nbjtours

Day Three

85 miles

6000ft climbed

The main objective of the day was the climb over the Silvaretta toll road. Featuring a seemingly endless number of hairpin bends up ( actually 30) and a gradient that averaged almost 7% after the first half being 10%, this was certainly going to be a challenge. I will let you have Chris’s quote later in the blog.

Again blessed with good weather we set out from our Liechtensteiner campsite at 7.30. Initially we ran beside the main road into the capital Vaduz. While obviously wealthy and lacking in charity & coffee shops it is no bigger than Tonbridge High Street with a parliament building and like us has s castle on a hill.

As we went through Vaduz early this Sunday morning they were setting up a TV chef based event with barbecues and stages for the impending show. Leaving Vaduz we once again headed along cycle paths through the middle of the wide valley that is Liechtenstein.

It did not take long to cycle the length of Liechtenstein, so after about ten miles we crossed the border into Austria.

Moving into Austria there was no let up in the high quality of the cycle paths which remained sealed with the smoothest tarmac you can imagine.

After a short while we cycled through the attractive town of Feldkirch which was really the last town of any note before we started to climb up the valley.

Leaving Feldkirch again on a super cycle path we started the very gradual climb up the valley towards Silvaretta. This took us away from the more famous and busier Arlberg pass.

Climbing along the valley beside the river, we saw farmers busy cutting grass to store for winter fodder. It was an easy and enjoyable experience. The smell was glorious and it was interesting to see how and what each farmer used to cut and collect. Some was very much hard manual labour, unlike the guy below.

Chris was a bit trepidatious about the climb and tried to catch this train to the bottom of the steep bit to save his energy. Sadly for him the train stopped for a whole 30 seconds to pick up a couple of passengers and was then off again. What efficiency.

As we continued to run along a cycle path off the main road Nigel very cleverly managed to find a spot just where the cycle path ran beside the road for a few hundred yards. We breakfasted in the carpark of a sports outlet shop, as Monica had earlier found out everything is closed in Austria on a Sunday!

Carrying on after breakfast we had a very surprising detour having noticed some ski jumps we were amazed to see a competition for teenage girls in full swing on the synthetic surface. Most impressive.

By this time the cycle path was running out and we were advised to take the road and this is where the toll road started and the gradient moved from 2% to 10% and we started the 30 hairpins. We topped our bottles up at hairpin one and then Nick proceeded to do his mountain goat bit and disappeared into the distance.

Unusually Nigel stopped before the top so we had our lunch after the majority of the hairpins but with still a few left and some steep ramps to get to the summit three miles up the road.

Having reached the top Nick was keen for more, I was relieved and Chris was dreaming of an electric bike.

Leaving the busy summit where the hoards of motorcyclists had stopped like us to look at the peaks. Including Piz Buin, the famous one that has its own sun cream.

We then still had 25 miles to go to the campsite. The only bonus of being at 2036 metres is that afterwards everything is downhill.

Apart from a short hill a mile from the end this 25 miles really was fun running along the road through several tunnels and at time’s approaching 50 mph. ( note there were only two hairpins near the summit to slow us down) So only an hour and a quarter after leaving we were in the campsite.

Nigel’s speciality this evening was his version of a Jamie Oliver one pot chicken curry. After todays efforts there was nothing left.

Tomorrow Monica has promised to resume her Lidl shopping. The campsite is right next to one so she is hopeful of finding an Austrian beer as well as restocking the camper.

I will leave you today with this picture of Chris at our lunch stop after hairpin 26. If anyone would like to send suitable caption please do so.