Sleep On Train

A trying week of highs and lows, cultural understanding, pain, destruction, and triumph: the Alpencross was a great success. Eight brave people began a quest from Oberstdorf Germany to Lago di Garda over seven days. Though we only arrived seven in numbers our early departure was expected and we successfully delivered all willing participants to the destination. Read on for the story of the 2009 Alpencross. You can also see a collection of low-resolution photos in my flickr set.

Day 0
Holger, Verena, and I travelled to Oberstdorf by train. I biked to the train station, paid my German taxes on the way, and then got a call and realized that I had taken something home from work that I shouldn’t have. This meant an emergency last-minute bike trip home, to work, then to the train station. I made it with time to spare but it was stressful!

In Oberstdorf I got an idea of just how big the collection of mountains known as the Alps are. Doubt, worry, concern, and excitement overwhelmed me. We had a nice place to stay while we waited until the next morning for the rest of the group to arrive.

Day 1
The three of us leisurely made our way to the train station awaiting the arrival of Erchan, Martin, Stefan, Ansgar (Navigator), and Jörg (él Patron). Their arrival marked the beginning of the dramatic film, hopefully available this fall, filmed and directed by Holger. After some group photos and final checks we were off.

The first pass (and only pass I remember the name of) was the Schrofenpass. This pass is between Germany and Austria and was destroyed during the Great War. Today it can be crossed but only with the addition of some metal bridges and rope to secure yourself along the side of the mountain.

The weather wasn’t great. It was very cold and, after the Schrofenpass, the path was really muddy. We made our way to a hut in Austria where we stopped for lunch. Unsurprisingly, my lunch was an Apfelsaftschorle and Spaghetti.

At this point we split up–Holger and Ansgar went on to do the originally planned route to St. Anton, while the rest of us took a wellness day and saved a few hundred height metres. At our highest point in the second part of the day it was really cold. I was wearing leg warmers (we all were) and I remember commenting on how it felt like I wasn’t.

Day 2
We left St. Anton to some more cold and light rain. It was on this day that I learnt to never ask how many height metres we had done as I was always disappointed by the answer. Again we had some pushing and carrying of the bike getting ourselves up to about 2300 metres. It was cold up there but we stopped for lunch (Apfelschorle und Spaghetti!) and continued down and up again.

We had an ambitious day planned, with hopes of crossing into Switzerland that afternoon. Unfortunately the weather and the difficulty made this not possible. It was cold, and quite windy. So after we were at about 2000 metres above sea level we took a break and our Navigator planned a new route to Schruns Austria.

Day 3
Our good friend Erchan decided to depart on this day, but not until he climbed a few hundred height metres with us on our way to Davos Switzerland. We started the day with a big climb, with even more pushing and carrying, up to a hut just on the Austria side of the border. After eating our lunch and walking for about 15 minutes we reached the border to Switzerland, and encountered snow directly on our path for the first time. I was even subjected to a snowball, after falling for the two-thrown-in-rapid-succession trick.

The weather was better on this day, to the point where we were able to go downhill without leg and arm warmers. There was some beautiful cross-country trails before a very fun downhill on pavement. And, being a group primarily made up of boys, there was a little bit of a competitive nature to us.

It was on this downhill that I crashed an otherwise perfectly excellent bike. After being unbelievably far in front of everyone else I looked back; when I looked forward I saw that I was heading off the road and into a bush. I have speculated that I hit the bush at 50 km/h, but I’ll never know for sure. In any case, it was enough to render the bike “kaput”, as the Germans would say. The gentlemen were able to stretch out the frame enough that I could coast, dangerously, to the next village. Here a very nice Swiss couple drove me to Klosters Switzerland where I was able to take a train to our final destination for the day: Davos.

This was emotionally the hardest evening for me. I wanted to continue the Alpencross but it was dependent on getting a bike in time. And while I was mostly okay, any additional physical challenge would add more doubts to my ability to complete the Alpencross successfully. Also, I felt terrible about crashing Holger’s bike, which I had been using, and am anxious still to replace it and right the situation.

Day 4
The day started with a trip to a local bike dealer. He was more than helpful, selling me a new bike and preparing it in less than an hour. He also dismantled the old bike and shipped all of the components (sans-frame) back to Holger. It was amazing–the Lord’s blessing for me to continue the trip. You can imagine I was quite happy.

From Davos we went to Livigno Italy. There was lots of snow and pushing, with some really, really difficult trails. This was the day where we climbed to nearly 2700 metres–a personal high for me. This climb was particularly difficult, with nearly 400 metres of straight up the side of a mountain in the hot, hot heat. But the reward was great: Italy. We immediately stopped at a hut and had an Italian coffee. It was brilliant.

Livigno is located at 1800 metres above sea level, and is the highest point I believe I have ever slept overnight. I must also emphasize that food is incredible in Italy. I remember eating a real pizza in Livigno and it made all of the pain from the day fade away.

Day 5
Livigno to Edolo. I hated this day. We had three passes, nearly 90 km, and about 2600 metres of height this day. I remember being the last who completed the final 1100 metre climb and literally cursing during this time. It was hot and uncomfortable.

When I got to the top I did something that you are told not to do in motorcycle courses: I rode with my emotions running high. The downhill was all pavement and I went downhill, fast. I remember this was the second time someone in our group said “you drive your bicycle like a motorcycle”–a great compliment, you can imagine. At about 2/3 of the way down él Patron and I stopped and waited a minute or two for the others to catch up. By this time I was feeling pretty fine.

And remember what I wrote about Italian food making you forget the pain? That’s the way it was in Edolo. I had mushroom ravioli and, even though I don’t like mushrooms, it was amazing. The pizza that followed was also amazing.

Day 6
This was the first of the cool down days, or so I thought. We started the day with a 30 km ride via highway, slightly downhill. We did this because we cut out the originally planned Day 5 due to the Day 2 detour. During this ride there was rain so we took a break at a little restaurant/cafe along the way. This, of course, cut into riding time.

There was only one hill here but it was to be about 1600 metres of straight upward riding. When the rain subsided and we got to the base of the hill we started our 2-3 hour ride up hill. We actually took a break after about 500 or 600 metres and ate lunch. Here I remember they had the most amazing iced tea–or what we thought tasted like the most amazing iced tea.

After lunch I felt like I had something to prove. I put some music on for the first time on the trip and powered my way to the top. I still finished behind él Patron, but that is to be expected. I was surely the fastest Canadian to ever ride up that hill.

At the top we split up, with Holger and Verena taking the road down to Anfo Italy, along side Lago d’Idro. The rest of us took the path down, which was initially a stony, dirt, and gravel road but eventually lead us into thick bush–for quite some distance. It was more than a little uncomfortable. This was the nail in the coffin for my shoes–my right shoe lost part of its sole on the trail. I also fell into the water when trying to fill my water bottle.

When we finally got through the trail, hours later, we started our downhill on pavement. Ansgar had a high-speed fall in a curve, earning himself some real battle scars on his knee and elbow. He was quite okay and we continued on to the spectacular Garden Grill. It was a real treat to stay here after this day: 5 huge beds for 7 people, with two complete baths, balconies all around, and a spectacular kitchen for both dinner and breakfast.

Day 7
A true wellness day; and how could it not be? We started for Torbele at Lago di Garda, initially taking some highway to the bottom of the mountain. We split up again, with Holger and Stefan setting out for the large lake (and the Nalini shop) ahead of us. The remaining five of us went up the 1500 metres to our final summit on the trip.

It was really a fantastic ride down. We had some gravel road, but some really nice single trail with lots of nice exposed rocks and tree roots to ride through. It’s worth mentioning that it was often the case that forgetting to break, or slipping too far to the right would have caused an unsurvivable fall–I think that was part of the appeal.

When we finally got down the mountain we had a really, really pleasant ride along Lago di Garda’s west side, through Riva, to our final destination at the hotel in Torbole. I cannot describe to you the amazing feeling that you have at the end of such a trip. The riding experiences on the trip were wide ranging and the views were nearly out of this world. I am quite grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of such a trip.

Days 8 and 9
After the Alpencross we enjoyed a day at Lago di Garda. The weather was quite nice. We walked around Torbole, then over to Riva for lunch. In the afternoon a few of us took our bikes to Arco where we enjoyed another great cappuccino. There was a bit of rain before we went to a fantastic restaurant for dinner, and finally the Wind’s Bar for drinks. It was a relaxing and fun day.

The follow day was spent travelling; travelling back the way we came but this time by shuttle bus and then train. We left at 9 a.m. and I didn’t get home until 11 p.m. The weather was terrible all day, and we saw snow as low as 1500 m above sea level–this would have been a problem for us.

In all, an amazing trip with such an incredible variety of riding experiences. It is truly a vacation I will never forget. Thanks to all of those who were there, to those who wished me well, and for the many prayers that brought me home safely.