May 31, 2024
Day 5 - Pfunds
Boredom
As mentioned yesterday, I did end up staying put today, though not very happily. Remarkably I did see some cyclists out. The most amusing were a pair of ladies who pulled up to the hotel as I returned from a grocery run. They were soaking wet and looked pretty miserable. They asked me to take their photo to commemorate the occasion. Much respect to them. It was a cold and miserable day to be out. On my grocery trip I did pass a sporting goods store, but they are closed until Monday, so no chance to buy another warm shirt.
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I spent the day catching up on emails while periodically looking out the window at the rain. I also spent some time contemplating my plans for the next three days, plans which have been thrown into chaos by the unpredictable weather. After all these years of reserving hotels, I’ve never encountered one that was so inflexible as Hotel Johnson I’m Peschiera. I blame it on them being Italian, but more likely it’s just the ugly face of capitalism. It will be the last time I make an advance reservation that can’t be cancelled without refund.
So what’s the plan? Go to bed earlier tonight, assuming my napping today didn’t further destroy my sleep schedule. Then get up earlier in the morning and head for the Reschen Pass. The first 25 miles involve a lot of elevation gain supposedly. I say supposedly because my gps has not yet reflected the elevation gain claimed by my mapping software. Which one is correct, I don’t know. All I know is that the climbing so far has not seemed bad. I’ve extensively scoped out the Reschen Pass and it doesn’t look awful. I’m not seeing any grades over 9% and a lot of it hangs closer to 5%. I can manage that. Of course, it’s 4.5 miles of 5-9% grades preceded by elevation gain between Pfunds and the turnoff to the pass. I may have different feelings about elevation gain when I reach Nauders.
It will still not be that warm in the morning. Whether or not it will have stopped raining is also debatable, but I have had enough of waiting out the weather. I am here to ride my bike. As long as it is not bucketing down rain, I shall ride. I’ll be plenty warm riding uphill for 4.5 miles. Once I’ve descended from the Reschen See, it will get warmer due simply to dropping altitude. By the time I am in Meran, it will be around 70F.
The reason I want to start a bit earlier is I want to see how far I can get tomorrow. I have not booked accommodations for tomorrow night. From the Reschen See it is steeply downhill and then essentially downhill all the way to Bozen with another steep downhill just outside Merano. In a velomobile that could go fairly quick and easy. Bozen is 78 miles from here. That’s theoretically doable. It will come down to how long it takes me to get to the Reschen See. I have stocked up on groceries including the main essentials of carbs and Gummi bears. Groceries here are closed on Sundays, so I have two days worth of provisions. Naturally I have made sure to purchase the lightest items possible.
In other news, as the clouds have started to clear a bit this evening, I do believe I am seeing snow that was not there yesterday. The next question is whether or not there is snow up at the Reschen Pass. I will find out in the morning (or lunch time given how slowly I climb.)
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