Day 6 - Pfunds to… - And All the Bear Could See Was the Other Side of the Mountain

Day 6 - Pfunds to…

Wow. What an epic day. I’m not even quite sure where to start, so I’ll try starting at the very beginning.

It was a dark and dreary morning. The weather reports had conflicting opinions on how the weather would play out. Weather.com said it would start raining any moment. Accuweather said there would be a break in the rain around 9am. Frankly I’d had enough of waiting out the weather, so around 9:30am I departed for the Reschen Pass.

Shortly out of Pfunds I encountered a couple guys with strong german/Austrian accents that said someone had told them the bike route was closed up ahead and was I local and knew anything about it. The guy in the velomobile is local? Hahahaha. I didn’t fancy getting stuck anywhere so I hopped on the B-Straße just in case. Given the weather and the fact that nearly everyone takes the pass at Hochfinstermunz, there was hardly any traffic on the road. Allegedly there was a bunch of elevation gain, but I never found it. Yes, it was slightly uphill, but nothing like my routing software claimed. Further up the road I encountered some road works in one spot with a diversion sign for cyclists, but I ignored it. It was a downhill section and I got through with plenty of time to spare before the light changed. Perhaps that’s the spot the other cyclists had been told about? The scenery heading through there to Martina and the turn-off for the pass alone was worth the ride. I also passed briefly into Switzerland making three countries in one morning.

Photos don’t do it justice. I’ll add video when I get home.

A waterfall along the way near the construction area

At Martina I turned off for the pass. This was the big moment I’d been preparing for since I planned the route in January. My first real mountain pass. I’ve never tried to ride uphill for 4.5 miles straight. In fact, I don’t really like climbing. I like flat. And downhill. In fact, the only reason I was riding over a pass was to get to a really great stretch of flat and downhill!

There are 11 serpentine curves on the Reschen Pass. They thoughtfully mark each corner so you can track your progress up the hill. I’ve carefully scoped out this pass so I know the max grade is 9% and never for sustained periods. I have 9% hills where I live, granted all quite short, but at least I know what 9% feels like. I know I can handle it. I chose my gearing carefully for this trip with a 56/33 front combo and 11-40 rear cassette. It’s lower geared than my Velomobiles at home. I figured I’d need at least 1.5 hrs to summit the pass, what with stops and slow speed. One by one I started to tick off the curves. The gradient was quite civilized. Traffic was fairly low volume and generally considerate and slow-moving. The steeper sections were the long stretches between the curves. The scenery was outstanding with the fresh snow on the mountains. I was making much better time than I expected. Then disaster struck….

A marvelous view into The Valley and distant snow-capped mountains

The view up the road isn’t so bad either.

Haha. Fooled you. I’d like to say there was some drama, but actually I surprised myself by cycling the whole way without stopping more than maybe 5 seconds for two photos. It was the most civilized mountain pass I can imagine.

Norbert’s Höhe is the generally accepted top of the pass. It’s where everyone takes their summit photo. Here’s mine:

And this was the awesome bike that took me to the top. Good job, Bülk Urban! And good job Velomobile World Team who built this masterpiece.

Do I look happy? It wasn’t just that I made it to the top pedaling without resting. It was that I also didn’t freeze my ass off. It was around 45F. I rode the pass in shorts and a T-shirt. No foam cockpit cover. I was plenty warm on the climb. In fact, I spent very little of the day riding with the foam cover. Everyone else riding the pass was bundled up, and there’s me taking my summit photo in shorts and a t-shirt. The couple that stopped to chat with me at the top looked legitimately concerned for my sanity. Bless their hearts.

There’s a steep drop into Nauders and then another gradual climb to the Reschen See. I reached it about 12:30. Not bad considering how slowly I climb. The pass itself had only taken about an hour. Getting to the pass itself had taken a little under an hour.

I was shocked to see the Reschen See has been drained. There’s a dam at one end that was built shortly after WW2. It flooded what had once been a very fertile valley. Everyone was displaced and the farmers were not given comparable land to farm. A couple villages were razed in the process. All that is left now is a tower from one of the churches to commemorate what once was. Since there was no water in the lake and I already have my photo of the church tower, I took the path on the opposite side. It’s paved and supposedly flattish. People, let me assure you that while it is paved, it is definitely not flattish. It is like a roller coaster. I’d personally recommend the path on the side of the like with the sunken cathedral. While it may not be entirely paved, it is much more civilized.

Wait, where’s the lake? All I see is mud. The lake has been drained because the Italians are doing some sort of road construction. Not sure why you drain the lake for that, but it’s Italians. They do things differently.

Past the Reschen See is another smaller lake. I have previously taken the path on the north side of it, but opted for the south side this time, again because it supposedly is flatter. I can assure you it is not flatter. It is also a roller coaster. But whatever. There were some nice views. I then stuck with the official Radweg completely throwing my routing plans out the window. Now this section was fun. It heads steeply off the mountain, sometimes at 20%. I was especially amused by the occasional electronic signs showing your speed. I got straight frowny faces. There’s a reward for that, right?

In Burgeis I stopped in the tiny town square to let my poor brakes cool and eat my cheesy bread sandwich roll thing. I’d eaten most of a bag of gummy bears on my way up the pass. It seemed prudent to eat something more…nutritious? I had considered picking up a nice packet of tomatoes yesterday to accompany my bread, but was dissuaded by the weight of the package. I did somewhat regret that as I ate my bread.

After amusing the townspeople with my wheelchair style backup skills (it was too damn cold to get out and manually turn the thing around), I headed back down the mountain past Glurns and its medieval walls until finally the steep stuff subsided. It was a lovely descent, made all the lovelier by doing it in a velomobile. One nice sweet lady I passed caught up to me when I was stopped to check maps and messages. She was naturally fascinated by the bike and was struggling to believe I truly did not have a motor. I assured her it was all aerodynamics. She also thanked me for calling out as I passed by. Frankly, I do that to avoid a collision. The velomobile already is promised to someone else after the trip!

From the turnoff for the Stelvio Pass, the downhill gradient became significantly less. I recall the last time expecting to mostly coast to Meran and, well, it didn’t work out that way. However, that was a recumbent bike. This, dear reader, is a super duper highly refined aerodynamic wonder! And there was also that tailwind. I fairly flew. I was passing people left and right like they were standing still. I was barely pedaling and doing 25mph. Sometimes more. I kept having to slow to pass people (and not scare dogs) and then would, boom, be right back into the mid-20’s. The miles flew by. It was amazing. It was the most satisfying riding experience of my life. It’s everything I had hoped the ride from the pass to Meran would be. The descent into Meran itself was even more rapid. The remainder of the elevation drop happens just outside Meran.

A nice stream along the way through the only unpaved section

The world’s scariest toilet. The ground under it was uneven. The whole thing was swaying in the wind. I was waiting for it to fall over.

Now, the ride was planned to end in Meran, but if you’ll recall, the hotel in Peschiera del Garda refused to be nice and refund my money, unlike B&B Anna In Rovereto who generously refunded my non-cancelable reservation for which they had already taken payment. The thought had crossed my mind that maybe, just maybe, I could get to Peschiera in two days. It was only mid afternoon when I reached Meran. I know the path to Bozen is smooth, boring, and made for rapid velomobile riding. So hey, why not keep going? I had not reserved a hotel, just in case conditions were favorable. They were favorable.

Why yes it is. And it’s distinctly warmer here too, especially compared to this morning.

I cruised at a solid 23mph with again quite low wattage all the way to Bozen. It was still not that late in the day when I reached the turnoff to head south towards Trento, so I kept going. My mileage was up over 80 by this point and I still felt like I could go further. I started thinking about making a full century, something I’ve only done once before. Not only do I not like climbing, but I also generally don’t like riding super long distances. However, I was genuinely having fun in what can only be described as velomobile heaven. I decided I’d go until 6:30 or so and then look for a hotel for the night. The miles continued to fly by until finally I decided I’d better check out the hotel situation before I got stuck biting off more than I could chew for one day. After all, I do still have to ride back up the Brenner pass in a few days! I found a hotel in Salurn which put me at right about 100 miles for the day. The price was a bit more than I would have liked, but sometimes you just bite the bullet and take what you can get.

The section heading to Trento is also super

My gps hit 102 miles as I pulled up to the hotel. My longest ever day of riding. A day that started with a climb up over a legit mountain pass. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ride so far on a vacation, not to mention on a day after riding my first pass. With no other bike would such a day have been possible. The perfect weather conditions, amazing cycle routes, and an insanely aerodynamic bike all combined to make this absolute dream of a day come to fruition. It was the greatest day ever of cycling and one I will fondly look back on for the rest of my life. Oh, and I’m only 79 miles from the uncancellable hotel in Peschiera. Given the flat Radweg nearly the entire way, it’s now within reach.

Proof it happened. That 14mph average is pretty good considering the first 25 miles we’re uphill. The 125 watts is not accurate. That is a Strava estimate. My power meter pedals are at home. 3/4 of the ride was at probably 80-90 watts max, which isn’t much. Even the climb up the pass was at a very moderate wattage.

And yes, once the elevation dropped my speeds went way up.

Einfach episch

Pizza crust wasn’t the best ever, but it was still good. Plus, I have to fuel for another 80 miles tomrorow!

addendum: one of you readers warned me about the section between Laatsch and Göflan. I can report that about half of it has now been paved. The bridge transitions are perfectly smooth, and the path is the most civilized gravel I have ever seen outside of the packed limestone trails in Minneapolis. There is nothing there to be concerned about. Whatever was previously the issue has most definitely been fixed.

Today's ride: 102 miles (164 km)
Total: 316 miles (509 km)

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Rich FrasierWoohoo! What a massive day! Big Kudos!
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6 months ago

Scott AndersonEpic! Says it all.
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6 months ago