Sunday, May 31, 2009
June 2 - Reschen Pass to Haiming
After getting ahead of Tracey and Pat on the climb over the alps (they must have taken a wrong turn somewhere) I had checked into a campground very close to the sign marking the high point of the Pass. If you check Pat's blog below you will see that they, very wisely, took a room in the small town a couple of clicks before the pass. Despite the fact that I had the body bag zipped up tight and slept fully clothed it was still a cold night. Next morning I shared some hot soup with my new Dutch friends, Tine and Henk (who I had teamed up with the previous day for dinner and the swapping of travel info) and met my fellow travellers out on the highway and we set sail for warmer climes. Just outside Landeck we separated again with Tracey and Pat taking a room in the town while I sailed on down the Inntal Radweg towards Innsbruck. Around the town of Imst I fell in with a local mountain biker who was heading out for a training ride to Landeck, the opposite direction, but changed his mind and rode with me taking me on some serious shortcuts to avoid towns. Needless to say the shortcuts were more suited to mountain biking rather than a fully loaded touring bike, exhilerating single track riding for a while. The speedo was just closing in on the 100km mark when I stumbled on a really nice economical hotel room in the town of Haiming. The town seems to be the epicenter for Inn River rafting. A seriously tasty meal of swine flesh and a couple of drinks with the manager finished a solid day on the bike.
Resia (Reschen) to Landeck - 31 May
May 31
We had indicated that we would like breakfast at 8, and the lady of the house had given the job to her husband because it was Sunday (Sonntag), and she wasn't getting up that early. There was the standard euro brekky fare of sliced meats, cheese, breads, jams, juice, and as much coffee as we wanted. There was also an offer of something else we couldn't understand (maybe eggs?), but we had had plenty of food, so we declined. Heading outside to load up our bikes we both quickly grabbed extra clothes - it was about 5 degrees and overcast, threatening rain.
We rode the few km along the road, stopping at the border/pass sign for a photo, to meet Rod and start our journey through Austria. We had heard that nearly everthing is closed on Sunday in Austria, so we grabbed some chocolate bars and stuff at the service station next to Rod's campground.
The pass. 
The fast descent to the river was great fun, stopping only once for a photo.
At the bottom of the hill we crossed into Switzerland and stopped for coffee and cake.
Faces blacked out for security reasons.
When we got going again it started raining. This part of the valley is better described as a gorge in many sections, widening a bit after Landeck where it is joined by another river.
It was overcast and cold as we rode into Landeck. We rode to the campground, only a few hundred metres from the town centre. It looked quite good, but it wasn't exactly camping weather, so we went into the town centre to find a cafe. Over coffee and food we had a look at Lonely Planet (pdf files on my phone) for somewhere to stay. We checked into Gasthof Greif which was recommended and close by. A great little guesthouse. Highlights: the door to our room, the view from our window, the food! We both ordered something called schweinkotelet, which was pork steaks accompanied by seven vegies and four sauces! We had to skip desert. Landeck is a beautiful little town.
Our door.
Our view.
Part of our view.
Our guesthouse.
We had indicated that we would like breakfast at 8, and the lady of the house had given the job to her husband because it was Sunday (Sonntag), and she wasn't getting up that early. There was the standard euro brekky fare of sliced meats, cheese, breads, jams, juice, and as much coffee as we wanted. There was also an offer of something else we couldn't understand (maybe eggs?), but we had had plenty of food, so we declined. Heading outside to load up our bikes we both quickly grabbed extra clothes - it was about 5 degrees and overcast, threatening rain.
Our guesthouse on the lake.
We rode the few km along the road, stopping at the border/pass sign for a photo, to meet Rod and start our journey through Austria. We had heard that nearly everthing is closed on Sunday in Austria, so we grabbed some chocolate bars and stuff at the service station next to Rod's campground.
The pass.It was to be a day of firsts - first rain, first ride into Austria, first ride into Switzerland, first 1000km! We got to wear our raincoats for the first time. I will let the photos describe the scenery as we rode from the Reschenpass down to and along the deep narrow Inn River valley towards Landeck.
From the border to Nauders the cycle path crossed lush green fields and passed under ski lifts. At Nauders we made the short climb over to the Inn valley.
The fast descent to the river was great fun, stopping only once for a photo.
At the bottom of the hill we crossed into Switzerland and stopped for coffee and cake.
Faces blacked out for security reasons.When we got going again it started raining. This part of the valley is better described as a gorge in many sections, widening a bit after Landeck where it is joined by another river.
It was overcast and cold as we rode into Landeck. We rode to the campground, only a few hundred metres from the town centre. It looked quite good, but it wasn't exactly camping weather, so we went into the town centre to find a cafe. Over coffee and food we had a look at Lonely Planet (pdf files on my phone) for somewhere to stay. We checked into Gasthof Greif which was recommended and close by. A great little guesthouse. Highlights: the door to our room, the view from our window, the food! We both ordered something called schweinkotelet, which was pork steaks accompanied by seven vegies and four sauces! We had to skip desert. Landeck is a beautiful little town.
Our door.
Our view.
Part of our view.
Our guesthouse.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Laces (Latsch) to Resia (Reschen) - 30 May
May 30
Today we rode up the Alps, from our campsite at Laces (687m) to Resia, a little town at the end of a large lake and just near the Austrian border. At just over 1500m this is the highest point of our journey.
The day started with our little group in good spirits, if a bit weary from the daily riding, headwinds etc. We farewelled our friendly German neighbours and hit the road. The route took us back across the Adige River and seemed to wind endlessly through town with the usual shortage of signs.
Colourful trains in this part of the world.
True to form we missed a turn somewhere and found ourselves at an intersection with a very busy road heading for Schlanders. After a discussion about whether to backtrack or press on we continued towards Schlanders. We were all relieved to find a sign pointing towards the bike route after only about 2km on the busy road.
Lots of this.
The Adige River is not very big at this end.
At this point we were actually going thewrong way for a bit - but it was worth it! 
Presumably a WWII concrete bunker.
This was just after the steepest climb of the day.
There were a few very steep sections, most memorable being as we approached Birgusio. At one point both Tracey and I overtook a much younger man walking up a steep pinch with his lightweight road bike. The steepest pinch required me to stand on the pedals in my lowest gear (30/34).
Just after that we stopped for a shared lunch of spag bol and weiner schnitzel.
Our lunch spot.
After lunch we made the final push up to almost 1500m. We still had about 12km of up and down riding alongside the high lakes to get to Resia.
It was going to be a cold night, and we both agreed we needed a non-camping night. Rod had phoned us to let us know he was camping a few km past Resia. We pulled in to the first place we saw, a very nice little guest house and restaurant right at the end of the lake. We asked the lady inside about a room for the night in our best German (zimmer frei?) and received a no, so we decided to have a coffee there (and use the amenities). Drinking our coffee on the outside terrace, Tracey asked the lady where we might find a room. She went inside and returned with her husband who appeared wearing a cowboy hat and speaking loudly in German. Whatever he said amused the other customers. He then approached us and explained that he spoke numerous languages, but very little English. I think he assumed we were Americans initially, but we eventally managed to correct that. There had evidently been a change of mind about the no vacancy, because he led us inside to show us where we could stay, which was a very nice, recently renovated room with a magnificent mountain view (like nearly every room in this part of the world) and a modern bathroom. The quoted price was not cheap but included dinner and breakfast. We were the only house guests for the night. The view over the lake to the sunset light on the snow capped mountains in the distance was impossible to properly capture in a photo. In the course of drinks and dinner we learned that the proprietor is the father of nine children, is a great grandfather at age 67, and has lived in the same place all his life. It certainly is a beautiful place.
At dinner.
Tracey having an animated discussion with our host (someone has to take the photos).
The view!
Today we rode up the Alps, from our campsite at Laces (687m) to Resia, a little town at the end of a large lake and just near the Austrian border. At just over 1500m this is the highest point of our journey.
The day started with our little group in good spirits, if a bit weary from the daily riding, headwinds etc. We farewelled our friendly German neighbours and hit the road. The route took us back across the Adige River and seemed to wind endlessly through town with the usual shortage of signs.
Colourful trains in this part of the world.True to form we missed a turn somewhere and found ourselves at an intersection with a very busy road heading for Schlanders. After a discussion about whether to backtrack or press on we continued towards Schlanders. We were all relieved to find a sign pointing towards the bike route after only about 2km on the busy road.
Lots of this.
The Adige River is not very big at this end.
At this point we were actually going thewrong way for a bit - but it was worth it!Most of the ride for the rest of the day was on dedicated cycle paths. It was a beautiful sunny day, climbing towards the pass through lush green fields, orchards and forests with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. Fairly early in the day Rod decided to go ahead at his own pace. We stopped for a coffee at a cafe just as he was leaving and we didn't see him again. The trouble with bike paths is that they generally have a lot more ups and downs, or steeper ups, than a corresponding road. On our way up the Alps we wasted elevation gain many times with little downhill sections.
Presumably a WWII concrete bunker.
This was just after the steepest climb of the day.There were a few very steep sections, most memorable being as we approached Birgusio. At one point both Tracey and I overtook a much younger man walking up a steep pinch with his lightweight road bike. The steepest pinch required me to stand on the pedals in my lowest gear (30/34).
Just after that we stopped for a shared lunch of spag bol and weiner schnitzel. 
Our lunch spot.After lunch we made the final push up to almost 1500m. We still had about 12km of up and down riding alongside the high lakes to get to Resia.
It was going to be a cold night, and we both agreed we needed a non-camping night. Rod had phoned us to let us know he was camping a few km past Resia. We pulled in to the first place we saw, a very nice little guest house and restaurant right at the end of the lake. We asked the lady inside about a room for the night in our best German (zimmer frei?) and received a no, so we decided to have a coffee there (and use the amenities). Drinking our coffee on the outside terrace, Tracey asked the lady where we might find a room. She went inside and returned with her husband who appeared wearing a cowboy hat and speaking loudly in German. Whatever he said amused the other customers. He then approached us and explained that he spoke numerous languages, but very little English. I think he assumed we were Americans initially, but we eventally managed to correct that. There had evidently been a change of mind about the no vacancy, because he led us inside to show us where we could stay, which was a very nice, recently renovated room with a magnificent mountain view (like nearly every room in this part of the world) and a modern bathroom. The quoted price was not cheap but included dinner and breakfast. We were the only house guests for the night. The view over the lake to the sunset light on the snow capped mountains in the distance was impossible to properly capture in a photo. In the course of drinks and dinner we learned that the proprietor is the father of nine children, is a great grandfather at age 67, and has lived in the same place all his life. It certainly is a beautiful place.
At dinner.
Tracey having an animated discussion with our host (someone has to take the photos).
The view!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Vilpiano to Laces (Latsch) - 29 May
29 May
We managed a reasonably early start hoping to reach Schlanders, putting us within striking distance of the Reschen Pess the next day. The ride started pretty well, sun shining - once it cleared the top of the amazingly high ridge line - no wind, nice cool temperature for riding. We were about 10km along the track, just after chatting with a local cyclist who had spent 8 months in Australia and spotted the flag on the back of my bike - when the cycle path ended. When this happens there very few, if any, signs to assist you to navigate to the next section, and we seem to always spend a lot of time finding our way.
Our good map of the Via Claudia Augusta (Bikeline series) is in Canberra where I accidentally left it. Our attempts to replace it since arriving in Italy have been unsuccessful, as it is not an Italian publication. We have a Kompass map of the route which is virtually useless. By the time we wound our way through Lana, Marling and Merano and finally found where the bike path restarted we had a stiff to howling headwind to deal with.
The scenery continues to be absolutely amazing, although a bit hard to fully enjoy when you can't hear yourself think above the sound of the wind.
The scenery is...
just amazing...
and keeps coming.
There is some good signage....
on this section of the route, beyond Meran.
Taken by the Pom.
We have had some too-long days out with long distances, trouble finding campsites, up to 36 degree heat and howling headwinds, and at least two of us were happy to stop around 3pm when we found a nice campground at Laves to spend the night. The view out our tent door is stunning. Some friendly German neighbours in a caravan offered us a cup of coffee and we (particularly our German speaking Tracey) had a long chat with them.
We managed a reasonably early start hoping to reach Schlanders, putting us within striking distance of the Reschen Pess the next day. The ride started pretty well, sun shining - once it cleared the top of the amazingly high ridge line - no wind, nice cool temperature for riding. We were about 10km along the track, just after chatting with a local cyclist who had spent 8 months in Australia and spotted the flag on the back of my bike - when the cycle path ended. When this happens there very few, if any, signs to assist you to navigate to the next section, and we seem to always spend a lot of time finding our way.
Our good map of the Via Claudia Augusta (Bikeline series) is in Canberra where I accidentally left it. Our attempts to replace it since arriving in Italy have been unsuccessful, as it is not an Italian publication. We have a Kompass map of the route which is virtually useless. By the time we wound our way through Lana, Marling and Merano and finally found where the bike path restarted we had a stiff to howling headwind to deal with.
The scenery continues to be absolutely amazing, although a bit hard to fully enjoy when you can't hear yourself think above the sound of the wind.
The scenery is...
just amazing...
and keeps coming.
There is some good signage....
on this section of the route, beyond Meran.We rode for a while with an ex Londoner who had married a local girl and was out for a spin on his road bike. He showed us where to refill our water bottles before heading home.
Taken by the Pom.
We have had some too-long days out with long distances, trouble finding campsites, up to 36 degree heat and howling headwinds, and at least two of us were happy to stop around 3pm when we found a nice campground at Laves to spend the night. The view out our tent door is stunning. Some friendly German neighbours in a caravan offered us a cup of coffee and we (particularly our German speaking Tracey) had a long chat with them.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Laives to Vilpiano - May 28
We headed off from our campsite in Laives, having to backtrack a bit to get back on the bike path, and only taking one wrong turn in the process.
After about 20km we were on the outskirts of Bolzano and we headed into town on a very nice tree shaded bike path.
Bolzano is a beautiful city, and we stopped for a coffee (and cake for some of us) at a cafe opposite the cathedral. We then headed further into the centre to find an internet cafe and do some shopping. Rod did some blogging and the shopping was very good, the highlights being gas (finally) for our high-tech stoves and new Teva sandals for Trace.
All that took quite a while, so by the time we resumed our journey we decided to just head for Vilpiano, about 20km away. After our recent experiences finding campsites that exist and are not full, we (Trace) phoned ahead this time and all was good.
The campsite was small and pleasant. We made use of the swimming pool before having a very nice dinner at the restaurant (Rod was very well catered for by the cook).
After about 20km we were on the outskirts of Bolzano and we headed into town on a very nice tree shaded bike path.
Bolzano is a beautiful city, and we stopped for a coffee (and cake for some of us) at a cafe opposite the cathedral. We then headed further into the centre to find an internet cafe and do some shopping. Rod did some blogging and the shopping was very good, the highlights being gas (finally) for our high-tech stoves and new Teva sandals for Trace.
All that took quite a while, so by the time we resumed our journey we decided to just head for Vilpiano, about 20km away. After our recent experiences finding campsites that exist and are not full, we (Trace) phoned ahead this time and all was good.
The campsite was small and pleasant. We made use of the swimming pool before having a very nice dinner at the restaurant (Rod was very well catered for by the cook).
Rovereto to Laives (near Bolsano) May 27
May 27
Clocked up about 90 plus kms today with a really strong headwind swirling unpredictably around the mountain buttresses. Evidently unusual because it normally blows to the north. Anyway we copped it all day, in the morning there were times we had to stop as the wind gusted into the panniers making the bikes seriously difficult to control.
Again the scenery was great, huge snow capped mountains surrounded the bike track with impossibly situated castles and forts perched on high. Towards mid afternoon we started looking for a camp spot, however campgrounds are not plentiful in this part of the world. After three tries we lucked in. A shower, more pasta and some well earned sleep were in order. Pat and I decided a drink would be a good way to see the day out. As I cannot drink beer and had spotted an unopened bottle of malt Scotch on an out of way shelf I went for it. Evidently they do not serve the spirit of the gods here very often as I was dished up a huge measure and charged very little for it, needless to say another was in order. Campground facilities here were excellent but close the perimeter it can be noisy.
Clocked up about 90 plus kms today with a really strong headwind swirling unpredictably around the mountain buttresses. Evidently unusual because it normally blows to the north. Anyway we copped it all day, in the morning there were times we had to stop as the wind gusted into the panniers making the bikes seriously difficult to control.
Again the scenery was great, huge snow capped mountains surrounded the bike track with impossibly situated castles and forts perched on high. Towards mid afternoon we started looking for a camp spot, however campgrounds are not plentiful in this part of the world. After three tries we lucked in. A shower, more pasta and some well earned sleep were in order. Pat and I decided a drink would be a good way to see the day out. As I cannot drink beer and had spotted an unopened bottle of malt Scotch on an out of way shelf I went for it. Evidently they do not serve the spirit of the gods here very often as I was dished up a huge measure and charged very little for it, needless to say another was in order. Campground facilities here were excellent but close the perimeter it can be noisy.Verona to Rovereto - 26 May
26 May
Getting out of Verona proved a real hassle and finding the Via Claudia Augusta cycle route was a real challenge that took us on some seriously busy roads. You would have to say the signposting leaves room for improvement.
Tracey & Rod planning the mornings route out of Verona.
We found our first Via Claudia Augusta sign!At this point Tracey decided it would be a good time to break a spoke which made itself evident in a buckled rear wheel. We backed off the brakes to stop them rubbing and pushed on, within 10kms we came across the only bikeshop we had seen who put in a new spoke, trued the wheel, gave us directions all in about 20 minutes and for seven euro.
Getting a spoke replaced. - no problem.The second cycle track sign that we spotted directed us up a 20% incline where Tracey took a fall, smashed her mirror and lost a bit of skin but no serious damage to bike or rider. We quickly worked out that this was not the way to go and gave it a miss. We were right.
The sign that pointed the wrong way - and resulted in Tracey crashing.
More beautiful scenery.
Heading north.
More beautiful scenery!
What can I say?
The central piazza in Rovereto.
Pat found a Chinese restaurant - you can get sick of pizza and pasta.
The front of our hostel.Pushing on in the heat, but with a nice tailwind, we put 90k on the clock and reached Rovereto in the evening. There being no obvious campgrounds we decided to grab a local hostel that was signposted on the cycle track. We would have been better off camping, the building was hot and the air conditioning cut out shortly after we went to bed. The only available window (an electronically controlled skylight) would not stay open because of the wind, so a hot night. Despite the issues of the day we cycled through some magnificent scenery with Pats camera running the risk of overheating. So all in all good progress.
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