When we went to sleep last night there were two small single tents camping next to us. We wondered who these cyclists were as they had arrived quite late. It was too dark to see what their bikes looked like. When we woke up we had a real surprise because it was the two young fellows, Sebastian and Kevin,whom we had met on the route during the horrendous gravel section after Reutte. They had ridden Fern Pass and at Imst they had taken a wrong turn and instead of cycling the 15 km to the campsite they had ridden another mountain pass. Kevin had crashed after his front tire burst. He was going about 30 km an hour and fell head first on the gravel. He looked like a Tour de France rider after a bad crash.
We really enjoyed being able to talk to them again. As we were packing up and having our breakfast they headed off. A few minutes a sole rider arrived and started to set up his tent. We had a wonderful visit with Pim, a young man from Paris.
It was by now time to head off as we wanted to go the post office and lighten the load in our trailer before heading any further into the Alps.
After getting our chores done in downtown Landeck (last night we went in search of wifi and took a right instead of a left and never did find the city core), we were having lunch when Pim rode up. It was good to continue our conversation with this iteresting young man. Our shuttle over the Reschen Pass was booked for 2 pm so it was nice to relax and visit with Pim.
Our shuttle driver was waiting for us at the train station and we loaded the tandem into a box trailer and jumped into the van. As we have such a large bicycle we had to book a private shuttle just for ourselves and our bike.It is a lot cheaper if you have a regular bike as you share the shuttle with many riders and their bikes. The drive over the pass took almost an hour as we went from Landeck Austria to just before the Italian border (4 km from the Italian town of Reschen). Getting a private shuttle gives you the flexibility of being picked up and dropped off where you want. When we started riding we had a very stiff head wind for about 10 km. There are two possible routes around Reschensee (Lake Reschen). In our guestbook, we received excellent advice from Ferruccio who said to take the left side because it is more enjoyable and flat! He had done the ride side which has many short climbs of 15-20%. Interestingly, the Bikeline book and local people we talked to said to take the right side. Thank you Ferruccio: the left side was a wonderful experience for us. We stopped at the church tower, "Graunner Turm" in the lake. There we felt like we were a tourist attraction as many interested people were literally surrounding us waiting to talk to us about our bike, Canada and our travels. At this place, we also met our "tour guide", Herbert Hill (aka Mr.Downhill). Herbert, a mountain bike enthusiast from Germanym had seen us while riding on the road and was waiting on the trail hoping that that we would stop so that he could talk to us about our bike. Herbert has spent his vacation time mountain biking in this area for the last forty years. He gave us great advice about which route and roads to continue our journey on. He even offered to ride with for the next 10- 15 km so that we didn't get lost. Herbert took us on some "shortcuts" that only the local riders and farmers know about. The scenery and tiny villages were amazing. As we followed him we climbed higher and higher above the lake and the valley. Herbert is 71 years and in excellent physical condition as he patiently slowed down his pace so that we could keep up to him. We did remind him however, that we were fully loaded for a tour! Finally we said goodbye and "Mr.Downhill" flew down to the valley below the to where he is staying. We continued along the valley wall and then started our descent. Wow, if the small road hadn't been so windy with approaching cars and tractors we would have let it rip so instead we gave our repaired disc brakes a workout on the 15% downhill ride. As were riding it started to rain heavily which added to our scary descent. Just in time we arrived in the town of Malles and like a miracle there was a sign for Sonne Pension, 100 metres ahead.We made the good decision to call it a day.
We were so happy to find Sebastian and Kevin camping beside us in Landeck. It was good to see them again. If they come to Canada for a cycling trip, we hope to see them on Saltspring Island.
We agree with Sebastian's philosophy that Snicker's chocolate bars are a power source. However, we lack his strength of character as we could never stockpile them and wait for the evening to have one.
Pim arrived just after Sebastian and Kevin left. We really enjoyed chatting with him. He had done some hard riding in the Dolomites and didn't recommend it - okay, take that off the list!
We're heading further in to the Alps and we have decided to lighten our load. So, we are mailing this package of books and clothes, that we hope we won't need, to Cora. Our trailer and our legs will thank us.
This family from Augsburg, Germany are riding through the Alps as well. But they are not using a shuttle - and they have a baby in the trailer. They are made of stronger stuff than us (and maybe 30 years younger!). Even though they aren't hauling camping gear, we know that the baby trailer weighs about as much as our camping trailer.
As usual, our unusual bike and long profile with the trailer attracted many curious people. This man from Italy was fascinated by our bike and our travel plans. We are getting a sense that the warmth and enthusiasm of Italians will make our journey fun.
A personally arranged bike shuttle is essential for an unusual bike like ours - and we are very happy with the service we got from Schmidt shuttles based in Nauders. Highly recommended. It gave us an insight that one can arrange a shuttle from any location depending on your needs - such as Verona to Munich, etc.
Graun Tower is a beautiful yet sad sight when you understand the history of the area. The church tower is all that remains of the village after the Fascists flooded the city in the late 192's to create a dam. Much livestock, livelihood, homes and lives were lost with no compensation or assistance. Local people still mourn this loss today.
He has offered to take us on a special route that is not known to tourists new to the area. He has promised us special views of the area from the route.
He's right, we saw some wonderful views. If we had followed the official route, we would have been at lake level on the other side. Just before turning off to climb, we saw Sebastian and Kevin. They had ridden Reschen Pass and were on their way to Glurns.
Dinner the first night at Malls in the pizzeria. Barry had the special summer pizza with olives, argula, herbed feta, garlic and fresh tomato sauce. A tradition is to have a spiced or flavoured olive oil to drizzle on it - delicious.
