Touring - TransAlp tour starts in the morning!

ok, so in the morning i start my TransAlp tour! that means riding from one side of the Alps to the other...

my friend and I will be leading a group of 13 riders on a 9-day tour across the Alps from Germany to Italy:

from Berechtesgarden (Germany-Bavaria), into Austria and through the Hohe Tauern (near Grossglockner), then into the Dolomites (Südtirol Italy) and on to Lake Garda Italy.

we will be riding 1400-1800 meters vertical per day (4600-6000ft) and 50-90km (32-56 miles) including lots of high passes (up to 2600m or 8600ft) and many technical trails. so a total of about 13,000meters vertical (43,000ft) and 450km(281 miles)!

we will be overnighting mostly in mountain huts (up high) and a few times in pensions (down in the valleys)

we are riding mountain bikes and each rider carries all equipment with a backpack of less than 7kg (15lb) and we eat and drink at the huts.

anyway, the weather looks decent with a few thunderstorms predicted for Saturday and Sunday afternoons and then mostly good weather all week.

then afterwards i'll be staying at Lake Garda for 2 additional days of technical MTB riding...

it's my 2nd big tour that i am guiding (led an even tougher TransAlp last August)... it's great to ride across the Alps via human power, includes great scenery and great trails... plus i'm getting paid to ride my bike (ok, not much, but whatever)!!

i'll be sure to post some photos when i get back!

but just wanted to share my enthusiam with you guys. i gotta get up at 4:30am and catch the first train out of Munich to the Alps...

Make sure you post some photos for us, and save some of those Alps for me, it's sort of a long term goal that I have. Have a great tour!

Best of luck with your tour! Fill us in with details and photos when you return :)

Hi nathank,
you make me very jealous!!
I wanted to do a one week trip last week from Berne crossing the alps to St. Moritz. Also riding mostly on alpin trails.
But unfortunately I've got some knee troubles and had to turn around. Now I sit at home to rest my knee.
Well, it might be my fault with the knee. I was on a longdistance Road-Race (609km). Maybe it was a bit too much for my knee.

Well have fun on your trip.
Urs

well i arrived back in Munich last night at midnight...

9 days to cross the Alps from Germany to Lake Garda Italy - 14,000 meters vertical (46000ft) --- our group of 13 was great and everyone had a blast. super weather, great trails. it was harder than i expected (i also had 3 "races" on big climbs during the tour, one that REALLY flattened my) and we had lots of pushing/carrying the bike, especially over the Alps main ridge in Austria (1 hour up, 1 hour down carrying the bikes)... amazing scenery, trails... 2 guides, one intern, 10 riders (8 male, 2 female) so in total 10 male and 3 female.

then i spent 2 days extra at Lake Garda with 2 women for some EXTREME downhill trail riding and 3000m (10,00ft) more vertical... (ok, they climbed with me and rode mostly the easier trails down while i rode the extreme stuff, but that's all right)

plus i pretty much have a new girlfriend (our bike guide "intern" for the tour). she is REALLY fit and led the breakaway on one of our long (3000ft vertical at 9-12%) road climbs -- i busted my rear and caught the group at the end and then led out the end sprint, had calf cramps (from the "race" 2 days earlier that i "lost" getting 2nd) and finished 3rd while she fnished 5th. she is so fit and loves to ride as much as i do! quite a few times during the tour i was "down" and unable to keep up - very cool! she is also a runner and triathlete.

so awesome tour with great weather, scenery, trails, technical riding, good group AND a new girlfriend... plus i even got paid! crap, after that it's gonna be hard to work my regular job again!

i'll post photos some time on my website and post the link.

i strongly recommend doing a TransAlp tour! it is such an experience with cycling, technical trails, hiking, high mountains, scenery, etc. (plus good things like apple studel and an occaisonal beer/wine and of course italian pizza)

Gee, that sounds like an awesome tour. I'd love to do it myself one day. I look forward to seeing the photos.

do you need to book the huts? are they guest house kinda things where you can just turn up? I've never really been up there but really would like to

can you fly to or near Berechtesgarden (cool name)?

last question I promise - why did you have to carry the bikes down - was it that steep? wow...

do you need to book the huts? are they guest house kinda things where you can just turn up? I've never really been up there but really would like to

you should but don't have to book huts. it's kind of like doing the hostel thing for backpackers. with a big group (more then 4) you should definitely book in advance. we had 13, so we booked the whole tour in advance. in general in the Alps if you arrive at a hut and they are full, they will find a spot for you so you don't have to sleep outside or go wandering in the dark. Huts affiliated with the Alpenverein (mountain club) are REQUIRED to do this, but others will too.


can you fly to or near Berechtesgarden (cool name)?
best is to fly to Munich. it is about 180km away or 1 1/2 hours by train. we started by taking the train there from Munich.


last question I promise - why did you have to carry the bikes down - was it that steep? wow...
yes, some of the trails are VERY steep. i am an extreme downhill rider and love technical stuff --- my friends joke that i always say "it's rideable!" by which i mean i _can_ ride it even if i crash - but yes, some of the trails are steep hikinh/climbing trails where it is impossible to ride (steep stairs adjacent to 500ft drop-off). the crossing over the main massive of the Alps (like the Continental Divide in the Rockies) invloved a lot of carrying.

so, more photos: http://home.pages.at/transalp2003/ (now photos from 3 of us, although the REAL photographer has yet to add his photos - he and his wife spent an extra 5 days at Lake Garda and then rode BACK over the Alps by bike!)

ok, here's the finish photo of me and one of my good friends (Ingo) when we reached Lake Garda after 9 days, 15,000 meters of vertical and 500km (i forgot the exact number): (oh, i'm the shirtless guy)

wow sounds incredible, i really need more time and money :)