Traversing the alps

After not spending a single second pedalling for the last 4 days, I didn’t really know what to expect coming out of my legs. Starting quite late because I’ve only found a warm showers host at Chur who worked til half past 9, the first thing paving my way to beautiful Switzerland was a burst tire. was focused again, started looking for a gas station/gommista whatever had a compressor because I’ve had no trust in my kinda broken pump. After some unfriendly car vendors tried to tell me their repair shops were closed (unfortunately it’s already been noon) whilst only asking for using the compressor once, I found a gas station whose chain already let me pump my tire. So I asked kindly but yea, same thing, chiuso...
I asked twice because the tube just began to pop out. She rejected and told me where I could find another gas station which features a compressor for self-use. Next to McDonalds, she said. I asked, `certo?!´, she replied sure, they got like 2-3 apparati. Well, I trusted her because she looked like having been there often, so I began changing to running shoes, and ran to that gas station.
When I arrived, Chiusa. Just self-gas and pumping only when open, 1 compressor and it would’ve even cost 1€ for pumping your tires by yourself….. Gas prices huh?
So I began asking locals and they wouldn’t know a station around either. I was angry about the bad intel I got and like before started to increase only self-trust and reliability. But the friendly local I met there suggested, that at that station there should be people coming by carrying a pump. Great idea!
So I even got to ask Germans with Roadbike’s on the back of their car but they hadn’t even got co2 with them and no pump…
The next ones, a family in a caravan from Munich then saved me, great. German reliability even helps you out in Italy!
Afterwards I finally started riding and decided to go with one stop to San Bernardino, the alpine pass to cross. I did that in Tessin, the Italian part of Switzerland. No change of languages but of infrastructural investments meaning street quality and so on.
Ordering caffè was the same but different in price… what’ld cost me 2,40€ in Italy now changed to 5,70CHF……..

The weather kinda stayed calm, I’ve really had concerns about that when traversing 200k via the alps especially when having to go A to B with no safe place known somewhere along the way.

Climbing started out real good, 1800m in height difference were to be surmounted to the day´s highest point. As the street inclined, temperatures declined. It was really stressful for my knees which by then did 1.5hrs of continuous effort at 300W and 55rpm at 9°C.

The downhill was even more challenging because of rain and coldness and all that windchill. So I decided to go the quicker and less stressful way down there - the Autobahn. Yep, in Switzerland.
That was a tough decision but I did it in great faith because of already knowing I won’t even make it to Chur before sunset. So I did and it‘s been a good decision because I was way quicker and also needed way less concentration and the warmer tunnels were a great bonus against the cold and wet zigg-zaggy roads.Read more