

 

 

After 110km and because I had made it all on my own to Italy I decided to celebrate with a night in a fancy hotel with a yummy meal. If you’re ever in Val Venosta you should stay in Hotel Vinschgerhof – class & best hotel breakfast ever, there was even black forest gateaux for brekkie!!!

 

On the hotels advice I cycled on through Merano, which has great waterfalls on the way into the city, and then on to Lago di Caldaro – another really beautiful spot, it seems Italy is full of them!

 

The one bad thing about Lago di Caldaro is that it’s down in a valley and as nice as the freewheel down was for a few km it also means  a climb back out! I took it easy in the morning, had a nice swim and took off about 12pm knowing that I had to climb out of the valley which was over a 1000m climb but it was only a 40km trip for the day, I should make it! Underestimation!!

The first 8km to the nearest town were the hardest of the whole trip, I didn’t know my body could sweat so much! I’m not sure if it was the 35* heat, the steep climb or the fact that I didn’t eat my easy single and luncheon roll I was given for breakfast but it was such a struggle. I got to Caldaro town, ate some food and tried out figure out where the pass was.  So I looked vertically up and there it was, I couldn’t figure out where the road was as it was so steep but my pass for the day, Passo di Mendola was another 800m above me which in road terms was 30km of hairpin turns away. I ate my pasta and went to find a local that could tell me more about the pass; he definitely did not instil any sense of ease in tackling the climb but then he dropped the golden nugget!! There was a funicular that would take me all the way up in 10min! It was magic, best €12 ever. I just pushed me and my bike on and off we went up a vertical slope for 10min, watched the town and lake become tiny and then there I was at the top of the pass. It might have been a bit of a cheat but I think I would have melted if I tried to cycle up.

 

(So the little dip on the top of that vertical mountain is Mendola Pass and the 30km of hairpin turns are somewhere in the trees)

 

The funicular, the hairpins & the town I started at way down below

The reason I was going over this pass was to visit Alice who lived in Ireland for a year and who I had visited in Italy 6 years ago. She lives in Fondo which is at an altitude of 980m and now as I was at 1350m it meant 8km of glorious downhill. And I made it, final destination Fondo, Trentino, Italy, approx 1800km of cycling!

 

My bike is now parked up in Alices beautiful house, I've been climbing in the Dolomites with Michelle & Cuan and today I'm off to meet Ivan at the airport, time for part 2 of my holiday!