Cycling the Alps! 5 mountian passes, 4 countries, 3 bikes, 2 mainland European Germanic guys... 1 Englishman (and a frisbee) ... 600km!
Here I was at the foot of the last kilometres of the second highest altitude mountain pass in Europe. This I could say with the benefit of hindsight; when we left on the morning of the 24th, my companion (there only being one - due to Geert's sickness), Torsten, mentioned in passing that this was the highest the Eastern Alps.
WHAT??! Why had no-one - in the build up and first four days of the trip happened to mention this rather important fact. OK, I was expecting a very difficult climb, but this was nonetheless something of a revelation. Now I could really take the Dutchman's advice and go especially slow in the early stages of the climb, preserving energy for those last ditch all out pushes, to come later in the day.
At turn 24 (of 48) me and the German were still trying to pace ourselves, and enjoying every inch of the sceneryI felt good. I still got my pain barrier lethargy, albeit in a mild form, but after removing several layers (sweater etc.) at the first break I quickly fell into a routine and sustainable rhythm, and felt very comfortable. In fact, my confidence grew and I started to realise I was enjoying every minute. Just to put how surprising this might be for some people, Stilfser Joch/Stelvio is 2757m (9045 feet), which is only just less than THE highest pass in Europe (Col de L'iseran - 2770m), with 48 hairpin turns on its eastern ascent. For an amateur cyclist with relatively little mountain training to ENJOY every minute of a seriously challenging Alp, was quite amazing, and an experience I'll never forget.
We climbed and climbed and climbed....
To our amusement, after seeing an amateurish-looking older guy in high-visibility vest struggling, he became kind of our companion; every time we stopped he overtook us, and when we left again vice versa. We seemed unable to lose him, and he stayed with us on our epic trek to the top of Europe. From the fourth time onwards every coincidental meeting with him prompted giggles.
And so the day's slow progressing upwards went on ....
Plenty of bikers effortlessly rode the pass in the time it took us to haul ourselves the top..
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Photos by William Dunn and Torsten Klafft
All rights reserved, William Dunn 2011
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