{"id":2052,"date":"2009-09-27T19:48:55","date_gmt":"2009-09-28T01:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evilmoose.shafted.com.au\/?p=2052"},"modified":"2022-02-12T20:23:38","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T02:23:38","slug":"into-the-alps-the-grosglockner-26-%e2%80%93-27-sept-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/?p=2052","title":{"rendered":"Into the Alps: The Gro\u00dfglockner (26 – 27 Sept 2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153From 768m to 2504m and back down again. Sometimes all you can do is slip into your lowest granny gear, set some Queen playing on your iPod, and grind your way to the top.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
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Setting off we plan to get as close as we can to the start of the Gro\u00c3\u0178glockner Pass road. However we get distracted after finding a market, and then an enormous bike store, and then in Bad Reichenhall there are cakes, and internet. By the time we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re finished in Bad Reichenhall it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s after midday and the clouds have finally lifted, revealing the mountains surrounding us. Mountains! Rocky limestone alpine peaks, it feels just like home (well Canadian home). The rivers are aqua with glacier-chalk as well.<\/p>\n

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Afternoon views outside of Bad Reichenhall, all of a sudden we’re in the mountains<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a bit worried on reaching the end of Saalach-Stausee. The main road on to Unken and Lofer looks very bike unfriendly, but thankfully there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bike path to follow \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re following Jakobsweg, and the Mozart Radweg, and a bunch of other signposted trails. After a steep gravelly start the path turns out ok, and happily keeps us away from the traffic. The day has turned out clear and sunny, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re cycling past rocky mountains, cliffs and rivers. We watch rock climbers and kayakers and yearn to be doing things besides cycling \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but at least we get to be here cycling, rather than being stuck at work dreaming of being outside. Lofer is nice, and has a man playing a piano accordion outside a pub. It seems the quintessential Austrian Alps town.<\/p>\n

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Alex as we head into the Alps (note the beard getting alarmingly large)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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As we get to Saalfelden, alpenglow is highlighting the mountains around us, and we arrive to set up camp in Maishofen a few minutes after sunset. Fall asleep to cow bells again.<\/p>\n

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Misty morning on the Zeller See, Austria<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Riding through the foggy morning<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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After leaving Maishofen at 7.30am we rode into the fog south of Zeller See and saw a fogbow (like a rainbow, but with fog), and then heard a choir of children (who sounded disconcertingly like angels) singing in the church at Bruck. There wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t much climbing until we fit Fusch, and it was when we hit the tollgates that the ascent began in earnest (and we were quite grateful that we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to pay the outrageous amounts that cars or motorbikes were tolled).<\/p>\n

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The Gro\u00c3\u0178glockner High Road \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 33km of road where anything could happen and probably will<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Gradually more and more bikes appeared on the road. We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t overtake many, but on the plus side, not many were going much faster than us; although if we could have done, we would have happily changed down to a lower gear at some points. <\/p>\n

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Gaining altitude<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Alpine views<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Each switchback gained around 30 metres of altitude, so we were gaining height quickly. And each corner was sign-posted with name and altitude, which made measuring progress gratifyingly easy. There were also plenty of picnic benches and roadside stops, and different views to admire, so it was a very gradual progress uphill.<\/p>\n

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Achtung! Marmots!<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Up and up<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Hairpins bring us higher and higher<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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We tossed up cycling to the Edelwei\u00c3\u0178-spitze, but for another 200 metres of altitude over 2km, we decided to save our legs for the next few days \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like this was the only pass we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be cycling over. So instead we just cycled the main road along, descending, heading up through the tunnels, and reaching the high point of the main road of 2504 metres. <\/p>\n

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Alex on the final leg to the high point, cruising along at 2400m<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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The Surly LHT photo: 2504m above sea level<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Alps through the looking glass<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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For the descent I decided to invest in some glacier goggles. You never know when they might come in handy. Then we kitted up in our warm clothes and began the descent\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 until we hit a roundabout and were flabbergasted by the fact we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to cycle uphill again! Oh well, that out of the way, we continued the descent to Heiligenblut, then a further 10km or so to a nice little campground with a chatty old Austrian man to talk to.<\/p>\n

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Glacier goggles<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Down again into the Heiligenblut valley<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Distance cycled:<\/strong> 172km
\nSleeping arrangements:<\/strong> Campgrounds
\nDays of rain:<\/strong> 0\/2 (wooo! the sunny spell continues)
\nPublic toilets:<\/strong> Available
\nBike friendliness:<\/strong> Good, lots of signed bike trails, or roads that are fine to cycle on
\nFree wifi availability:<\/strong> There was some in Bad Reichenhall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153From 768m to 2504m and back down again. Sometimes all you can do is slip into your lowest granny gear, set some Queen playing on your iPod, and grind your way to the top.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d   Setting off we plan to get as close as we can to the start of the Gro\u00c3\u0178glockner Pass road. However […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,141,1,17],"tags":[32,1266,1267,1547,1265,145,1268,241,240,239,64,883],"class_list":["post-2052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bikes","category-european-bike-epic","category-general","category-trip-reports","tag-alpine","tag-alps","tag-austria","tag-bikes","tag-europe","tag-european-bike-tour","tag-grossglockner","tag-long-haul-trucker","tag-surly","tag-surly-lht","tag-touring","tag-unicycle"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"megan","author_link":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/?author=1"},"featured_img":null,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["bikes<\/a>","european bike epic<\/a>","general<\/a>","trip reports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["bikes<\/span>","european bike epic<\/span>","general<\/span>","trip reports<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["alpine<\/a>","alps<\/a>","austria<\/a>","bikes<\/a>","europe<\/a>","european bike tour<\/a>","grossglockner<\/a>","long haul trucker<\/a>","surly<\/a>","surly lht<\/a>","touring<\/a>","unicycle<\/a>"],"unlinked":["alpine<\/span>","alps<\/span>","austria<\/span>","bikes<\/span>","europe<\/span>","european bike tour<\/span>","grossglockner<\/span>","long haul trucker<\/span>","surly<\/span>","surly lht<\/span>","touring<\/span>","unicycle<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"2","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 17 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 27.9.2009","modified":"Updated on 12.2.2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 27.9.2009 7:48 pm","modified":"Updated on 12.2.2022 8:23 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2052"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6559,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions\/6559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}