The goal
Inspired by a friend who had already gone on numerous bikepacking trips and spent many thousands of kilometers in the saddle, I took on a new challenge this summer: I wanted to ride my road bike across the Alps. Besides the legendary Route des Grandes Alpes, a classic route when starting from Germany is to go from Munich to Lago di Garda. Apparently it’s even sort of a social media hype to “speedrun” this in less than 24 hours. Definitely not an option for me as a beginner. Instead, I chose to go for a route that would take me from Lake Constance to the Lago Maggiore. After some planning on Komoot, I decided I’d take three full days for this endevour – unsure, whether that’s any realistic at all. I’m somewhat used to cycling, e.g. see my tour around Lake Constance and I also did a triathlon last year. But I never really did any significant elevation, so my planning might well have been far too ambitious or perhaps also too easy. There was only one way to find out though!
I wrote a fairly detailed “travel journal” on my Polarsteps, so this is rather a brief summary (parts are machine-translated from German). Nevertheless I wanted to share my experience here too.
Here’s the elevation profile of the route I had planned: 4700 m of elevation gain, ~ 290 km total.
Spoiler: I went on a few detours.
Day 1: Karlsruhe to Konstanz to Linthal (CH)
I started in the early morning and took the train southbound to Konstanz, located by the Lake Constance, which is where I hopped in the bike then. By around noon, I’d already covered half the distance and rewarded myself with coffee and a croissant (one of many more to come). In the midday sun, I then began the climb up to the (to be honest, very manageable) Ricken Pass—the lowest of the three passes I’d have to conquer on my trip to Ticino.
Looking at my GPS, I was almost a little disappointed to realize that I would already be arriving at my destination for the day by early afternoon. It hadn’t been particularly challenging up to that point, and the physical agony I’d expected had largely failed to materialize. Wisely anticipating that the mountain would bring me to my knees soon enough over the next two days, I reminded myself not to get overconfident – but then still decided to take an unplanned detour after all. This little detour, with Lake Klöntal in the canton of Glarus as the destination, turned out to be quite the challenge after all. For 5 km, I rode uphill in scorching heat on a ~12 % grade. There it was – the challenge I’d been longing for. But it was all worth the effort! Suddenly, I found myself looking out over the sparkling blue reservoir, nestled amid the mountain panorama!
In the late afternoon, after 5 ½ hours, ~110 km and ~1600 m elevation I arrived at my Airbnb, cooked myself a gigantic bowl of spaghetti and went to bed early.
Day 2: Linthal to Intschi
Well-rested after nine and a half hours of sleep and with my glycogen stores fully filled up, I set off pedaling. Since the little village of Linthal lies right at the foot of the Klausen Pass, the route went uphill right away. I now had 21 km ahead of me, with an average gradient of 7%, to the top of the pass, and the conditions were ideal—pleasantly cool and with hardly any traffic. I climbed switchback after switchback up to 1,943 m, where I arrived shortly before noon.
By then, I had already gotten through the most exhausting part of the day. Work comes first, then pleasure! The rest of the route was all downhill (though that isn’t necessarily any less draining).
The last few kilometers took me through the picturesque valleys of the canton of Uri, past lush green pastures and scattered small mountain cheese dairies. I reached my lodging in the early afternoon and spent the evening in bed with a good book.
Stats of the day: only 3 ½ hours, ~62 km and ~1600 m elevation.
Day 3: Intschi to Arbedo
According to my plan, the third day was supposed to be the toughest of the tour, and in that regard, it even exceeded my expectations. By the end of the day, I was pretty much at my limit.
The first half of the climb was fantastic. The valley between the 3,000-meter peaks was still pleasantly shaded, and aside from a few motorcycles and other cyclists, there wasn’t much traffic. The scenery was stunning. Slowly but surely, I fought my way uphill, bit by bit, for 30 km. The higher I climbed, the thinner the air became, and the more exhausting it got. My muscles were burning.
When I reached the Passo del San Gottardo at 2,107 meters above sea level, I was a little disappointed—in my imagination, the summit had been more spectacular. I treated myself to a break with a croissant and coffee anyway. But the real letdown was the descent. My excitement at the prospect of racing downhill for 10 km toward Airolo vanished when I realized that about half the route would consist of a cruel mix of cobblestones and gravel. At that point, my mood had hit rock bottom. I made my way down the south side at a snail’s pace — it’s located in Ticino, which is in the largely Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. And sure enough, once I reached the valley, everything immediately felt much more mediterranean.
The last 25 km turned out to be, quite unexpectedly, pure torture. In theory, once I reached the top of the pass, it was supposed to be all downhill or flat from there. In practice, I was battered by an unspeakable headwind that, with temperatures reaching 39 degrees in the shade at times, felt like a hot-air blower.
By early evening – after six hours, 100 km and 1700 m elevant – I had almost reached my destination. It was now just 20 km on flat terrain to Locarno on Lake Maggiore.
Day 4: Last 20 km to Locarno
After one last little sprint to the finish, I finally looked out at the lake glistening in the morning sun — mission complete! I treated myself to a café americano, a pistachio croissant, and a swim in the lake.
Summary
What an amazing adventure! It took me through quite a few ups and downs and definitely was a physical challenge like very few before. But also one that I will remember for a long time. I’m almost certain that this hasn’t been my last cross-alps bikepacking tour 🚵.
Comments