High again

On our way back home from the Eurobikeshow we (Martin and me) made a stop in Easttyrol
for a 2 day trip. Together with 2 friends - Mihi & Herwig - we were riding and walking up to the
hut which is 2650 m a.s.l. Half of the way up is rideable, the other half we had to carry our bikes.
As always I reduced my gear to a minimum, to keep the weight of my backpack down.
No problem as the first day was very warm and sunny, but the next morning when we headed for
the summit, it was freezing cold and a strong wind made it even more chilly ...
I went up in a fast pace to keep my body warm, only my fingers got a bit cold.

Because of fog and the cold wind we didn´t walk up to the main summit (beside there is a 50 m
long, difficult section with ropes where you need 2 people to get one bike up and down).
So we were resting at the lower summit, hiding from the wind and prepared ourselves for the descent.
The downhill isn´t that difficult, there are some long slopes with fine gravel which are fun to ride.
Altogether we had 2200 m of downhill on this day. From a 3192 m peak with glaciers and snow
to the green and warm valley.

Thanks to Martin, Herwig and Mihi for their company!
(Photos by Martin, Herwig and Mihi)

Night Flight

For two years, this project was on my list.

A two day trip with a difficult downhill and a overnight stay on the summit.

Roli and I are starting in the late afternoon, unfortunately too late to see the sunset

from the summit. Half of our delay is because of a large

Road diversion, the other half is due to the heat (in the valley it has 35 ° C!) and the heavy backpacks.

Along with our bikes we are carrying almost 25 kg on our shoulders!

In dim light we get on top of the summit plateau, we are searching for a good place to put our sleeping bags. 
The night was not sooo uncomfortable, only the wind was a bit annoying.

The first dawn appeared shortly after 4: 00, after 5 o'clock, we're out of our sleeping bags

and we can see a really beautiful sunrise!

After a small breakfast we head for the downhill.

To keep the backpack as light as possible for the downhill, we even reduce our trinking water

to a minimum, something we regret soon as it got very warm later ...

The trail was difficult, the large and heavy backpack didn´t make it easier!

This trip taught me 3 things: schedule enough time to be in time for the sunset above,

severe downhills and heavy backpacks are not a good match and a campingmat is a worthy investment!

  

Fire & Ice

Last winter was an unusally long and snowy one. Still in April all of the surrounding mountains
were covered with snow. Despite that fact Martin came up with a "good" idea:
Riding with our bikes up a well known mountain near Graz, stay for the night
in a tent and head for the downhill the next morning!
Martin H. was also crazy enough to join us. ;-)
We knew that the weather was going to be bad - about minus 2°, tense fog and snowfall ...
We were all surprised how much snow there was on this mountain (1445 m a.s.l.).
30" of snow everywhere and we had the 6th of April!

After riding up and some fooling around on a kind of ski slope we searched for a good place
to put up our tent. Martin was eager to build a igloo, so we shoveld like crazy, good thing was
it kept us warm. Meanwhile we tried to start a fire, which took us a long time because
of the snowfall. After hours of digging we compared our nearly finished igloo with our tent ...
the tent looked much more comfortably!

The night wasn´t that cold as feared (because my sleeping bag is only good for about +5°),
anyhow we got up before 6 o´clock, slipping in our cold clothes and frozen shoes.

The bikes were covered with ice, the brakes and the suspension needed some time
till they worked properly.
The downhill was great, a nice singletrack and the cold snow had a good grip.

If you ask yourself why are our backpacks so small?: There is a cablecar on this mountain,
so we transportated the big parts with it.

All in all it was a real good trip, something you will remember for a long time!

Perfect Day

What do you need for a perfect Bikeday?
Take a great mountain scenery, blue skies, cover the mountain peaks with some
fresh snow (just for the looks!) and ride your bike there with a friend.

The summit Martin and I did on this day is not a famous one, not a really high one
and hasn´t a spectacular downhill. But it offers a great view, including the highest
mountain of Austria - the Großglockner.
On our way down we often grapped our cameras to "memorize" this perfect day.

Sometimes it´s not all about the bikeride, on a day like this it´s about being there
at this particular moment.

Dolomites

It´s always exciting when you explore a new area, a new trail. Even after some research
on maps and the internet, you are not sure if the trail is rideable and worth hours of walking up.

Right from the parking place the trail is steeply rising, leading us trough a narrow valley.
After 2 hours of walking we can see "our" summit high above (marked with the arrow).

It took us 4 more hours till we reached the top. The scenery is so amazing, you can understand why some
people say, that the dolomites are one of the most beautiful mountains in the world.
Tired but happy on our way up: (klick on the pic, it´s 1600 pix wide)

Wolfgang and me posing on the rocks. ;-)
If we would jump of the cliff, we would "land" on the meadow you can see on the first picture!

The trail comes all the way down from the left side to the saddle in the middle of the picture.

Some well known mountains in the background: "Tre Cime di Lavaredo"

After more than ten ours we are back at our cars, tired but happy!
This time our exploration was a complete success!

Eurobiketour

Martin and myself are on our way to the Eurobike trade fair in Friedrichshafen.
We make a stop in Tirol for two rides, thanks to Thomas for shelter and guidance.

The first day we have to carry our bikes most of the time till we reach the top of
the mountain. Weather is perfect - as you can see on the photos below.
The downhill is mixture of (slick) rocks at the top and loose gravel in the midsection
of the mountain. To avoid the boring final downhill we make some extra altitude,
walking up to a smaller summit next to the main one. The reward for our effort
is a long singletrail with lots of flow down to our starting point.
This is one of the best rides I had this year!

On our second day we already start at 2000 meters above sea level. First part
was easy on a paved road, after that our bikes are mostly on our shoulders.
We are not reaching the summit, the last part is very steep and also there are to much
hikers on the trail, which is not a good thing when you are trying to ride a section
and always have to wait till the hikers have passed. (Here in Austria 99.9 % of the
trails are illegal to ride with a bike, so you always give way to a hiker)

The first 5 photos are from day one, the last 2 from the second day.
(Photos shot by Martin and myself)

Psychotrail

This is one of the most demanding trails in my area.
I gave him the name "Psychotrail" because there are several sections
which are a "No crash zone" because of the steepness of the mountain.
Not only a challenge to ride, also a mental challenge.
I took my 24" back wheel to slacken the headangle to be safer on the
steepest sections.