Dear Dale Blu Cannon, my faithful mountain bike,
I love you, but am abandoning you for a weekend. I am too young to commit myself to just one bike for the rest of my life. I’ve found a young racy bike I want to take on an adventure over the Austrian, Swiss, and Italian Alps!
Auf Wiedersehen, Dale!
I’ve always wanted to do a transalpine tour with “Dale”. I imagined a comfortable five day trip beginning in Austria’s North Tyrol. We would stop to overnight at romantic mountain refuges along the way. The tour would end in a luxurious gourmet and wellness hotel in Italy’s South Tyrolean wine country. That tour is still planned in the future.
Meanwhile, my neighbour, Werner, and my bike mechanic, Markus, have invited me to join the local bicycle club’s 3-country bike tour. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a road bike. But if you ever plan a transalpine mountain bike tour, please let me know.”
On my next visit to Markus the Mechanic, he pulls down a gorgeous little white CUBE racing bike. One quick glance and he’s adjusted the seat to the perfect height. “Take it for a spin!”
It’s been ages since I’ve been on a racing bike. The technology has changed, but the body position quickly feels familiar. The bike is a perfect fit for my own small frame. It glides smoothly on the asphalt. I am thrilled with the speed and the lightness. I think of my beloved Dale and how he rumbles along with his big sturdy tires and I feel like a traitor as I push the skinny CUBE yet faster. I go back to Markus who looks up from repairing a ruptured membrane in Dale’s brake fluid container. I am grinning and Markus laughs, “Can we fit both bikes in your little car?” I explain that I love the bike, but I wasn’t really considering buying another at the moment. “The bike is not for sale. I just lend it out and I think you should ride it a few times before our three-country tour.”
So meanwhile, I’ve rode the CUBE a couple times. Werner said, “Julia, your ass looks good on that bike!” I know it sounds extremely sexist and disrespectful, but it wasn’t. Werner would have said that to one of his male buddies, too. It was actually a compliment from one biker buddy to another. Indeed, I do feel good on the skinny racer.
The three-country tour is going to push me to the limits of what I can do. It is an ambitious tour with 4 alpine passes. I hope to make it a celebration of recovery from a row of injuries and health issues. We will be accompanied by a bus, so anyone can bail out any time. I hope that will not be necessary, but it is good to know that I can if I must. Here is the planned route:
Day 1: ROUTE DETAILS
DISTANCE 143.17 km
START HEIGHT 513 m
END HEIGHT 872 m
HIGHEST POINT 1571 m
ASCENT 1393 m
DISTANCE UPHILL 93.04 km
AVERAGE ASCENT PERCENTAGE 1.5 %
MAXIMUM ASCENT PERCENTAGE 11.1 %
Wörgl to Ried in Inntal by julia7ich — Catena Cycling, The Worldwide Cycling Community
Day 2: ROUTE DETAILS
DISTANCE 135.43 km
START HEIGHT 871 m
END HEIGHT 922 m
HIGHEST POINT 2152 m
ASCENT 2341 m
DISTANCE UPHILL 73.54 km
AVERAGE ASCENT PERCENTAGE 3.2 %
MAXIMUM ASCENT PERCENTAGE 23.8 %
Ofen Pass by julia7ich — Discover more routes on Catena Cycling
Day 3: ROUTE DETAILS
DISTANCE 106.77 km
START HEIGHT 921 m
END HEIGHT 877 m
HIGHEST POINT 2769 m
ASCENT 2778 m
DISTANCE UPHILL 49.43 km
AVERAGE ASCENT PERCENTAGE 5.6 %
MAXIMUM ASCENT PERCENTAGE 20.9 %
Stelvio, Umbrail and Reschen Passes by julia7ich — Discover more routes on Catena Cycling