Petes Alpine Adventures - Day 2 Reschen Pass - Ebike Europe

In September my husband, Pete started his annual Alpine Adventure trip over the alps. Unsupported and carrying all his gear including a ten, cooking stove and tools in case of a mechanical with him.

Pete doesn’t have a motor to help him, but all the routes he does, can be done on an Ebike and therefore I believe this will be interesting for everyone.

This is his story in his own words.

Day 2 Stams (Tirol, Austria) to Prato Allo Stelvio (Italy) over the Reschen Pass

Morning planning
Bike path lanes
Bike path intruders

Numbers first;

125km,
average speed 20.1 km/h,
height up 1240m
height down 917m.

I’m going to chuck in 3 more variables this evening ; average heart rate 112, max heart rate 154, bottles drank 7 ( 3.5 litres) this is to reassure Lindsey that my engine won’t blow a gasket and that I will not collapse with dehydration. Both of which concern her when I am out on my little escapades.

River Inn
Benni Raich has his own path
River Inn towards Imst

Notes to self

Note to self; Spend less time taking photos, I really had to “drop the hammer “ to get to the campsite before 6pm which causes squeak bum moments when you need food and a shower!

Note – “ Drop the Hammer” in Pete’s bike speak just means get a proper move on, or increasing the heart rate to levels where Lindsey gets a tad nervous ( cos l am no longer young anymore) as she says.

Traditional wooden bridge
Slightly steep, take care
Beautiful gardens along the way

Another great day following the Inn Radweg which is really scenic. The best bit about it is that it is away from the cars. The day got progressively harder with the climb up to the border over the Reschen pass. The Reschen pass which is famous for the bell tower emerging from the water. Time for a stop and photos is essential.

Where the climb really kicks in
High above the Inn
Reschen Pass

The famous bell tower at Reschen
Crossing borders
To good to only have 1 photo

From there you have an amazing 30 km descent to Prato Allo Stelvio, which is basically the base of the pass. If all days finished with such a descent, life would be great but it does mean that my legs are feeling good at the end of today.

Tomorrows plan

Those of you who are bike fans have probably worked out by now from my position where I’m heading tomorrow – for any ardent “roadie” ( Pete’s bike speak = someone who raced, rides a road bike). The Stelvio pass is probably the most iconic Alpine pass in the road racing calendar. It is used frequently on the Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy). And has been the site of many an epic battle with the worlds best riders. For someone like me it just has to be experienced.

View from Reschen to Süd Tirol
Wall art
Hundreds of Pumpkins

Tonights stop

I am at 900m this evening on the campsite and the top of the Stelvio pass is 2750m. This means there is a bit of a climb tomorrow to the top of the pass. It does mean there is a long, winding descent down into Bormio which will give my legs a break. I’m really looking forward to it, again a bit of trepidation- how the bike will be with the load on. How my “engine” will perform pushing that load, I’m feeling strong and happy with how the bike is handling so things are looking good. Time for fuelling up with tins of Gulasch soup and tins of vegetables, fruit for desert and the requisite beer!