Bicycling is becoming more and more popular. But while most people simply cycle through the countryside, there is also a species of enthusiastic cyclists who load their mountain bikes into their cars and head for the mountains to cross the alps.
For some years now, these enthusiastic mountain bikers have included detlef stingl, matthias baierl, stephan singer and alexander mahr from obertheres. The friends mastered the classic "heckmair tour" with their bikes in seven days, the alpine cross over the allgau alps, the lech spring mountains, the ratian and engadin alps and over the adamello mountains to riva at lake garda.
The "heckmair-tour is not a bed of roses
"Who is not afraid of some carrying and pushing passages, to move in the high alpine country female and his bike on the technical trails under control has, for that is this legendary tour suitable. He will also be able to fully enjoy the highlights of the tour, such as the scaletto pass or the beautiful alpine panorama at the pass chauschauna", the planner of the troop, detlef stingl, is convinced of that, as he says.
Since 2003 this is the fourth alpine tour, which the oberthereser undertook together. They agree: it was a unique experience. The friends are not only talking about the great austrian, swiss and italian landscapes they saw on their tour, but also about the people and their helpfulness.
From bavaria to italy
The four friends started their alpine cross in oberstaufen, final destination was lake garda in italy. All in all, it was 423 kilometers – 11,667 meters of altitude and 39 hours of pure riding time on the saddle. "Yes, your legs and buttocks are no longer your best friends", says stingl and laughs.
The thereser had luck with the weather. Although the first day of the tour was completely rained out, this did not dampen the good mood. "Fortunately there was a "dry room" at our first hut, singl continues. So the dry clothes for the second day were secured. Surprise on the third day of the tour: there was still snow on the scaletta pass. The franken pushed their bikes partly in the calf-deep snow upwards. "It was not only exhausting, but also annoying." Luckily alexander mahr had a gps device with him. Because of the snow there was nothing to see of the trail markings. Otherwise the friends got along well with their map material. "You should definitely get detailed information on the internet and study the maps before you start the tour", advice stingl.
Full concentration is required
Most of the time the bikers rode on good roads. But there were also some quite adventurous sections and trails that required the full concentration of the riders. The mountain bikers had to overcome their inner pig dog from time to time: "when it got too hairy or too steep, we just pushed the bikes." They know that they are no professionals – and spab is supposed to do the whole thing. With eight kilograms packed, which one then "carried along" in the backpack sometimes it gets difficult.
According to detlef stingl, good preparation is the be-all and end-all. The people from theres have made themselves fit on tours through the habberge and steigerwald mountains. "But everyone also trained for themselves." But the material also has to play along, and the people from theres were really lucky on this tour. "Nothing happened and there were no defects, only after the rain the material, or was it our bones, squeaked a little bit." And the four have another tip: you should be able to speak a few words of italian on this tour. "That would have been really helpful sometimes", admits stingl.
The way back from gardasee was via munich by train to habfurt and from there on the mainradweg back to obertheres.The four friends brought home many impressions and experiences from their alpine cross. "We met a lot of nice people, saw a lot and played cards passionately in the evenings in the huts and had a wonderful time." So the next alpine tour is already a done deal. Until then, planner and route leader detlef stingl can think long and hard about where the next tour will take him.
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