Tour of the Alps 2004
jobst....@stanfordalumni.org
Tour of the Alps 2004
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Sunday, 04 July, Bob Walmsley and I flew with American Airlines from
San Francisco to Zurich where we arrived Monday morning and caught a
train from the ZRH airport to Schwyz where Turi Dierauer picked us up
for the short ride to his house in Ibach, the town where Victor Inox,
aka Swiss Army Knife, is at home. We used bicycle bags from Nashbar
for the bicycle, wheels strapped to the side of the frame, cranks and
derailleur removed and forks and handlebar facing back. We assembled
our bicycles and took a ride around Schwyz, visiting Victor Inox, the
old downtown and the school I once attended there. Then we rode
around the Lauerzer See in the shadow of the Rigi. This kept us awake
for the usual raclette cheese dinner and good night's rest. Edith and
Turi Dierauer have been my gracious hosts for many bike tours as did
the senior Dierauers before them.
The old school:
http://cms.kks.ch/cms/index.php?id=11
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1. Tuesday, 06 July (Ibach - Wilderswil); 140km, 3008m):
During the night we heard the roar of heavy rain that gradually calmed
down by daybreak although it was still coming down as we headed off in
a warm drizzle to Brunnen on the Vierwaldstettersee (aka Lake of
Lucerne) to take the Axenstrasse along the east shore toward the
Klausen, Susten, and Gotthard passes.
http://www.schweizerseiten.ch/info/axenstrasse.htm
The Axenstrasse is noted for its rugged cliffs dropping steeply to the
lake. While the railway stayed mostly in tunnels, our road wound its
way through short tunnels on our way to Fl?elen at the end of the
lake. It was along these cliffs that William Tell was said to have
duped the Austrians, who had taken him captive and were returning by
boat to their headquarters when a fierce storm arose. Tell convinced
them to take off his shackles so he could guide them to a safe landing
along these cliffs. Instead he jumped ship when they got close to the
wall and vanished up trails that only the locals knew. The Austrians
went under, according to the chronicles of Friedrich von Schiller, who
created William Tell as a composite figure of the Swiss nationalists.
http://www.picswiss.ch/Historie/g-hip3-7.html
http://www.bartleby.com/26/6/
http://www.kulturschweiz2004.ch/geschichte/200jahre.asp
We took pictures of the Tell monument in Altdorf where Tell stands
proudly, bigger than life, in bronze, son at his side, with crossbow
(Swiss trade mark) over his shoulder in front of a mural of the Alps
of canton Uri for a backdrop. It was raining.
http://www.tell.ch/schweiz/telldenkmal.htm
http://www.ur.ch/
The rain let up as we rolled out on up the Reuss valley where above
Erstfeld (472m) the huge SBB 57km Gotthard tunneling project lies with
its huge piles of granite extracted from the mountain. We were
assured that all this material will be removed and the ground returned
to agriculture.
We started climbing at the SBB hydropower plant in Amsteg, where the
Reuss valley becomes a narrow and steep alpine ravine. The climb
starts abruptly on a stone-arch bridge over the Reuss. The highway
wends its way along the granite walls while the double track SBB, in
order to not exceed a 2.7% grade, uses helical tunnels to gain
altitude on its way to the original 16km Gotthard Tunnel. We met
little traffic because it stayed mainly on the four lane Autobahn that
is mostly out of sight in tunnels and avalanche sheds.
We reached the road junction to the Susten pass in Wassen (916m), that
lies in the middle of three passes of the railroad between tunnel
loops. We weren't ready for a restaurant lunch and because it was
after 12:00 the grocery store was closed, so we made do with some food
from the saddlebag in the village square that sits on a rock pedestal
in the Reuss Valley.
The Susten road heads into the south wall of the canyon, into the
Meiental that lies hidden behind a granite wall through which the
Meienreuss River flows in a narrow slot. The climb starts in the town
square into a curved tunnel from which a stone arch bridge over the
cascading river connects to another tunnel. How the ancients got
through here is unclear, but farther up, the old Susten pack animal
route is still visible as it zigzags steeply up the headwall of the
canyon. The road has a fairly continuous 8% grade with a couple of
steeper parts at 10%. Although the Susten could be called the glacier
highway of the Swiss alps for its spectacular ice fields, not much of
that was visible in the clouds that opened only a bit now and then.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s42.html
We had "good climbing air" as we gained altitude although there wasn't
a trace of wind. As we reached the tunnel at the summit of the Susten
Pass (2224m) we were practically in the clouds so not much of the
great Steingletscher was visible, not to mention the Sustenhorn high
above. I could fill in the blanks, so to speak, but I hoped for
better for Bob who had never seen this striking landscape except in
pictures. The descent was warm enough that I didn't need my jacket
that I had packed away in Wassen. Descending to Inertkirchen (625m)
in the Haslital, where crossed Aar river to climb the short Kirchet
pass (709m) with its four hairpin turns to get past the narrows, the
Aareschlucht, an impressive slot in the cliffs through which the Aar
river flows. A scenic path cut in the wall enables visitors to hike
through the gap while the passes railway takes a tunnel.
http://www.aareschlucht.ch/englisch.htm
We turned off to Rosenlaui just beyond the pass, across from the Lammi
restaurant on a steep, paved, and little more than one-lane wide road
that climbs through a forest to the canyon of the roaring Reichenbach
where Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Moriarty met their deaths over the falls
in 1891.
http://www.evo.org/sherlock/europe/reichenbach_falls.html
We passed the new Hotel Zwirgi in Schattenhalb, at the junction of the
road from Meiringen and stopped at the water works for a big drink of
ice cold water where the phrase "Das Wasser ist das Beste" graces the
wall above the fountain. The climb to Rosenlaui is still no trifle as
it rapidly gains altitude past hotel Kaltenbach, finally leveling off
in the Rosenlaui Valley.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s38.html
The road was still wet in places as we reached the valley where we got
a splendid view of the Rosenlaui Glacier. We dropped in at Hotel
Rosenlaui to say hello to Andreas and Christina Kehrli, the owners of
the hotel. I had a chance to thank their three children for giving me
such excellent service at dinner last year. We were much too early to
consider staying for the night so we settled on a desert before
continuing up the road.
http://home.t-online.de/home/E-J.Brauns/Mountain2002/17bild.htm
The public road ends at Schwarzwaldalp where a steep 100m-long
connector got us to the restricted-access, smoothly paved Grindelwald
Bus road. This road is only as wide as the bus that does not slow
down for bicyclists. Something worth knowing. The road climbs
through meadows with grazing cows amidst wildflowers as it heads to
Grosse Scheidegg (1961m) beneath the walls of the glacier covered
Wetterhorn (3701m).
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s37.html
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s84.html
Cloudy weather seemed to have kept tourists indoors because we met no
hikers and bikers over the pass. Under cloudy skies, we saw parts of
the dark north face of the Eiger in front of the pure white Jungfrau,
and Grindelwald (1034m) below, seemingly in miniature, surrounded by
steep green meadows.
We were back on public roads just before Grindelwald. We bagan
descending after the train station, where the Berneroberlandbahn (BOB)
meter gauge (adhesion and Riggenbach cogwheel) railway makes
connections with the Wengernalpbahn (WAB) 800mm gauge (Riggenbach
cogwheel) train that crosses the valley to the Kleine Scheidegg
(2016m). At Kleine Scheidegg the famed Jungfraubahn meter gauge
(Strub cogwheel) tunnels inside the Eiger (3970m) to the station in an
ice cave on the Jungfraujoch saddle (3454m) between M?nch (4099m) and
Jungfrau (4158m).
Descending along the cascading Schwarze Luetschine we joined the
Weisse Luetschine from Lauterbrunnen at Zweiluetschinen. Crossing
bridges we were engulfed in chilled air from the icy river over which
an icy fog from the high humidity hung. It gave us the feeling of
entering a deep freezer whenever we got close. We reached the botom
of the valley at Wilderswil (584m). From here the Schynige Platte
Bahn (SPB), 800mm gauge train (Riggenbach-Pauli cogwheel) climbs to
the Schynige Platte (2061m) to give a marvelous panorama of the
Jungfrau group... in fair weather. I hadn't stayed in Wilderswil in
many years and was disappointed to not find the simple comfortable
hotel from those days. We got a good hotel with excellent food but a
bit high in the four star class.
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2. Wednesday, 07 July (Wilderswil - Biasca; 162km, 3008m):
With a partly sunny morning we took a picture of the Moench (4099m)
looking across the large meadow in the middle of Interlaken (563m) for
a postcard view up the Lauterbrunnental to the Jungfrau. Crossing the
Aar River we rode along the north shore of the Brienzersee to Brienz,
a small town in a narrows between the cliffs and the deep blue lake.
Here the steam powered Brienzer Rothornbahn (BRB), 800mm (Abt cogwheel)
railway was getting ready to climb through tunnels in rugged cliffs to
the top of the Brienzer Rothorn (2353m), in my estimation the premiere
mountain railway of the Alps. The pungent smell of coal smoke from
the locomotive wafted across the road as we passed.
http://digilander.iol.it/zh/cograilways/brienzer.html
We photographed Sherlock Holmes, in life-sized bronze, with pipe,
cape, and deerstalker cap sitting in the middle of Meiringen, the home
of meringue. After Willigen, a short climb up the Kirchet (709m) got
us to Inertkirchen and the approach to the Grimsel Pass up the
Haslital. The Grimsel road has three reprieves, one in Guttannen
(1057m), with a good grocery store, and another at Handegg (1402m),
with good accommodations in case of foul weather and finally above the
upper dam as the road follows the lakeshor. The road climbs between
granite walls to lower and upper concrete dams that are reached in
winter by giant aerial trams.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s90.html
The road enters a one-kilometer tunnel above Handegg where bicyclists
must (and prefer to) take the old cobblestone road, notched into the
granite wall high above the Aar. The detour is less steep than the
one kilometer tunnel and offers great scenery. As we rode around the
upper Grimsel lakes, the Finsteraarhorn (4275m), tallest peak in the
Bernese Alps, lay at the end of the valley to the west, "finster"
(dark) because like the Eiger, it is too steep to retain snow. It
stands over the Unteraar and Oberaar Glaciers, the sources of the Aar
River. We rode past some snow drifts and a good cover of melting ice
on the summit lake on the Grimsel Pass (2165m).
From the summit we had a view into Gletsch (1759m) with its hotel,
train station, and the Furka road junction nearly straight below
beyond a series of hairpin turns of the Grimsel road. Above to the
east, the Galenstock (3583m) and the Furka gap were the backdrop for
the Rhone Glacier and the adjacent Hotel Belvedere. We stopped in
Gletsch at the Dampfbahn Furka Bergstrecke (DFB Furka Steam Railway)
train station and perused their collection of historic books and paid
member dues before heading up the Furka Pass.
http://www.furka-bergstrecke.ch/ger/souvenirs/heft_75jahre_fo.htm
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s67.html
The climb is easy with only one steep section before the photogenic
hairpin turn below the Belvedere (2272m). This curve offers a great
opportunity to pose with a glacial backdrop.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s10.html
The Furka Pass (2431m), 266m higher than the Grimsel, lies in the gap
at the head of this valley, swept clean except for some shrubs, by
avalanches. The Furka has a great panorama that, as I experienced
once on an exceptionally clear day, can include the Matterhorn to the
west. Below, the DFB west portal of its summit tunnel, still deep in
snow, appeared tiny in this gigantic landscape.
http://www.furka-bergstrecke.ch/
After crossing the broad summit, we coasted swiftly through Tiefenbach
and Galenstock on the long 8% descent to Realp (1538m), the base of
the grade and the east portal of the Matterhorn-Gotthard railway
(formerly: Furka Oberalp) 15.4km tunnel from Oberwald. We cruised on
the long straight road down the valley, next to the to the RR to
Hospental (1452m), the junction of the Gotthard and Furka Passes.
Having made good time, we decided to skip Hotel R?ssli in Hospental
this time and head over the Gotthard pass.
http://www.zumdoerfli.ch/roessli/hotel.htm
Although the cool overcast made for pleasant climbing, absence of
sunshine to bring out the wildflowers was unfortunate. As we reached
the high valley, Bob took the old cobblestone road while I stayed on
concrete to the summit that was shrouded in dense fog. The wall of
fog was like a demarcation line between Uri and Ticino, (the two
cantons that meet there) and was so dense that we had to ride slowly
for our own safety. Even the longer illuminated tunnels were 20km/h
events taken with care. No pictures at the flying bridge this time
and we didn't exit at the Fortezza where bicyclists are supposed to
leave the new road.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s04a.html
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s01A.html
Although under solid overcast, Airolo was out of the fog so we got
rolling again down the Ambri-Piotta and Rodi-Fiesso valleys into the
Valle Levantina where road, autostrada, railway and Ticino river cross
each other often on the descent. After Rodi (925m) we descended to
Faido (711m), while trains, some with distinctive freight or
international passenger cars, passed us in both directions on the
adjacent double track railway. "Hey, haven't we seen that train
somewhere before?" Indeed we had, because the SBB uses two corkscrew
tunnels to gain/lose nearly 200m altitude above Faido.
We passed two more circular RR tunnels below Lavorga (615m) before
rolling into the wide and flat valley just above Bodio (322m), the
south portal of a new 57km Gotthard railway tunnel. We stopped for
the day in Biasca (303m) where the distinctive dual waterfall at the
train station was crossing over itself beautifully.
http://www.alptransit.ch/pages/e/galerie/index.php#
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3. Thursday, 08 July (Biasca - Biella; 178km, 1404m):
Riding down the valley to Arbedo and Bellinzona (239m) we headed
toward Giubiasco and Cadenazzo, something that isn't getting easier
with time, even though most traffic goes south over the Monte Ceneri
Pass (559m) to Lugano and Milano while just beyond, at Quartino, most
remaining traffic went toward Locarno on the west shore of Lago
Maggiore (193m). Staying on the east shore, we stopped in San Nazzaro
for lunch after which we were waved through the border into Italy at
Zenna.
My favorite bancomat in Luino, where in past years I had gotten Lira,
wouldn't accept mu ATM card so we found another to stock up on Euros.
From Luino we rode along the lake in a series of tunnels and slide
protection galleries before climbing over small ridge to Laveno where
we took a ferry across the lake to Intra-Verbania on the fancier
western shore with its famous resorts.
We rode up the Valle d'Ossola along the Toce River that flows from the
San Giacomo Pass, and rode along the estuary to Fondo where we crossed
to Gravellona. A short climb got us to Omegna (298m) from where our
road stayed above steep east shore of Lago d'Orta (290m). Fancy
resorts and private villas lay below along the picturesque lake with
its lovely La Basilica di San Giulio monastery on the island of San
Giulio off the tip of a small peninsula.
At the south end of the lake, at Gozzano (367m), we turned west in
climbing a short but steep rise to Pogno (461m), where the four-spigot
fountain on the piazza would have come in handy had it been warm
weather, but it wasn't as we rode by. We climbed west through a
canyon in a chestnut forest, typical of the southern slope of the
Alps, and broke through the ridge at an unexpected tunnel (598m) from
which we could coast to Borgosesia (359m). The Sesia had recovered
from the summer floods of 2002 and again had ducks on crystal clear
waters in which we could see large trout swimming about beneath our
bridge.
Continuing toward Valle Mosso (625) we noticed signs of heavy rains
and strong winds from the gravel and debris on the road and downed
trees. Many of the trees had been wrenched off at the base or had
twisted limbs. Farther on the road was closed by concrete barriers
with warning notices of storm damage. We climbed over the barriers to
continue to Mosso Santa Maria (625m) and Pistolesa at the "high bridge
to nowhere" that I discovered years ago. It still seems to be a pork
job and is used mainly for bungee jumping. Its great hight offers a
great panorama of the Po Valley.
After crossing the bridge to Camandona, we descended to Andorna-Mico
and Biella (410m). It was getting late and the sky was getting ready
to dump on us, so with some directions from a taxi driver we found the
Hotel Colibri just before strong winds and rain with Thor throwing
lightning bolts for emphasis began. We got cleaned up and walked to a
nearby restaurant while the sky opened up and the winds blew, probably
tearing down more trees in the Piemonte hills. We had an excellent
dinner although our pants were wet up to the knees by the splash. The
booming light show continued into the night as we slumbered off.
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4. Friday, 09 July (Biella - Robilante; 192km, 1004m):
Heading southwest past Zubiena (497m) and crossing a giant prehistoric
glacial moraine we descended to Bollengo in the Po Valley on our way
to Ivrea (254m) on the Dora Baltea River. We gave my cycling friend
Brian Tomlin a call so he could meet us at the Dora Baltea bridge in
the center of town from where we followed him to his home. We helped
load his wife and daughter into their car for a vacation tirp while
Brian got changed into bikie clothes and national colors for his
seniors Italian road championship.
Suited up, Brian paced us on a fast ride through the hills on back
roads to Torino. In order to put in a fair day at work he dropped us
just north of Torino and headed back. We continued south into Torino
through the old center of the city before getting on the HWY SS20, the
Tenda highway. Once out of town, traffic gradually dwindled to a
trickle beyond Carignano. About half way down the western rim of the
great Po valley to Cuneo, we stopped at Raconigi, the former residence
of the Savoy family before Italy abolished its monarchy. Storks
regularly nest on large decorative urns atop this large red sandstone
palace. Some were in flight brining food to the youngsters as we
arrived. Their large wingspan seem so elegant to those of us who are
familiar mainly with smaller fowl.
http://www.cicogneracconigi.it/
http://www.itinerari-piemonte.it/pages/naturalistici2003/cicognelipu.htm
http://www.ica-net.it/pascal/storia%20patria/files/racconigi.htm
Although there were mixed clouds, the Maritime alps were visible to
the west on the entire route to Cuneo. When we passed the Cuneo
airport I knew we were only a dozen kilometers from town but when the
mountains to the south became distinct I knew we were there. We
turned west along the north bank of the Stura di Demonte, where a
beautifully restored bi-level stone arch bridge carries road and
railway high above the river. As often, there were plenty of
delicious tart Japanese plums on trees along the bridge approach.
We took a right just after crossing the bridge and stopped for a good
drink from the huge fountain in front of the Cuneo (587m) train
station. We rode up to Borgo San Dalmazzo where the Tenda Highway
SS20 turns south to Robilante (686m) while SS21 heads west to France
over the Col de Larche. We stopped at Eliano Giordanengo's amazing
chainsaw store in Robilante to say hello and once more see catacombs
containing hundreds of new and used chainsaws. This is noteworthy
because I know no store with close to 1000 chainsaws piled from floor
to ceiling, especially in such an unlikely town, far from forests.
About a kilometer out of town, we stopped at Ristorante-Albergo Aquila
Riale, one of my favorite stops, for a good room and dinner.
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5. Saturday, 10 July (Robilante - San Martine Vesubie); 136km, 3404m):
We had another pleasantly cool day with blue skies and billowing
clouds, as we rode along the Vermenagna River past huge cement plants
on the way to Limone (990). Here the Tenda rail line with many
tunnels and bridges enters its summit tunnel to what is now France
while the road climbs a bit more steeply over large hairpin turns on
the way to entrance of the 3180m-long Tenda highway tunnel (1279m),
completed in its present form in 1882. A sign with a "no bicycles"
icon at the tunnel portal should be expected with such along an narrow
bore. A small shop with refreshments and a good selection of maps
lies across the road from the not readily recognizable old Tenda Pass
road.
Athough paved, the narrow road appears to be used mostly by the ski
area in winter, there being as good as no through traffic. In summer
hikers who appreciate the many old military roads at the summit and
the wonderful vistas park at the end of pavement. We climbed the
pleasant grade through grassy meadows that are part of a broad ski
slope, however, pavement ends about 500m from the summit, putting us
back on the 19th century rocky road.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f64.html
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f89.html
The south side of the pass, with its sixty or so tight hairpin turns
lies in the steep, relatively dry ravine of the Roya River. The road
was in good condition in comparison to other years, making the descent
easier. Historic photographs of mule and horse teams, steam tractors,
and solid-tired chain-driven trucks, that once traveled this road make
today's "hardships" pale in comparison.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f89.html
Below, in the rocky gorge of the Roya, we rejoined the swift smooth
curves of the Tende highway, French Rt N204, where it emerges from the
tunnel (1279m). Farther down, the railway emerges from its tunnel at
Vievola (990m), only to vanish into a loop tunnel followed by many
bridges as it descends to Tende (816m). The road gradient is about 8%
here, so it is easy to coast swiftly down into the Soarge Gorge. The
road to the town of Soarge crosses the Roya and heads into a tunnel
whose few windows in the opposite wall of canyon reveal its route as
it climbs. Soarge is a strip of houses, glued to the cliffs, some
with as much a fifty meter freefall from their windows.
http://tinyurl.com/k8b7
http://www.provencebeyond.com/villphotos/breilP01.html
After the brisk ride down the Roya, past Tende and the Gorge du
Soarge, we turned west up Rt D2204, just above Breil (286m), to the
Col de Brauis (879m). The landscape is Mediterranean with sparse
vegetation, olive trees and blooming bright yellow leafless broom
(gorse) with a pleasantly sweet scent:
About 2/3 up the pass, a well fed stone watering trough that once had
a "non potable" sign now has only a "non inspected" sign. The drink
was as cool and refreshing as ever and I've always made that stop.
The descent to Sospel (349m), the junction of the Brauis, Braus, and
Turini passes, is pleasantly gradual. We took pictures of the old
stone arch bridge in town and its collage of buildings over the Bevera
River, reminiscent of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. We stopped at
the "ice cream store" and deli where the proprietor, my favorite small
town philosopher, presides. Over the years, he has greeted us as
though we were regulars although visits are only once a year.
http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/alpmarit/sospel/sospel.htm
http://users.skynet.be/RICHIUSO.SOSPEL/HTML/RICHIUSO.htm
After a good lunch we rode up the Bevera on Rt D70 toward the Turini
Pass (1607m) of Monte Carlo Automobile Rallye fame. After climbing up
the wall of the Bevera gorge, we entered a shady pine and larch
forest, that make this a shady and pleasant climb. The descent offers
grand views of the Gorges de Vesubie as the Turini Pass below, twists
through its many buttressed curves. La Bollene-Vesubie (690m)
presented the usual portrait shot before we made the final descent to
the Vesubie river (520m).
http://hautpaysnice.free.fr/images1/mvc-629f.jpg
The road, just abve the river, climbed the gradual former railway
grade of the Chemin de Fer de Provence to St Martin Vesubie (930m)
that lies at the end of the valley. I've often stayed in this
picturesque town and always found good lodgings and good restaurants.
http://www.provencebeyond.com/villphotos2/stmartinP1.html
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6. Sunday, 11 July (St Martin Vesubie - Condamine; 150km, 3620m):
The climb to the Colmain (Col St Martin 1500m) begins at the edge of
town, looping up the canyon wall so that we soon had a panorama with
St Martin so far below that it seemed unlikely that we were just down
there. The road, notched into cliffs, passes through rough hewn
tunnels in which Crag Martins darted past us, undaunted by passing
motor traffic.
These grey-brown, swallow-like birds, tend their nests in the rocky
tunnel ceilings where their young are safe from predators. Traffic
and diesel exhaust seem not to bother them. Beyond a flat summit of
green meadows and a ski area, we descended toward the Tin?e where the
terrain became dry with sparse vegetation, finally reaching the red
rocky Gorges de Valabre (503m).
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/macdonalds/296/a/a1/avionroquero.htm
http://www.asks86.dsl.pipex.com/europephotos/ptyrup6167.jpg
Across the Gorges de Valabre, roads that are tiring just to look at,
follow tortuous paths climbing through cliffs to mountain villages
like Ilonse (1200m). We crossed the Tin?e at St Sauveur (510m) on Rt
D30, the Col de la Couillole (1678m), where near whose summit, we
passed Rubion, a typical picturesque hill town located on steep
terrain that dissuaded intruders. From the Couillole we descended to
Beuil (1450m) before climbing to Croix de Valberg (1829m).
http://www.provencebeyond.com/villages/roubion.html
We took the "back" road, Rt D29, down to Guillaumes (1200m) where we
found such an inviting sidewalk restaurant that we settled in for
lunch in the shade under a cloudless sky. With such a restful
ambience and good food and drink, we enjoyed lunch for more than two
hours before heading up Rt N2202 in the Gorges de Daluis along the Var
River toward the Col de la Cayolle (2327m). I find this area
especially appealing because it lies in the Parc National du
Mercantour with no ski areas and accompanying development, having only
villages with simple accommodations. The Cayolle is also the first
2000m pass I rode on my 1960 tour and it has remained unchanged. For
me, nostalgia puts a special accent on some of these roads.
The climb, and especially the summit, is set in the midst of steep
green alpine meadows, rich with a beautiful display of wildflowers.
Only a small stone monument marks the summit across from a short
parking strip. We descended through the Gorges du Bachelard along the
Torrente Bachelard to Barcelonnette (1136m) where we turned east past
Jausiers (Col de la Bonette) to stop in Condamine (1267m) at the foot
of the Col de Larch and Col de Vars. We stayed in the Hotel du Midi,
the only one in town, where I asked the elderly hostess whether she
knew of the Great White Pyrenees dog. She gave me a sly look and just
said, you've been here to long. It was many years ago that that dog
greeted us when we arrived, but otherwise it was as good as ever.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f88.html
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7. Monday, 12 July (Condamine - Lautaret; 116km, 3100m):
We started off with clear cool weather as we rode up the Ubey River
past huge and ancient Fort de Tournoux on cliffs full of passages that
tunnel from the valley to the top (1700m), today keeping silent vigil
for enemies long gone. The stone buildings, riddled with bullet
holes, remain as combat mementos.
http://www.routedesgrandesalpes.com/pages/home/index.php
The sun was just reaching the valley as we rode up the Ubey on the
Route des Grande Alpes (D902). We began climbing the Col de Vars
(2111m) just beyond the junction with the Col de Larche (1991m), aka
Colle della Maddalena from the Italian side. Interestingly, Col de
Vars has kilometer posts with distance to the summit and average
gradient, and there is a randonneur sign-in stamp at the summit,
something we didn't notice elsewhere.
On the descent to Guillestre (1000m), we could make out the gap of the
Galibier Pass in the distant panorama of snowy peaks and glaciers
above the Durance Valley. We took the Route des Grande Alpes (D902)
up the Combe du Queyras, the gorge of the Guil River, toward the
Izoard instead of the main route (N94) up the valley to Briancon. Our
road followed the rugged gorge and then turned up the Riviere canyon
at the junction with the Passo Agnello route (D947) from the Italy.
We stopped for a grocery store lunch at Arvieux (1544m) before heading
up the steeper piece of the Izoard, past Brunnisard.
Above Brunnisard, where the grade eases, the road makes traverses and
hairpin turns that gave a little shelter from a chilly breeze that
blew down the slope. To our surprise, we even got dusted with tiny
puffballs of snow that evaporated as they melted on the dry road. At
the false summit we saw the rest of the climb across the canyon
zig-zagging to the obelisk at the top. On the west side of the
canyon, shepherds were driving an enormous heard across the cliffs to
a higher meadow. From here a short descent took us to the Coppi
memorial where I took a picture of Fausto's bronze caricature on a
marble plaque before climbing the last serpentines. The barren
landscape looks like the moon, with vast slopes of dark grey scree at
the angle of repose. This lack of shade and hot stone make this part
of the climb arduous in warm weather.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f72.html
From the Izoard (2361m), we viewed the gap of the Galibier on the
horizon before making the unspectacular descent to Briancon (1391m), a
large town overrun with tourists and traffic. Bob found a good
outdoor equipment store where he bought a waterproof parka with hood,
to improve on his hood-less windbreaker. We took Rt N91 (also D902)
with its gentle slope of 2% to 4% to the Col du Lautaret (2058m) where
we stopped at Hotel Bonnabel (aka Hotel des Glaciers) for the night.
Neither Bonnabels, Paul or Dominique, were present but we were glad to
get an excellent room and dinner. It seems that a double room is a
far better deal than the single I had a few years back or maybe prices
got adjusted to the summer market in the meanwhile.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Monday, 13 July (Lautaret - Seez; 161km, 3096m):
After a sumptuous buffet breakfast, we left Hotel Bonnabel under a
cloudy sky and began the climb to the Galibier at the front door.
After stopping for a picture at the huge sandstone Henri des Granges
(Initiator of the TdF) monument, Bob chose to go over the summit
(2645m) while I followed a solitary car through the (no bicycles)
tunnel (2555m). There wasn't much to see up there in the clouds where
otherwise a panorama of the glaciers of the Massif de la Vanoise
(3600m) and the Massif du Sorieller (4000m) can be seen. The descent
from the tunnel portal is about 6%-8% to Plan Lachat where it requires
pedaling over a long flat section.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f30.html
http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf/presentation_tdf.php
After a short steep descent into Valloire (1430m) we climbed to the
Telegraph (1570m) to descend to St Michel du Maurienne (712m).
Although in the clouds, we rode on mostly dry pavement. From St
Michel Traffic was light as we rode up the old highway along the Arc
with most traffic on the autoroute. At Modane (1057m), the railway
heads into the Frejus tunnel (built in 1871) to Torino and the
autoroute heads to its 12.9km tunnel leaving us on a nearly empty Rt
N6 toward Lanslebourg (1400m).
Just above Modane, as with many narrows on rivers, we climbed over the
the Barriere de l'Esseillon canyon where a huge fortress, that in
ancient times posed a formidable obstacle to invaders. Just below
these narrows, in Le Bourget, we saw the aeronautical research center
where the four spherical air tanks, typical of supersonic wind
tunnels, had been replaced by a single larger one. A test running
here sounds like a 747 at full power standing still for more than a
minute.
http://www.onera.fr/geographie-en/modane-avrieux.html
The road levels off above the Barriere de l'Esseillon, a deep defile
of the Arc River and natural obstacle, guarded by a huge fortress.
Tourists cross the breathtaking gorge to the fort on the Pont du
Diable, a slender truss foot bridge that accentuates the depth of the
chasm. Beyond the gorge, we descended to the valley floor and rolled
gradually up to Termignon (1300m). From here, it's a short climb to
Lanslebourg (1399m), from where the Col du Mont Cenis (2083m) connects
to Torino.
We stopped for a snack in Lanslevillard, the upper end of Lanslebourg,
below the Col du Madeleine (1746m), a short but steep climb into the
high valley of the Arc. On the way to Bonneval sur Arc, at the end of
the valley, great panoramas of the Glaciers de Evettes on the slopes
of the Croce Rossa (3546m), Via di Ciamarella (3676m), and l'Albaron
(3638m) open to the east. We stopped for some food in Bonneval sur
Arc (1835m) before heading up the Col d'Iseran that starts here with
two long traverses to the Gorge de la Lenta, a box canyon that lies
south of the pass and from which the road climbs on east wall rising
over waterfalls as it passes through bare rock tunnels. Here, above
the box canyon, the Lenta cascades into the gorge through a slot.
Just above this slot, the road crosses the river on a stone bridge and
takes two long traverses in a narrow valley to reach the summit of the
Col d'Iseran (2764m).
Although cool climbing air is fine, it doesn't help below a certain
level, a level that we seemed to have gone below. The climb went well
for a late afternoon but it got windy and cold before the summit where
we changed into parkas and hoods pulled tight around the face for the
descent to Jean Claude Killy town, Val d'Isere (1840m) that is so
entirely ski oriented that snowfall should be expected any minute,
judging from the crowds.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f20.html
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f83.html
http://tinyurl.com/a9g7
Below Val d'Isere the road climbs a bit, passe through a few tunnels
and runs along the Lac du Chevril before descending to Ste Foy (1051m)
and Seez (904m) where we stopped for the day at Hotel Gateau Savoie as
I have on many rides in the past. Seez lies at the intersection of
the Iseran and Petite St Bernard passes just above Bourg St Maurice.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Tuesday, 14 July (Seez - Spl?gen; 211km, 3756m):
Under a cloudless sky, we coasted down to Bourg St Maurice (840m) and
turned north on RT D902 to the Cormet de Roselend. This lovely
inconspicuous road climbs through forests into high grassland with
great views of Mont Blanc (4807m) and its many glaciers gleaming in
the sun. On the way up, still in the forested narrows of the Torrent
des Glaciers we passed the non-Hotel Bonneval (1000m) whose five
storied stone structure, swimming pool and garage have stood
incomplete for as long as I have passed there. This was a great
boondoggle, investmenting in a spa in a canyon that seldom receives
sun shine.
Soon, after a few serpentines, we reached the high valley of La
Chapieux (1552m) where the road/trail to Col de la Seigne heads east
past the base of Mt Blanc, a route I have taken in weather from
sunshine to snow in either direction. The route offers great scenery
and is a worthwhile adventure.
We rolled over the Cormet de Roselend (1967m) and descended past the
reservoir and its huge concrete dam to reach Beaufort (743m) through
the deep ravine and narrows that look like a dam disaster if the dam
failed. Just the same, they make great cheese here and have good
lodging and food. We were a bit early for lunch so we rolled out of
town to St Pierre to head up the Col de La Saisies (1633m).
La Saisies, a typical garish ski town that is practically dead in
summer, offered a pleasant sidewalk restaurant where we put away a
good lunch before descending to Flumet (917m) and climbing to Megeve
(1113m) where we took N212, the higher road, through St Gervais (807m)
down to La Fayet (589m). Here we got on the "flying" autoroute that
rises on huge columns above the valley on its way to Chamonix (1037m).
It now has a "no bicycles" sign but the approved bicycle route looked
by all indications like a major hill climbing detour. I have always
taken the autoroute and suspect that it is marked the way it is to
keep bungling bicyclists away.
After the road leveled off and passed through two tunnels, we took the
turnoff to Chamonix. We took pictures of the Bossons glacier across
from the rock climbing cliffs where the walls were covered with
climbers practicing their art.
http://www.terragalleria.com/mountain/mountain-image.alps3535.html
http://tinyurl.com/6d54s
While admiring the icy slopes of Mont Blanc, we rode through town and
on to Argentiere where we got a better view and stopped by the Chalet
of a friend who was away at the time, but we took a picture of us
sitting on the bench on his front porch. From here it was a short
climb to the Col de Montets (1461m) and across the border into
Switzerland. We took the road to Fin Haut (1240m) where the Forclaz
pass begins to climb. This route climbs a bit less than the main road
and gives access to a restricted road that parallels the adhesion and
cog wheel Martigny-Chatelard-Chamonix railway to Martigny in the Rhone
Valley. There is NO traffic on this road.
When we arrived in Martigny the usual afternoon wind was blowing up
the valley, although in town it was more of a swirl than a directional
wind because three valleys meet there. Once we got up the road in the
Rhone valley the tail wind was stronger than we expected, so we began
to roll. I had forgotten where Susten, my goal for the day was with
respect to other towns, so we plugged away at it so we wouldn't waste
the opportunity, because tomorrow there would be no wind till about
noon. In the morning, a cool breeze even blows down the valley.
We reached Susten at about 7pm, found the my old favorite, the Susten
Hotel, dead but found a great substitute, the Rhodania just up the
street. After a great and exciting day, we ate well and got a good
night's sleep.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Wednesday, 15 July (Spl?gen - Cama; 178km, 2452m):
In cool but sunny weather, we rode past Raron, the south portal of the
new 34.6km long L?tschberg base tunnel, that much like the 57km
Gotthard tunnel, was producing a huge pile of granite. Meanwhile,
high above, the BLS (Berne L?tschberg-Simplon) railway comes out of
the old tunnel and descends the granite wall for 15km to reach Brig
and the Simplon tunnel. This is a spectacular rail line with tunnels
and high stone arch bridges on which just observing trains from below
in the valley or seeing the valley from the train is an adventure.
At Visp, we saw where the Matterhorn-Gotthard (FO) railway goes to
Zermatt and the Matterhorn from Brig. This is also a great trip
followed by a train ride to Gornergrat:
http://www.topin.ch/scripts/big_img.php?bild=ZER.JPG
In Brig Bob got an additional memory card for his camera and we got
some food before heading up the Simplon highway that starts climbing
on the main street in town. We rode up the new Simplon road that for
some reason wants to detour bicyclists into Ried and back on the
highway just after a high bridge that passes the town. We stayed on
the road as always with no problem. Besides, the new highway offers a
greater view of the Rhone Valley than the old road.
At the curved Schallberg tunnel the road enters the Gantertal, high
above the Saltina, the river through Brig. About a kilometer farther,
on this nearly flat section, we crossed the Gantertal to Berisal
(1520m) on a high concrete suspension bridge where the road formerly
went around the end of valley through an avalanche chute that made the
road impassable in winter.
From Berisal we continued in the shade of a larch forest up to tree
line where long avalanche shelters cover the road most of the distance
to the Simplon summit (2005m). The air on the climb was pleasantly
cool but under the hazy sky the Aletsch Glacier was barely visible to
the north and the Eiger was out of sight. The Simplon Pass is one of
the more exciting and scenic routes in the Alps, because unlike other
major passes, it has no highway tunnel beneath it, yet has remarkably
little traffic. The nouth ramp out of Brig seems normal enough but
the south ramp finds its way through vertical granite walls and tiny
hill towns. Besides that, the north side is German speaking and
culture while the south side is Italian.
As always, we stopped at the summit to take pictures of the granite
eagle sculpture that stands guard there over the monastery and hotel:
http://www.picswiss.ch/Land10/VS-10-05.html
Today was a low-traffic day as we swept down into the galleries along
the granite walls of the Gondo gorge, high above the Diveria River in
the Val Divedro. After a long zigzag down the wall, we reached the
small villages of Gabi, Gondo, and finally Iselle (672m) where the
20km Simplon railway tunnel emerges from its south portal only to
immediately vanish again into a tunnel that makes a loop in the
mountain to lose elevation to Varzo (532m). The Varzo bypass, being
built over the Diveria, looked like it was nearly finished last year
but seems to be stalled at the moment. The long curved bypass is
entirely on a steel bridge over the Diveria.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s25.html
About a kilometer above Crevola d'Ossola (337m), that lies at the end
of the narrow part of the canyon above the Valle d'Ossola, the highway
enters an autos-only tunnel where bicycles must (and prefer to) take
the old road into town. Shortly beyond the tunnel entrance we stopped
at the graceful and ancient stone arch bridge to take a picture of Bob
sitting on the railing at the top of the arch as I often have. We
turned off at Crevola d'Ossola to cut across the valley to Masera
(297m) for a late lunch on this warm afternoon before heading up the
Val Vigezzo along the route of the Centovalli railway.
http://www.ozdoba.net/centovallibahn/home_e.html
http://www.rail-info.ch/FART/fotos.en.html
After the summit at Druogno (831m) it's more or less all down hill to
Locarno on Lago Maggiore, but on the opposite shore from where we were
a week ago. We had lost the cool dry air of the days before and had
the muggy weather common here in summer. We stayed on the west side
of the valley as we headed back to Bellinzona and Arbedo (239m) at the
bottom of the Valtellina and the Moesa River. We rode up the
Valtellina along the branch of the RhB railway that still has tracks
but no scheduled service. We found a good hotel in Cama (344m) and
ate well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Thursday, 16 July (Cama - Maloja; 129km, 3720m):
Back on the road, we started climbing as we passed Soazza, stopping at
the grocery store in Mesocco (777m) before heading up to Pian San
Giacomo (1140m) and were disappointed to see that Hotel Beer was
permanently closed. The climb to San Bernardino (1607m) where the
autostrada enters its tunnel, was humid enough to soak my jersey, but
from there onward it got cooler and was a lovely climb along rushing
streams.
The monastery on top of the San Bernardino pass (2063m) was as
lifeless as ever but toy dogs with miniature barrels of rum under
their chin were available at the kiosk. As we crossed the summit, the
sky looked like it was getting ready to moisten our day but it held on
until we got off the hill at Hinterrhein (1624m) where the autobahn
comes out of the tunnel. Looking back as we rolled down the valley to
Spl?gen (1460m), it seemed that rain was trying to catch us. We got
some food at the store before heading up the Spl?gen Pass that started
climbing at the road junction in town.
The cool weather and overcast made all these climbs seem easier than
on other occasions. I kept my eyes open for dippers, water ouzels,
little brown and white birds that nest behind waterfalls and walk
under water to pick at bugs in clear mountain streams. Unlike in
past, I found none, but retiring as they are I could have missed them.
We got past the Swiss border with a nod and the Italians with a wave
as we did all but one time. The Spl?gen summit (2113m) is not
exciting scenery although the south ramp is. After the large granite
faced dam beyond Monte Spluga (1920m) and its reservoir, the descent
enters snow and avalanche tunnels. In the days before pavement, these
were one way tunnels that posed a major hindrance to two way traffic.
Some of the old tunnels are still visible along the road. Today most
of the tunnels have been rebuilt as two way high clearance bores but a
few have not. To avoid this, a new road from Pianazzo (1386m) takes a
long route around the end of the valley. We, of course, took the old
road with its narrow, stacked hairpin tunnels and sheds that climb
spectacularly down the wall.
We descended the Val San Giacomo along the Liro river, while the
valley widened and became less steep on the way to Chiavenna (333m) in
the Val Bregaglia. Meanwhile, the air began getting stinking summer
hot. We turned up the valley toward the Maloja Pass and St Moritz and
crossed into Switzerland at Castasegna (696m) passing the lovely old
fashioned Post Hotel Bregaglia (820m) at Bondo, Sottoponte, and
Promontogno, three interleaved towns. At first it seemed we had
outrun the rain but noticed farther up that the rain had not left but
just ducked behind the mountain, but as we passed the leaning rock:
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/s15.html
the rain returned as we rode to the base of the Maloja Pass in off and
on drizzle. The rain stopped agian as we climbed out of Casaccia
(1458m) to the valley below the serpentines of the pass on the
headwall of this box canyon. We reached the Maloja "summit" (1815m)
before the rain returned, but by then we were in Hotel Longhin
enjoying dinner. We had good room for the night.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Friday, 17 July (Maloja - Bormio; 167km, 3248m):
The Maloja Pass (1815m) is one sided with no real descent to the east.
Under an overcast sky with patches of blue we rode along the shore of
the Silsersee that lies on the summit and is the source of the Inn
river. Then we rode along the slightly lower Silvaplanasee and beyond
that the St Moritzersee after which the road descends through a
narrows into the Val Bernina. We joined the Bernina road at Champagna
(1714m) riding south past Pontresina (1805m) and on to the famous
Bellavista curve railway crossing (1950m) of the RhB Railway.
We stopped for a picture, hoping for a red RhB Bernina train in front
of the magnificent backdrop of the Morteratsch glacier and Piz
Bernina, but no train came. A camera crew was taking pictures of MTB
riders, I suppose also waiting for a train. Above here, the Val
Bernina is fairly flat but after the Diavolezza and Lagalp funiculars,
the road climbs the last bump to the Bernina summit (2323m). Two
lakes lie on opposite sides of the divide, where the waters of deep
blue Lago Negro flow via the Inn and Danube rivers to the Black Sea,
while those of milky white Lago Bianco flow via the Cavaliasco and
Adda rivers to the Po and the Adriatic Sea.
http://www.trainpics.de/gallery/switzerland/ch-bernina/rb17134.html
The south side of the Bernina Pass is one of the longer descents in
the Alps as it makes its way into the Val Poschiavo. A kilometer or
so below the summit, we passed the junction (2045m) to the Forcola di
Livigno pass (2315m) to Livigno where a tunnel connects to the Ofen
Pass and the Eira (2210m) and Foscagno (2291m) passes connect to
Bormio.
The weather was more like April so that we were in sunshine on damp
roads and under clouds on dry ones but didn't get rained on. After a
swift descent to Lago di Poschiavo (962m) we rode around the lake and
got a beautiful shot of the Bernina reflected in a glassy smooth lake.
Descending to Brusio, we stopped at Hotel Bottoni for a visit with the
owners and had a large dish of their special gelato. Well fueled we
passed the famous Brusio Loop of the RhB railway and crossed into
Italy at Campocologno where we were detained for a long passport
investigation in which we seem to have been OK, since no further
questions were asked. We just seemed to have had the luck of the
draw.
http://www.rail-info.ch/RhB-BB/pics/rhb5374.jpg
At Madonna di Tirano (430m), we turned south and, after few
kilometers, crossed the valley to Stazzona and the road up through the
woods to intersect the Aprica Pass road (Rt N39). From Aprica (1176m)
on the summit, we descended the long gentle grade to Edolo (690m)
where we stopped for lunch. Under sunny skies, we passed the foot of
the Mortirolo Pass (1896m) at Monno (868m) and stopped in Tem?
(1144m), just below Ponte di Legno, to visit friend Silvano
Macculotti, proprietor of the Locanda Veduta dell'Adamello hotel.
We rode through Ponte di Legno (1258m) along Torrente Frigidolfo
staying on the north side of the river to reach the nearly flat, lush
green valley. The first climb to the Gavia begins below Pezzo (1565m)
a typically picturesque hill town, glued to the side of the mountain.
We climbed through the larch forest to break out to Appolonia (1585m)
where the Frigidolfo meanders across the valley with no hint of its
cascades below, or waterfalls above.
I stopped at the gazebo to get a sip of the rusty bubbly mineral water
to seek its benefits masked by its foul flavor. This water is thought
to give strength to bicyclists who dare climb the Gavia or at least to
those who dare to drink. After getting past the warning signs of
landslides, rockfall, dangerous narrow road, and a requirement to have
tire chains on board from September to July, we were on our way. Past
the second hairpin, reality strikes as the road goes from highway to
one-car width, and the 16% sign of poster fame sets the tone. The
road is only that steep in a few places, but the signs are a warning
for vehicles that cannot restart on such a grade after meeting a
descending vehicle. Bicyclists can always walk.
I stopped at the cliff, the scene of the poster picture of 1978 on
display in the Rifugio Bonetta on the summit. In many attempts I have
not been able to match that photo.
We stopped in at the Rifugio to say hello to Signor Bonetta. As last
year, there was "mail" taped to the glass on the poster with a
greeting from a fellow bikies. We thanked Sig. Bonetta for his
hospitality and rolled off across the broad summit.
http://www.waltellina.com/ortlescevedale/bonetta/
http://www.webcam.valtline.it/valfurvag.htm
As we crossed the summit, the Ortler (3905m) and Gran Zebru (3851m)
with their glacial caps and perpetual glistening snow rose to the east
as we descended into the Valle Valfurva. The Val di Gavia got steeper
as we passed Rifugio Breni (2543m) on the way down to the main road in
Santa Caterina (1734m). Valfurva Valley is a steep dash from the town
of Valfurva (1339m) to Bormio (1197m). We rode along Via Roma, a
pedestrian mall and main street of Bormio, and found a suitable hotel
in lieu of my old favorite, the Hotel Ignazio, that ceased operations
after all these years.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Saturday, 18 July (Bormio - Vigo di Fassa; 162km, 3128m):
After a hearty breakfast and well rested, we rode up the rocky Val
Braulio, where the road follows the south side below slopes of scree,
ducking in and out of a series of long avalanche tunnels before
reaching the headwall at Spondalunga. Here the road makes ten
traverses to climb to the Bocca di Braulio (1908m), a curved valley
that leads to the Umbrail gap (2502m) and the Stelvio summit (2757m).
From the Umbrail, the last 3km are a steady 10% climb.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/i79.html
As usual, many motorcyclists and bicyclists were gathered at the
summit in bright sunshine. We took pictures at the east edge of the
gap of the road whose serpentines are glued to the wall as it starts
down the 48 hairpin turns to the Val di Trafoi. Today the road was a
string of bicyclists competing in a hill climb from Prato. I was told
that good elapsed times were around an hour and a half for this event.
http://tinyurl.com/len5
http://tinyurl.com/lenc
We got splendid views of the Ortler and its glaciers on the way down
to Prato. In Spondigna across the Val Venosta from Prato, we crossed
the tracks of the newly refurbished FS railway line that had been
abandoned a few years earlier. Although we had a slight headwind
we rolled easily down the Val Venosta to Merano (320m) where the
huge Forst brewery marks the city limit.
With many new roundabouts, the old route from Merano to Bolzano
(262m), a mostly flat 30km down the Val Venosta was no longer obvious.
At every new roundabout, directional signs pointing to Bolzano led us
to the autostrada. Finally I started following my nose and best
guess, which got us to town and on the route I wanted. Other than
that, traffic was light as we headed north past the Bolzano train
station in the Isarco (Eisack) Valley to Cardano. At Cardano we
climbed through a 1.2km curved tunnel with a moderate grade that was
well lit, had good ventilation and broad shoulders on Rt N241. In
spite of the new tunnel the best scenic part of the Ega canyon
remained in tact although the tunnel skirts most of the 16% defile for
which the Costalunga road was noted.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/i92.html
At the upper end of the tunnel where we joined the old road, we could
see the amazingly steep closed old road in the narrows below. I
believe this is an improvement for everyone because the most scenic
part of the canyon remains unchanged. We rode on through Welschnofen
(1182m) and into the forest above where just beyond Hotel Diana the
road levels off. Here in the summit meadows lies the turquoise Lago
di Carezza, the reflecting pool for the Latemar (2842m) with its
myriad Dolomite spires, but haze shrouded its peaks that would have
reflected in the lake.
Although it was sunset, the partially visible Rosengarten (2981m) was
not glowing in its famous red evening light under the overcast that
robbed it of its sunset colors, the ones that give it its name. We
passed the junction with the Nigerjoch Pass, whose lower end is the
24% grade road to Tiers. After a short climb with a few turns we
reached the Costalunga summit (1745m) followed by a long gradual
descent to Vigo di Fassa (1380m) where we stopped for the day at the
Hotel Cristallo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Sunday, 19 July (Vigo di Fassa - Longarone; 133km, 3000m):
A short descent brought us to the road up the Val di Fassa where we
rode to Canazei (1460m) and started up the Pordoi Pass with the usual
morning rush, a continuous column of cars with vacationers heading for
the passes after breakfast. This surge is over by about nine o'clock
after which the roads are fairly empty. As we got near the top of the
Pordoi (2239m) the full panorama of classic Dolomite peaks came into
view. We chose not to take the loop of the other three passes around
the Sella group in order to have time for more of the eastern areas.
Riding high above the Cordevole creek in the Livinallongo valley to
Pieve (1470m) we had a broad panorama to the south. At the end of
this valley, at Cernadoi (1495m), we started up the Falzarego pass
(2105m). The road is surrounded by strikingly beautiful Dolomite
peaks and cliffs as it winds through tunnels and over masonry
revetments. The Falzarego (2105m) lies in a beautiful meadow at the
base of Pizo Lagazuoi (2770m), a striking dolomite peak below which
the Valparola Pass (2192m) heads west into the Val di San Cassiano.
We had a view of many great peaks to the south including the Cinque
Torri that I have had the pleasure to see under thunder clouds with
break that illuminated the five spires with a dark backdrop. We
descended from the Falzarego to Pocol (1480m) above Cortina, at the
junction with Passo Giau. After a hearty lunch on the deck of the
restaurant at Pocol, we continued toward the Giau, first descending
and then climbing the odd alignment of this ancient road.
Under cloudy skies, the scenery was magnificent as we reached the
summit of the Giau (2236m). We saw little across the Valle d' Ampezzo
and the Passo Tre Croci to the north but the Marmolada, Monte Civetta
(3220m) to the southwest were beautiful. On the descent down the
Codalunga to Selva di Cadore we passed Rifugio Piezza (2175m), a half
kilometer below the summit, with great dining... and stay for the
night. At Selva (1336m) we headed east to the Forcella Staulanza
(1766m) along the Torrente Fiorentina, all the while heading straight
for Monte Pelmo (3168m). The Staulanza is an easy pass and comes as a
surprise because there is no apparent gap past Monte Pelmo. After a
hairpin turn just before the mountain, and a couple of ess-curves, the
pass shows up unexpectedly,
Typical of the Dolomites, this route is a scenic wonder. We descended
to Longarone (472m), notorious for the dam disaster at 22:42 on 09
October 1963, when the town was destroyed by a "tidal wave", that a
landslide from Monte Toc (1921m) had forced over a dam and through a
narrow gulch across from the town, claiming 1909 lives. Our hotel as,
most in that area, displayed many before-and-after pictures. A
memorial church designed by Le Corbusier stands in the center of town
and a similar chapel, above the dam.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Monday, 20 July (Longarone - Tolmin: 183km, 1800m):
We crossed the valley and rode up the granite wall through tunnels up
to the dam that still stands undamaged above Longarone. Below,
leading up to the lower face of the dam, the old, pre-dam road notched
and tunneled into the vertical wall of the gorge is amazing and a road
I would like to have ridden. The dam is about 50m across but at least
three times that high, narrowing to almost nothing at its bottom.
http://tinyurl.com/li6o (before)
http://tinyurl.com/li6e (after)
After the last tunnel we emerged just above the dam that still has a
bit of water between it and the mountain that slid into the former
lake. This water is piped under the slide from the tail end of the
lake formed by the dam. A memorial chapel by Le Corbusier stands
vigil over this disaster scene.
http://www.vajont.net/dopo/chiesa.html
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Hangar/4415/Maurizio/vajont.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Hangar/4415/Maurizio/vajont1.htm
http://www.citysite.it/news/page/fotonews/vajont/diga.htm
Beyond the dam the road climbs over the mountain that slid into the lake
and descends to Erto (750m), a small town on the far side of a small
pass above the former reservoir.
We crossed the Passo di San Osvaldo (827m) to a region that doesn't
see much traffic or tourists. The river beds are striking with their
brilliant white dolomite stone and azure green water with such clarity
that the edge of the water is hardly discernable as its color vanishes
to white on the shore. In Barcis (409m) along one of these rivers,
the Torrente Cimoliana that flows into the Lago di Barcis, a brilliant
emerald in this beautiful landscape.
The lake drains past a dam into a narrow gorge that was a great scenic
adventure but is permanently closed now that it is flooded by a new
dam. I had last ridden through this fascinating tunnel like road
years ago but that is no longer possible. Instead we rode through a
one kilometer tunnel and a short open section before entering a four
kilometer tunnel whose lower end was above the lake behind the new dam
just above Maniago (283m) that lay over a small ridge.
We looked at the downstream side of the dam as we continued to Pinzano
(104m) and stayed in the hills instead of taking the main route to
Tarcento. This route was a bit circuitous but scenic and sometimes
disorienting, so we had to consult our maps now and then. Crossing
the Tilment River, we reached Gemona (272m) and headed south to
Tarcento (230m) where Rt 646 heads east into Slovenia. This is a
pleasant road along the Torrente Torre, gradually climbing to the low
Passo di Tanamea (848m) a few kilometers before the border.
The border crossing was a wave of the hand as we rolled down to Zaga
on the Soca River where we turned south to Tolmin (200m). This is an
interesting town for me, having seen it in the days of Jugoslavia when
it was a military camp with training soldiers ever on local maneuvers.
It was as close as I got to life behind the iron curtain. The
atmosphere was "hard times" with practically empty shelves in food
stores and few older cars on the roads that carried mostly
agricultural and and military traffic.
Today there is no sign of the barbed wire and barracks and the food
stores are well stocked. It is basically western Europe with an
upbeat attitude. We found a comfortable hotel that in spite of its
four starts was moderately priced and had a great menu. I had not
stayed here before but it was a pleasure to close the communist
chapter this way at the Pension Rutar.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Tuesday, 21 July (Tolmin - Obervellach: 185km, 756m):
We started with a clear sky as we rode up the Baca river toward
Podbrdo (525m) where we planned on taking the tunnel train through to
Bohinjska Bistrica. I managed to do this last year, remembering the
previous tours where we rode over the top (1500m) of un-named small
roads with no scenic value. We got to the tunnel about a half hour
before the train and got something to eat at the grocery store. At
10:45 the train arrived, a few autos rolled onto the flat cars and we
joined several other bicycle tourists who were already on the two axle
passenger car that was 1/3 bicycle hanger racks.
We got off as the train loaded for its return trip to Tolmin and rode
past Bohinjska lake and on down the valley along the Sava Bohinjka to
Bled (504m) on beautiful Blejsko lake where Marshall Tito's elegant
but modest vacation residence is still in fine shape although fenced
off and unused. Below Bled we got on the main road to Jesenice (574m)
that runs parallel to the motorway and has light traffic.
After Jesenice, where the motorway turns north to Austria, traffic was
even lighter as we stopped in Gozd to take a better picture than the
one from years ago. The only problem was that the city limit sign, in
the old picture, had been placed elsewhere. This route is surrounded
by the eastward extension of the Dolomites, known as the Karavanka
typified by the view of Gozd.
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/a46.html
We followed the Sava Dolinka river up the valley to Podcoren (810m) at
the base of the W?rzen Pass (1073m) that connects to Villach Austria.
I hadn't tried this route before, having noted that it includes 18%
grades but considering the altitude change we decided that this was a
good route after all. The map was correct and in two 200m sections
the road climbed at 18% but with moderate grades otherwise.
The real surprise was the descent that right from the top has a large
sign showing a gear shift gate with a fat red line going from 4th to
1st gear and a picture of a car tilted forward at 30 degrees. The
sign also announced 18% - 500m, a significant distance, especially as
curvy as it was. This section ended at a hairpin turn with a runaway
escape road exiting at the apex of the turn. We stopped with rims so
hot we felt it advisable to not continue until the rims cooled.
This brings to mind the Zirlerberg pass that for good reasons
prohibits downhill bicycling besides having several runaway escape
roads, a road we would see the next day as we passed Innsbruck.
We descended into the Gailtal and rode through Villach (501m) to head
up the Drau river to M?llbr?cke (557m) where we headed up the M?ll
river toward the Grossglockner Pass stopping at Obervellach (680m).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Wednesday, 22 July (Obervellach - Wald: 152km, 2160m):
We got a good start up the M?lltal with cool air and puffy clouds.
Traffic was light as much traffic after Spittal goes over the hill
here on the Autobahn to Salzburg and train to Mallnitz. The road
gradually gains elevation and turns the corner to the Glockner at
Winklern (958m). From here it's a gradual climb along the M?ll up the
narrow and scenic valley toward the Gro?glockner, the highest peak in
that Hohe Tauern range, that gives its name to the toll road,
"Gro?glockner Hochalpenstra?e". We could already see the glaciers of
the Glockner above the end of the valley as we climbed.
At Heiligenblut (1301m) at the foot of the Gro?glockner Pass, the end
of an easy cruise up the valley with a bit of climbing here and there
we stopped for a grocery store lunch. The grocery store on the
corner is open every day all day so that tourists can get what they
need. As we put away our fuel for the big climb we could see the
Gro?glockner behind the tall slender church steeple of Heiligenblut.
The real climb starts in front of the grocery store with a 12% grade
that lets up a couple of times before the saddle at Kasereck (1913m),
a restaurant and large cheese factory, after which the road descends to
the junction where the scenic road to the base of the Gro?glockner and
the road to the summit split.
The Dolomites to the south were no longer visible as we reached,
Hochtor, the summit (2505m), in breezy pleasant temperatures with rain
chasing us up the climb. We rode through the 200m summit tunnel and
down passing the lake before Mittelt?rl (2328m) ,a curved tunnel (the
middle summit), and down a short 12% grade that took us to a 12% climb
to Fuschert?rl (2428m, the north summit). With a clear sky to the
west, the whole Glockner group made a striking panorama. We descended
the 12% run to Fusch in the Fuschertal and continued to the north toll
gate at the bottom of the grade at a wildlife park at Ferleiten.
We rolled down to Bruck (757m) on the Salzach River, passing through
villages with roadside displays of wood carvings and rustic furniture,
Austrian art for the tourist. Across the Salzach we passed through
Zell am See as we headed west up the Pinzgau Valley past Mittersill
where most traffic heads north to Kitzb?hel or south through the
Felber-Tauern Tunnel to Lienz and the Dolomites. After Mittersill the
road was fairly empty. The Pinzgau narrow gauge (760mm, 30inch) train
tracks run parallel the road much of the way here.
We continued west to Wald (867m) at the foot of the old Gerlos Pass
where we took the old Gerlos road by cutting across the church yard
after the grocery store to head up the hill. We stopped at Gasthaus
Grubl, a great place to stay, run by Mrs. Kaiser. The hotel lies in a
crook in the road, where a small creek runs over a decorative water
wheel that once drove a generator. We enjoyed a good dinner along
with a group of Motorcyclists who found this a convenient spot for the
night. The rain never caught us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Thursday, 23 July (Wald - See: 185km, 1524m):
A good buffet breakfast prepared us for the 400m section of 17% that
starts at the front door of the Gasthaus Grubl. We said goodby and
got warm quickly in spite of the cool cloudy weather. We got a bit of
rain before we got to the top of the old Gerlos Pass (1486m), though
the road was mostly dry over the summit where it joins the new road.
We seemed to be ahead of the rain because the road was dry as we
descended past the huge earthen dam to Gerlos (1245m). From here, The
road stays high while the Gerlos River rushes down the Gerlostal, a
narrow defile. From Hainzenberg (1000m), the road finally takes a
series of hairpin turns to descend to Zell am Ziller (575m) in the
Zillertal.
We took the small road down the east side of the valley, crossing over
near Strass (520m) as it started raining. The daily steam Zillertal
train was just getting ready to leave as we headed west toward
Innsbruck (574m) along the south side of the Inn, crossing to the
north bank at Hall. From Hall to Innsbruck, the old streetcar line on
the south side of the highway has become an excellent bicycle path
that took us into town. We took the road around the west side of town
along the Inn and dropped in on the old city center to catch the local
color. The balcony with the golden roof was in fine trim as were
McDonald's golden arches a few houses down the narrow street.
http://www.die-seite.at/sight/goldenesdachl/goldenroof.php
We stayed on the south side of the Inn toward Vols, on the less
traveled route toward Landeck. Across the river, the railroad, on the
way to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Munich, traverses the vertical
Martinswand, a huge curved granite wall through in tunnels with a few
windows. More striking is the Zirlerberg road with a 16% grade up to
the roundhouse restaurant and from there with up to 22% to the top.
Bicycles are prohibited from downhill use of this road that has six
runaway escape roads for motor vehicles.
Our road remained fairly flat until Haiming, the mouth of the ?tztal,
from whose upper end the Timmelsjoch (Passo Rombo; 2474m) crosses to
St Leonhard and Merano in South Tyrol. With mini-markets at most gas
stations along this route, we were well supplied with food and drink.
We crossed the high bridge over Ache River from the ?tztal and crossed
to the north side of the Inn to climb two kilometers over the narrows
of the valley.
After the climb and a two kilometer descent, we turned off to Bahnhof
Imst and the river rafting set-in to take the bicycle path to Landeck.
The path lies between the autobahn and the river, avoiding the climb
to Imst and Imsterberg that the local highway makes. At Landeck
(816m) we took the Arlberg highway (Rt N1), and turned off at Pians
into the Paznauntal and the Silvretta Hochalpenstra?e (toll road Rt
A188), the Bielerh?he Pass to Bludenz in the Montafontal.
The Silvretta road drops down into the Sanna River and heads up the
Paznauntal along the Trisanna River, passing under the high railway
bridge of the Arlberg Line. These are much sought after white water
rivers.
http://www.andyw.freeserve.co.uk/2003/july/austria/22-sanna-matt.html
We stopped at See (1025m) under cloudy skies hoping for a brighter day
tomorrow for the Silvretta group at the summit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Friday, 24 July (See - Mitl?di: 182km, 576m):
We had a light tailwind up this gradual climb along the Trisanna River
to Galt?r where road gets steeper up the desolate valley but to make
up for that it rained and drizzled most of the way. The last
kilometer to the dam of the summit lake of 12% got us to the
Bielerh?he Pass (2021m). The Silvretta lake straddles the summit and
is contained by an earthen dam on the east and a concrete dam on the
west. Under a solid overcast, we could see only the lake and the base
of the glacier-covered Eckhorn (3117m), Wiesbadenerh?he (2490m), Piz
Silvretta (3248m), and Piz Buin (3312m). The English rowing team was
again present using high altitude training for the eight-man crew
Olympic team.
The descent down 32 hairpin turns to Partenen (1027m) is easy because
there are no tight turns, all of them being gentle sweepers. To make
up for that, it has grades up to 11%. From the bottom of the steep
part, in Partenen (1051m) on the Ill River in the Montafontal, we
rolled down to Schruns (690m) and on to Bludenz (559m) and Feldkirch
(455m) in the Rhine valley.
From Feldkirch (455m) we headed south and crossed to the west bank of
the the Rhine past Vaduz, the capital of Lichtenstein and on to
Sargans (482m) Switzerland. Although not raining, we had a low
overcast so that not much above the Walensee at Walenstadt (427m) was
visible. We took the bicycle path along the lake, stopping for a
grocery store lunch There being little to see, we skipped riding the
Karenzerberg over the corner into canton Glarus and continued along
the lake through two long bicycle tunnels and some steep paths that
took us into canton Glarus at Nafels (436m).
http://www.picswiss.ch/StGallen/SG-l4-04.html
After Glarus (472m) traffic dwindled to nothing as we arrived in
Mitl?di at hotel Horgenberg for the day. We had an excellent dinner
with the house specialty that could be called the Swiss equivalent of a
pizza. With selected toppings a pizza of mostly delicious cheeses
with some toast is served on a large platter. It was so good, I
didn't want to diminish the good taste with a sweet desert.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Saturday, 25 July (Mitl?di - Willigen; 137, 3360m):
We rode up the rest of Canton Glarus under beautiful clouds in a blue
sky with the highest peak, the glacier capped T?di at the end of the
valley. The road doesn't climb steeply as it heads for Linthal (662m)
at the base of the Klausen Pass, something that is evident by the SBB
rail line also going there. In Linthal, the road turns into the wall
of the canyon and begins its zig-zag climb into the high valley above,
the Urnerboden, that belongs to canton Uri by a quirk of border
demarcation.
This climb may be tiring to someone who doesn't know how far it climbs
because only the valley below is visible, not the top of the climb.
Once in the Urnerboden, the road gently rises to Port (1372m) before
once more climbing walls up to the Klausen Pass (1948m). The upper
part of this pass is spectacularly scenic as it passes through the
U-shaped Urnerboden and climbs the granite walls at the head of the
valley. My experience has always been that the mountains look extra
high here because their tops vanish in the clouds. Today was no
exception.
The top of the pass is fairly flat and starts its descent gradually as
a glorious panorama to the north opens underscored by the Sch?chental,
a box canyon that drops off precipitously shortly after the summit.
The road clings to the edge passing through tunnels as it gives
vertical views of roofs of farm sheds nearly straight below as the
Sta?bifall traces its route from the T?di glaciers to the lip of the
canyon from which it is blown to mist before reaching the valley.
We stopped at Posthaus Urigen for lunch and a hello to Stefan and
Karin Truschner who run the place. Although they had a full house for
lunch Stefan complained about the cool weather. We ate under umbrellas
outside as the Postauto came by giving its famous three tone bugle
salute.
After a short dash to the bottom of the Sch?chental (995m) there is a
little climb before the stretch down to Altdorf and the statue of
William Tell and son. Because the weather was so great we decided to
ride over the Susten Pass again to appreciate the glacier highway of
the Alps. I guess training helps but it felt easier this time than
the first a few weeks ago, or maybe it was just the beauty of the
landscape that made it feel that way.
The Steingletscher was at its magnificent best, its top vanishing up
the Sustenhorn into the puffy white clouds. All the many glaciers were
glistening in sunshine as we came out of the Susten Summit tunnel
(2224m). In warner air the descent seemed to roll faster as well, but
then there was no headwind this time. We crossed the Haslital at
Inertkirchen (625m) and over the four turns of the Kirchet to Willigen
(620m) where we stopped at the Hotel Tourist, one of my old favorites.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Saturday, 25 July (Willigen - Vitznau); 100, 750m):
We rolled down hill to Meiringen and took the road to the Br?nig pass
that connects to Lucerne. This is a pleasant forested climb that has
a kilometer of 13% in the middle but is otherwise nice. Before
the top, it gives a panorama of the Aar valley and the end of the
Brienzersee. The SBB cogwheel/narrow gauge railway crosses the summit
together with the road although the railway has only a 10% grade.
The ride to Sarnen is interrupted a few times by Autobahn
construction and detouring tunnels. After descending from the
Lungernsee, both the road and railway level off in Giswil (485m)
before the Sarnersee. We rode down to Alpnachstadt (435m) where we
took the Pilatus cogwheel train (world's steepest) to the top of the
mountain for the experience and its great views to all sides.
From here, it was a short ride into Lucerne where we gave the downtown
or appraisal, watched the Alpine Swifts circle their tower on the
historic wooden bridge and visited the Lion:
http://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/okamotoy/JPG/2003_0609/DSCF0029.JPG
http://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/okamotoy/photo/2003/luzern2003/
This as many places here, is a wonderful place to visit with many
attractions in the city and nearby.
We rode around the Lake to Vitznau, the locale of Niklaus Riggenbach's
first Cogwheel railway. We watched the lake steamer with its
articulated side wheels dock on its course around the lake and settled
in for a last night on the road. In the morning we rode along the lake
to Ibach our starting place and packed the bicycles for travel. Bob,
leaving the next day and I a week later.
Many of the places mentioned in this report can be seen at:
http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos.html
That was 3350km and 54100m climbing
==========================================================================
If you know of a repository of my ride reports between 1960 and before
1990, or know where I can find them, in software or hard copy, please
let me know. I lost these reports when switching from a terminal and
server to a PC and failed to retrieve them before they were archived
somewhere. That was in the days when there was only one newsgroup on
usenet called rec.bicycle.
==========================================================================
Jobst Brandt
jobst....@stanfordalumni.org
Palo Alto CA
gianni
Thank you for your report, another amazing tour of the Alps with
little mercy for your legs! Very funny to read that you find the
detour cyclists should follow to get to Chamonix as a serious
uphill...after 54000m!? I posted it straight on cyclingtheworld.org!
Let me know if you ever post this on a different URL, thanks.
How light do you travel on your rides?
Gianni
Tim McNamara
>> Tour of the Alps 2004
>
> Thank you for your report, another amazing tour of the Alps with
> little mercy for your legs! Very funny to read that you find the
> detour cyclists should follow to get to Chamonix as a serious
> uphill...after 54000m!? I posted it straight on cyclingtheworld.org!
> Let me know if you ever post this on a different URL, thanks.
Umm, there's already a canonical archive of Jobst's Alps reports at
the Trento Bike Pages: http://www-math.science.unitn.it/Bike
> How light do you travel on your rides?
See http://www-math.science.unitn.it/Bike/General/Packing_List.html
jobst....@stanfordalumni.org
There you see it. and what goes in the bag is at:
http://www-math.science.unitn.it/Bike/General/Packing_List.html
In time, the report will probably appear at:
Jobst Brandt
jobst....@stanfordalumni.org