Smile sweetly at Helga for an extra piece of tiramisu

Last year I went bikepacking in South Tyrol with CYCLOsportive at the invitation of IDM Südtirol. Something immediately became clear to me, I have to share this with as many other adventurers as possible. And so this year the first South Tyrol Expedition was on the program. A very beautiful and difficult adventure in the Dolomites. With start and finish in Innsbruck, we traveled through the mountains for four days and slept in mountain huts at an altitude of 2300 meters. We had to walk for a while because it went up or down too steeply. Overcame material problems, but above all had a lot of fun! The story of day two.

Text & image: Gerrit Vermeulen

With just four minutes of water I'm back down in plenty of time for dinner.

When I open my eyes, the sunlight is already peeking through a crack in the white-red-checked curtains. When I open the curtains further I see fresh snow on the tops of the mountains around the Pfitscherjochhaus. I quickly grab my camera and open the window, brrrrrrrr. IT'S COLD! Quite logical, we spent the night at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, it is still early in the morning and it has snowed!

When Rick saw the small mountain lake next to the mountain hut on arrival a day earlier, his eyes started to sparkle. “That will be a refreshing dip tomorrow,” were his words. After a night of sleep and the snow that has fallen, he is a little less enthusiastic. “Just showered this morning.”

For the second day in the same dirty clothes

After breakfast we enter the room where we have parked our bicycles. The word stable comes to mind when I open the door. The day before we drove through cow dung. That smell greets me. We have not cleaned the bicycles and our clothes still show traces of the adventure of the day before. The mountain hut on the Pfitscherjoch is fine, but there is no laundry service. Four days of cycling means two sets of cycling clothing. And not washing means that we have to wear the same clothes two days in a row. Nice! All bags are strapped down again and we are ready to leave.

Wonderfully relaxed cycling through the Pustertal

The route mainly takes us in a valley line to the Pfitschertal. The view of the surrounding mountains is beautiful. Compared to the other days of our South Tyrol Expedition, we drive relatively little on unpaved roads today. But after all that scrambling and lugging on day one, that's no punishment. Call it a reward for the hard work the day before. On day two of our bike packing trip through South Tyrol, our final destination is once again at a high altitude. We spend the night in the Dürrensteinhütte at an altitude of over 2,000 meters. The last part of the ride will involve a lot of climbing. But until the final climb we cycle on quiet cycle paths through the Pustertal. The path slopes gently through the valley. Everyone can enjoy it and no one has to suffer here.

On a beach bike through the mountains

Halfway through we look for a place to have lunch. The choice fell on the Zur Brücke restaurant in Mittewald. We sit at a table in our dirty cycling clothes. No problem! And enjoy a delicious lunch. Really, I think it's impossible to eat bad in Italy! When we leave the restaurant I bump into two friendly elderly Germans. You guys, I don't ask their age. But they could have been my father. The men ask where we are going to cycle to. I explain that we cycle from Innsbruck to Innsbruck and do so with a detour via the Dolomites in South Tyrol. And also partly on unpaved roads. The gentlemen nod approvingly. Their eyebrows frown when they look at my bike. “Welche Reifen gibt es auf Ihrem Fahrrad?” I tell them that those are beach tires that I use for beach races in the Netherlands. "Oh? And what do you think about the Schotterpisten durch die Berge?” The other participants in the bike packing trip all cycle on tires with tread. Beach tires have almost no profile. In my best German I admit that it may not have been the best choice to go with this setting. But it just turns on. The friendly Germans themselves are on their way from Munich to Venice. RESPECT! And auf wiedersehen.

Hunger pangs on the way to the Dürrensteinhütte

We continue our way to Bruneck. There we are served city gravel. We reach the other side of this nice town in South Tyrol through a park with a number of tunnels. Italy's National Forestry Commission is working hard here. A few times we have to get off the bike to make our way over the enormous tree trunks. After Bruneck it is not far to the foot of the final climb to the Dürrensteinhütte. Just before Villabassa we turn right and start the climb. Everyone climbs at their own pace. I quickly see Rick, Klaas and Pascal driving away. I'll stay with Bob. But I soon realize I've made a classic mistake. Eating too little and too irregularly, resulting in hunger pangs. I check my stock of bars and gels. Wow, that's going to be difficult. I quickly stuff some food into my mouth, but it's not enough. The legs remain weak. Luckily Bob has a few bars for me. I get over the feeling of hunger and continue cycling with Bob. The climb is 14 kilometers long and 3 km from the top there is a steep section of approximately one km long with a gradient of 14%. We cycle on at walking pace and wandering along the road. A kilometer seems like 3 kilometers.

Helga is strict, take a four-minute shower in time for dinner!

The sun starts to set behind the mountains and it cools down quickly. Just a few more kilometers. After the steep kilometer we are rewarded with a beautiful gravel road for the last 2 kilometers. Silence around us. Or no, not. Only the sound of cowbells breaks the peace. It is a beautiful soothing sound. The Dürrensteinhütte looms before us. Survived another day. Two more to go. When we enter the mountain hut, Bob and I see the rest of the group already sitting at a table. Still in cycling clothes. “I'm going to take a shower before I eat, I'm freezing,” I say to Pascal. He answers that that won't work. Manager Helga tells us to eat with all visitors to the hut at the same time at 7 p.m. If you are not in the dining room on time, there will be no food. When I look at Helga sweetly and say that I want to take a shower before dinner, I hear a loud NO. But after insisting, she gives me a shower mint. With just four minutes of water I'm back down in plenty of time for dinner.

Helga looks at me in surprise and asks if I have showered yet. “The owner is not to be trifled with, I quickly took a shower. The threat of no food works wonders,” I try to be funny in my best German… Helga laughs, the ice is broken. It even gives me an extra tiramisu when the desserts are served. We go to bed with a full stomach. Day three will be a tough day with 112 kilometers and 2,900 meters of altitude!!

• did you miss part 1 of our adventure: read it here

Next year we will go on another expedition to South Tyrol. If you are enthusiastic about our adventures, register quickly for Expedition South Tyrol 2022. There is room for 6 participants. With two supervisors we will ensure that CYCLOsportive's journey runs smoothly!