Yesterday was a fantastic Indian summer day in upper Bavaria and after picking up my freshly serviced mountain bike, I decided to climb up to Rotwandhaus (1737m) from my mum's old house in Josefsthal. I wasn't sure if I could do it because after my last ride I had some pain in my right knee. After the first few 100 altimeters I felt that I had a good day and this feeling got confirmed while finishing the ascent to Spitzingsattel, a kind of pass at 1100m. The decision to continue from there on was taken and so I continued my ride on a quick pace, even overtaking other riders on my way up. I had last done this route about 2 years ago and still remembered that there were two really steep ramps, but as I felt strong that day I knew I would master them without problems. Indeed these two parts were pretty steep (one at 18% over 700m!) and I had to use my biggest sprocket, which I didn't use until that point. Once I had mastered those monster ramps I continued gently but steadily and my thoughts were already occupied with deciding what lunch I would order at the mountain hut that was approaching quickly. The view on the top was fantastic and I felt lucky to be there on such a nice day. The pain was well worth it and hungry like a wolf I started queuing up for lunch. I was hesitating between "Kaiserschmarrn" and "Kasspatzn" and went for the latter, cause Kaiserschmarrn in combination with wheat beer often creates heavy gaseous activity in my intestines...
A fairly strong wind was blowing, so I finished lunch quickly and enjoyed sitting on the meadow away from the crowds, taking photos and enjoying the panoramic views towards Austria and the Bavarian mountains.
During the descent I was still enjoying the wonderful views and although there were many hikers walking back down, I still liked the downhill section.
Endomondo trip details
This afternoon I went cycling with my son Christian, leaving from home towards Switzerland via Ornex, Bossy heading to Chavannes des Bois where we had "Kaffee und Kuchen", before returning via Sauverny, Versonnex and Bossy. We went past the astronomical observatory close to Chavannes des Bois but couldn't use the forest path as they are building a new gaz pipeline there.
In total we accumulated 23 km and 186 altimeters, which qualifies this post to be inserted into this blog ;-)
My legs still hurt a bit from yesterday's Barillette climb, for which reason I chose to do this gentle outing. Christian enjoyed it a lot and with a bit more training I will soon initiate him to his first ascents up the Jura.
Next week I'll pick up my MTB in Bavaria and will certainly ride up a mountain to enjoy "Kaiserschmarrn" and a "Weissbier" in one of the numerous cozy mountain huts.
Stay tuned...
Today on summer equinox I decided to climb one of my favorite paved Jura roads, La Barillette. I have cycled up already on my MTB two years ago and this summer for the first time on my road bike (two plateaus only !). Today I took the trekking bike as I wasn't 100% fit (in between two night shifts !) and my time budget was limited. The weather conditons were perfect for cycling (sunny but not too warm) and traffic was moderate until I started to ascend. This road is quite popular amongst motorcyclists and weekend tourists and so it was no surprise to see many bikes and sporty cars roaring up there.
A lone cyclist on a road bike passed me right after Florettaz but that was the only uphill biking guy I met on the 13km long road to the top. I quickly gained altitude and was in fairly good shape considering that I had slept only 6h after a night shift and not cycled for ~2 weeks. On two occasions I had a quick drinking stop but without losing too much time because I was keen on reaching the summit where the Swisscom antennas are pointing into the sky. During the whole ascent I never used the biggest sprocket.
After about 2:16 and 30km I reached the highest point from where I could soak up the fantastic panoramic view over lake Geneva with the Alps and the all dominant Mt. Blanc in the background. It was the compensation for a tough piece of work and many sweat drops dripping down from my face onto the frame bars of my bike.
When I arrived there no other cyclists were present, only hikers and young guys with their sports cars enjoying the amazing view and scenery.
After eating two energy bars to fill up my batteries, emptying my water bottles and taking many photos, I decided to return back home.
Endomondo trip details
My cycling hero Will has a nice description on his cycling challenge website: La Barillette by Will
