Taiwan in the Grand Alps! CGA190A
Everybody made it back to Seefeld, on the hottest day of the tour! In the valleys, the temperature reached 37 degree Celsius, so hot! So se did not stop many times and enjoied the "breeze" on our bikes! Well fine folks, and safe flight back to Taiwan!!!
Today's ride back into Austria was full of highlights! First through the italian Dolomites (but some other passes that we had not done yesterday!) and then, in Austria, we rode the famous Grossglockner! Perfect weather again (maybe a little bit too warm down in the valleys) and a lot of memories!
What is better than a ride through the Dolomites, with such a beautiful weather? Today it was definitely not a "rest" day, but... what a ride into heaven!
Probably the most challenging ride of the tour! Today we finally climbed the most famous of all passes, even being "only" the second highest. The Stelvio Pass was definitely crowded on this sunday morning, hundreds of bikes (and bicycles) going up and down, what an atmosphere! But this was not the only highlight of today, and also the view from the Mendelpass, just before entering Bolzano, was breath-taking!
The rain was pouting down while we were having breakfast, and the weather forecast was definitely bad for today, but somebody must really like us up there, and after a lonk coffee break in Lugano, the rain stopped and we reached Livigno under a blue sky! And we could also enjoy a wonderful ride along the Como lake and then on the Maloia and Bernina passes!
The weather forecast was not very good today, and actually it also rained, but only while we were having lunch! Another great ride, and tonight we are sleeping in Switzerland again!
Another great ride! Leaving Briancon, we headed northward to climb the highest mountain pass in the Alps, the Col de l'Iseran! What a temperature drop, from the valley to the top! But that was not the only mountain pass we had to face today, and we had a lot of fun also on the Monginevro, Moncenisio and finally Little St Bernard Pass before entering Italy and reaching Aosta.
Short route or long route? Of course the long one, with such a beautiful weather! We left Briancon and headed south to Savines le Lac for a coffee break. Then, on the way back, the beautiful Col de Vars (where we had lunch) and Col de l'Izoard completely delighted our senses!
Another sunny day! The Alps are definitely spoiling us! Countless curves todays on the famous (especially for cyclists, due to the Tour de France) Col de la Madeleine and Col du Galibier, but also a few road construction works down in the valleys! Tonight we are sleeping in the beautiful town of Briancon, stay tuned!
The Furka pass opened today, but only in the afternoon, too late for us! So we had to use the train and spend 20 minutes in a tunnel to reach the other side of the mountain, and the ride by train was a real highlight, something unusual at least! After that, we climbed the Grimsel Pass and soon we were back on trak. We had in the very pretty town Thun, and after that we had not even completed the half of today's route... We reached the hotel quite late, but what a ride!!!
The winter had an unusual comeback a few days ago, so some mountain passes are still closed... and we only had the chance to ride the Gotthard pass, back and forth. Fortunately on this pass there is an old road and also a new one, so we used both of them!
The Silvretta alpine road is still closed (too much show!), so we had to go back into the valley and then, after the Arlberg pass, we did our first coffee break. We soon entered Switzerland and then had lunch at the Walensee before riding on the magnificent Klausenpass, definitely the highlight of the day!
Not possible to imagine a better start! Clear blue sky, nice temperature and green all around us! We left Seefeld and rode inside the Kutai, where we had our first coffee stop. After having lunch in Imst, we could have some fun in the Kaunertal, where we reached an altitude of 2750 metres! What a drastic change also in the temperature!
The group has arrived, the bikes are ready... so let's rock the Alps for two weeks!!!