Despite the best of intensions to post this year's version of my tour in the Alps, work and 'the next vacation' got in the way.
As with previous years, this year's version contained lots of planning (mostly from Rene), lots of training, and anxiety to ride, but the 2009 version included something new: an additional rider, my good friend BW!
All in all, we covered 600km and about 11,000 vertical meters over 6 full days of riding.
Enjoy the pics.
Day 1: 30 May 09: Lindau - SplügenBW and I woke up at 430am to catch the first train from home so that we could meet up with Rene in Chur at a reasonable. As luck would have it, this train was late and caused a delay of our train connections.
To try to make up some time, BW and I decided to ride from Lindau to St. Margrethen. It was only about 20km, and we had an hour to do it. Easy. No worries, we are on vacation.
But, we took some pics along the way, and we just barely caught our train. I had to sweet talk the train conductor a bit ... since I didn't have time to buy the tix for our bikes beforehand, she wanted to charge me full price. I gave the sob story and blamed Deutsche Bahn for my late train at home which caused this whole mess.Thankfully, it worked...on our way to Chur.
But, once we got into Chur, we had to stop for some more pics and some lunch. Cute little place to take a small break.
Then, the tour got going with some uninterrupted riding. Mostly flat with a few rolling hills and great scenery along the way. 
We stayed the night in Splügen, Switzerland. A cute, sleepy ski village in the Alpine foothills. Rene has stayed here before, and he scouted out a great hotel for us.We had some time to kill, so we took a stroll around the village...
Now, that is is stacked wood.
With the old cobblestone and seemingly ancient houses, many of which were still centuries old, Splügen was a great pick for the first stop in our trip.
...and, they had beer too! Prost!
Day 2: 31 May 09: Splügen - ??? somewhere in the rain...
With my notes of the tour still with Rene, I honestly don't know where we stayed the second full day...but, at least the day started out great in Splügen.
After a wonderful breakfast (and BW talked about the yoghurt the whole trip), we headed out for our first real climb of the tour...
On our way to Splügen Pass, we had great weather behind us...
... and of course, some great scenery.
I'm still smiling, so it must be pretty early in the climb. BW was impressed with the Alps and the scenery...and he took off on the climbed - pumped full of adreneline. Rene and I were behind, but still having a great time.
...at the top, we crossed over into Italy. The roads on the Swiss side were great...the roads on the Italian side were, well, needing some work...and the tunnels were a bit dark at times.
Once in Italy, one notices the differences in the buildings, architecture, and the people. It is amazing how a much a difference a mountain pass and a few kilometers makes.
When we pack, we always have to pack for all types of weather - even snow and rain. Unfortunately, after this great climb on Splügen Pass and a super cool long, flat stretch (which Rene and BW hated...but I'm more of a flatlander / masher for a rider), we hit some rain.
The clouds were rolling in for a while, but shortly after we put on our rain gear, it just poured. We took a break before hitting the next pass.
The rain slowed down, and we took off and climbed the pass in a light rain.
Day 3: 1 Jun 09: Somewhere in the sun - Stilfser Joch
We started Day 3 in the sun (thankfully) and ended up climbing what turned out to be my favorite pass of the tour: Stilfser Joch.
...but first, we had to make it through Passo Mortirolo.
As with most of the Alpine Passes, this was a great and beautiful one, with tons of small, winding roads...but the darn thing just never seemed like it would end. You would see what seemed like the peak, and then the next curve would come.
...but, as with all passes...this one finally ended. Ouch. This pass has the recognition as the steepest pass in the Alps...but we're pretty sure this was the other side (e.g. the side we went down). After riding our brakes for what seemed like hours, we finally made it to the valley.
A tour in the Alps would not be complete without snow...which started with about 5km to go. It wasn't a real heavy snow, but it was enough to make me want to hurry up with the pass.
Stilfser Joch is a pretty well known and popular pass. But, since this was the first full week that it was open, there wasn't too much traffic. 
While Stilfser Joch may be a bit touristy, it is popular for a reason: it is extremely beautiful, with some super cool switchbacks on one side of the mountain.
The ski lifts were still open, and we actually spend the night in the same hotel as the Italian National Ski Team. 
Day 4: 2 Jun 09: Stilfser Joch - St. Moritz
After convincing Rene to take a picture at the pass, we headed on toward St. Moritz. It wasn't our original plan, but one of the tunnels along the way was closed to bikes. The pass after the tunnel was still closed for the season, so we had to go around.
...but first, we had to make it through Passo Mortirolo.As with most of the Alpine Passes, this was a great and beautiful one, with tons of small, winding roads...but the darn thing just never seemed like it would end. You would see what seemed like the peak, and then the next curve would come.
...but, as with all passes...this one finally ended. Ouch. This pass has the recognition as the steepest pass in the Alps...but we're pretty sure this was the other side (e.g. the side we went down). After riding our brakes for what seemed like hours, we finally made it to the valley.The ride down had some great scenery as well...I was very thankful we went down on this side. We actually ran into another American (from Colorado of all places)...small world.
After a nice break and some sandwiches, we headed off to Stilfser Joch.
A tour in the Alps would not be complete without snow...which started with about 5km to go. It wasn't a real heavy snow, but it was enough to make me want to hurry up with the pass.Stilfser Joch is a pretty well known and popular pass. But, since this was the first full week that it was open, there wasn't too much traffic.Thankfully, the Bratwürst stands were open for us. Nothing like a Brat to finish off with after a hard climb.
While Stilfser Joch may be a bit touristy, it is popular for a reason: it is extremely beautiful, with some super cool switchbacks on one side of the mountain.The ski lifts were still open, and we actually spend the night in the same hotel as the Italian National Ski Team. Oh...and dinner was absolutely perfect! Too bad the brat that I had filled me up way too much.
Day 4: 2 Jun 09: Stilfser Joch - St. Moritz
After convincing Rene to take a picture at the pass, we headed on toward St. Moritz. It wasn't our original plan, but one of the tunnels along the way was closed to bikes. The pass after the tunnel was still closed for the season, so we had to go around.
As I mentioned earlier, the switchbacks on this side of Stilfser Joch are amazing! I'm glad we got to go down from this side...
Stilfser Joch is in the very right hand corner (more or less) of this picture. What a great descent. After tanking up at a local bakery, we hit Pas dal Fuorn (Ofenpass), bringing us back into Switzerland. While I don't mind being being in a country (Italy) where I don't understand anything, it was nice to be able to communicate with folks again. Of course, Swiss German isn't exactly easy to understand...(for Germans or German speaking Americans ;-)
This was another one of those passes that just never seemed to end, and I was really hurting. I didn't think I could make it to St. Moritz, but after a hearty soup, I was ready to try.
After the sun came out (and the soup started working through my system), I felt even better. The huge tailwind and the cute Swiss villages helped, of course.
St. Moritz isn't known for being a cheap area to spend your vacation. Thankfully, Rene knew that there was a great Youth Hostel on the outskirts. We had this sweet ride around this lake to the hostel. Even though we aren't exactly 'youths' anymore, we were practically the youngest folks at the hostel, with lots of families and older couples utilizing the hostel for its inexpensive accommodations and filling, but not fancy, meals.
Day 5: 3 Jun 09: St. Moritz - Lindau
This was another one of those passes that just never seemed to end, and I was really hurting. I didn't think I could make it to St. Moritz, but after a hearty soup, I was ready to try.
After the sun came out (and the soup started working through my system), I felt even better. The huge tailwind and the cute Swiss villages helped, of course.
As we were riding into St. Moritz, I could see why it is the beloved ski village that it is...
Rene's brakes were wearing thin, so he was happy to find a bike shop. While he was changing out his brakes (kinda important for the mountains), BW and I had a beer...and convinced Rene to have one as well.
St. Moritz isn't known for being a cheap area to spend your vacation. Thankfully, Rene knew that there was a great Youth Hostel on the outskirts. We had this sweet ride around this lake to the hostel. Even though we aren't exactly 'youths' anymore, we were practically the youngest folks at the hostel, with lots of families and older couples utilizing the hostel for its inexpensive accommodations and filling, but not fancy, meals.Day 5: 3 Jun 09: St. Moritz - Lindau
After leaving St. Moritz, we had to backtrack a bit to hit Albula pass. Since we had a huge tailwind the day before, I was fearing the worst, but with the slight tailwind, we hit the pass road in less than an hour.
Today was Rene's day in the mountains, screaming up the pass. Near the top, it got really cold...so on with the cold weather gear again... 
There was also this restaurant / cabin at the top, where we stopped to warm up a bit with some cake and coffee...what a great way to prepare for what turned out to be a super huge downhill. 
Day 6: 4 Jun 09: Lindau - Lindau
Rene caught an early train back home...which left BW and I alone for our last day. We didn't really want to go home, so we just took it eays in Lindau, riding around the lake, stopping to see the scenery, and having snacks (cake, fresh cherries, etc) along the way.
Today was Rene's day in the mountains, screaming up the pass. Near the top, it got really cold...so on with the cold weather gear again... There was also this restaurant / cabin at the top, where we stopped to warm up a bit with some cake and coffee...what a great way to prepare for what turned out to be a super huge downhill. As with St. Moritz, I didn't think we would make it to the train station in Landquart in enough time to catch the last train to Lindau...but, as luck would have it, we had a slight downhill and a nice tailwind the whole way.
I love this kind of riding...you feel like a king on your bike.
Unfortunately, we just missed the train, so we had to wait an hour for the next one. So, we did what most any sane person would do after 6 days in the saddle when you have to wait in perfect weather for the train: we had a beer. Yumm...Hefeweizen (Wheat Beer).
Day 6: 4 Jun 09: Lindau - LindauRene caught an early train back home...which left BW and I alone for our last day. We didn't really want to go home, so we just took it eays in Lindau, riding around the lake, stopping to see the scenery, and having snacks (cake, fresh cherries, etc) along the way.
We even spoiled ourselves with a massage at one of the hotels. After 6 days of hard riding, that massage was perfect!
Not really believing that the week and this year's tour was already behind us, we got up early the next day, with aching bodies (and sore butts), to head home. As with every tour, the memories get better with time...as the hurt in our bodies fade away.
Not really believing that the week and this year's tour was already behind us, we got up early the next day, with aching bodies (and sore butts), to head home. As with every tour, the memories get better with time...as the hurt in our bodies fade away.BW stayed another two days with Eva, Quinn and I...so those pics will follow...
