So, with work finally letting me have some time to myself, I set off from St Gallen for a 7 day tour around Austria and back home to Switzerland.
Budget was a key fact so digs were care of the Internationl YHA
http://www.hihostels.com/web/index.en.htm. Basic accommodation where you have to sometimes endure noisy (snoring) bunkmates and unwanted rodents....and there small flea like passagers....
The Swiss idea of a "tour" is to equip a bike made from gas pipe with as much non essential kit as possible, cover 20 miles a day and congratulate themselves in the bar on the days epic ride. For me it's a saddle bag, bar bag, 3 bottles and 60 miles a day with as many passes as possible....Stupid idea really as it turned out to be bloody hard work.....
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| Above St Gallen looking out across Bodensee, with Germany on the horizon. |
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| Beautiful Sunday on great roads. No pot holes and no cars :-) |
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| Seems others have the same plan. For these guys its been a long long climb |
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| I can see Austria from here |
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| In Austria things are different. I saw a few horse drawn carriages like this |
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| Felfkirch, Austria |
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| WWII bullet holes at the bridge. Living in Switzerland you kind of forget there was ever a World War. The Swiss seem to have forgotten this too....But the Swiss will do business with anyone...and they did. |
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| Lunch.... 8 Euros :-) |
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| Feldkirch hostel. Nice place. It used to be a plague house then was a doss house for the poor for about 300 years until the 70's before it was rebuilt and saved from demolition and turned into...a doss house for the poor traveller... |
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| Feldkirch on a Monday morning |
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| ....Into the hills again with no cars for company |
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| Last big climb of the day. I wanted to avoid the galleries in the mountain side as they are pretty scary on a bike. The map said there was a track that went up the valley to the left..... |
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| ....As it turned out ther track ran out into nothing, so it was back down to the road... |
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| ....and commit to the climb.... |
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| ...lights on, deep breath and push for the summit... |
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| I was so pleased :-) 1773m above sea level. Wow. Turns out it was the lowest pass I would ride. |
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| Down hill for 20 miles now to the hostel |
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| Stopping to enjoy the evening sun....and let the rims cool off |
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| Distination reached safe and sound |
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| By far the best hostel I have ever stayed in...A whole room to myself and only 15 Euros |
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| Holtzgau hostel |
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| Leaving Holtzgau, a gentle ride down the valley |
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| ....could be in Canada |
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| Todays problem. The Hahntennjoch pass. Not many cars but about a million motorbikes, which is fine as at least they know what they're doing |
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| Groovy |
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| Looking back down the pass.... |
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| ...which was hellisly steep. 39x28 is not enough... |
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| At the top....but no summit sign... |
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| ....but at least Mr Garmin had an idea of how high we were |
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| Then is was downhill for 20k to.... |
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| ....Imst, which was a bit of none event. Not a very nice place (Mc Donalds being the highlight) sandwiched between 3 major highways. Lots of lorries and cars...Lights on |
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| Inside Imst hostel....with its mice, fleas and noisy Germans |
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| Imst hostel |
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| A cooler start this morning which was fine as the heat of the first few days made it hard work. Another long climb recomended by the hostel warden...It went on for a long long time |
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| What a great name |
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| From the top of the pass (which appears not to have a name) it was down to the old valley road....I didnt take any pics at the top as it was raining lots. |
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| The rain continued for the rest of the afternoon until the arrival in Pfunds... |
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| ...then the sun came out :-) |
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Odd hostel this one.
Stuck in the 70's but great grub and the landlord was not shy with his home made schnapps. Seemingly he wasnt worried about collecting any money for it and dished it out to all comers... but you can have to much of a good thing, which I did... |
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| More rain cometh...but who cares its down hill, on tarmac and theres no cars :-) |
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| Beautiful riding roads |
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| This is a toll road (free for bikes) and once again not a car in sight |
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| The old bridge. It was very high and made me feel ill looking over the parapet. It appeared to have been used for "Bridge Swinging" in the past. Seeminly not anymore, which is a good thing looking at the state of the concrete |
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| ...tie in here... |
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| ....jump of here...and pray.... sod that.... |
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| This is the cycle route back into Switzerland....34 miles of gravel with a climb of the Fluelpass at the end of it....it was going to be a long day |
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| Sculpture in the woods |
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| Kanton Graubunden, Switzerland |
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| Another terrifying bridge, the timber planks cunningly designed to trap the unwarey roadie |
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| Another endless flippin' climb but hey, no gravel :-) |
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| Convenient watering hole...which was very welcome as it was about 35 degress... |
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| ....then up a bit more.... |
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| ...and back onto the gravel for some more punishment.... |
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| Swiss tank barriers, another legacy of the war. |
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Covered in dust and with tired legs it was over the Fluelpass to Davos
(Davos is the coldest palce on earth by the way. If you go take a good coat) |
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| Up we go....for 2.5 hours |
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| In the heat of the early evening with glacier in the background |
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| There are 3 false summits on this pass, this is looking back down the second as I traverse the surface of the moon |
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| False summit no 3. I was about spent now and wanting a sleep |
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| 2394m c 7100 ft |
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| Then another endless decent in the shadow of the mountains down the Davos. It was cold on the way down |
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| The road between Davos and Klosters is horrific with no cycle lane and very heavy traffic, so the alternative MTB route seemed a better option....much to the amusment of some of the locals mountain bikes. At the top of this decent was some great single track and on a loaded road bike is just great. Mavic wheels rock :-) |
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| Klosters YHA..... Another crap nights sleep as the fat bulgarian bloke snored so loud, I went and slept on the sofa in the lounge and another guy dragged his matress out into the corridor and slept there. It took a significant amout of coffee to get going this morning. |
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| I cheated a bit today and got the train for the first 20miles.....then is was back onto the gravel |
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| ...then (much) later in the day, up and over the Oberalp pass...Nice climb |
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| ....albeit, slowly.... |
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| ....almost there.... |
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| The Glacier express, runs on time 365 days a year come rain snow and shine |
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| Top of the Overalp and to my surprise the source of the Rhine |
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| By far the best decent of the trip down to.... |
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| .....Andermatt...bestest place in Switzerland :-) |
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| I had booked in the hostel in Hospental a few klicks down the roads from Andermatt but on opening the door I was greated with the sound of a noisy group of school kids....time to find an hotel.... which I did...Basic but clean and QUIET. |
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| Last day and straight out of the hotel was the climb of the Gotthard Pass |
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| back on the moon again |
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| You can tell you are getting close to Ticino as the buildings look crapper with every mile... but bearing in mind there's 6 meters of snow up here for 5 months of the year, it aint so bad....I wonder what the excuse is for the rest of the kanton? |
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| ....A tough ask straight afer breakfast.... |
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| Oh good....cobbles |
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| Cobbles was the road surface of choice for the rest of the morning |
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| This sensible roady was on the "new" road, he was catching me (not surprisingly) when I turned off onto the "old" cobbly road. That said we arrived at the top at the same time...me with loose fillings, numb hands and sore legs...this guy just had sore legs. |
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| Urg...Back into Italian speaking territory |
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| ...and now for the decent on more cobbles. An unpleasent experience on 23mm tyres with 110psi in them. |
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| The Swiss are so paranoid they will be invaded. This was one of many "Secret" pill boxes on the way down. Great door though. |
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| ...cobbly bends... |
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| ....more cobbly bends.... |
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| ...and some more cobbly bends... |
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| ....oh look, more cobbly bends...amazing engineering but absolutle agony to ride down. |
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| Ticino and hazy, yet again. Down hill from here for 50miles to Bellinzona (at base of third horizon in the smog)...with the final sting in the tail...the 1:7 climb upto the apartment, where there is tea and a shower and a comfy bed :-). Not so much of interest to photogrpah between here and home, so saved the last shot for..... |
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...arriving home, intact, with a rediculous sun tan :-)
Thanks for watching. |
