Letter 7
Wednesday 27.07.11
It's almost 12 o'clock and I've only just reached Blüdenz. Put a letter
to the computer between 7 and 8 where breakfast started.
Eat with Hans, the australian, and we headed downtown, where he pointed
out the street where I should turn. I would have thought it just lead to
the autobahn. We shook hands rolling, he was going to continue through
Lichtenstein to Switzerland.
The weather has turned reasonable, but this afternoon it's going to rain
- eev.
All churchbells of the village ring me out of town. Then the road
divides. 137 km to Innsbruck by autobahn, 144 km across Arlberg Pass -
my road.
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| Until now it's flat... | ...but is it really possible to get through this? |
The road ascends and within long the big cogwheel comes to an end.
Shorter steeper climbs, but it flattens each time.
I stop to eat a "Linzenstange" - I need calories. The first bottle is
finished. Km 40 to 41,5 where I reach Wald am Arlberg is a tough part.
Here I rest in the sun for a while. It's all prettier in sunshine.
Unfortunately also hotter!
The autobahn has turned "full" again, for a while there was only one
lane in each direction. I've passed a tunnel of 350 m and am ascending
with 10 km/h just now. It's a perfect gradient. I have to climb. To 1800
m and I've just reached 950 m. No, 1800 isn't true. According to plan
I'm only going to Stuben, before the final switchbacks to the pass.
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| The pass is open... | ...and the tunnel just long |
In Langen am Arlberg comes a train station, so probably a toilet,
which means water, I'll soon be out? There is - and a coffee automat. I
feed it with 1€ and get a cappucino - and 2 x 50 cent. I think I'll take
another one... And the toilet was free... And the cappucino really tasty...
It's raining while I'm sitting here sheltered. Next time the machine
forgets to give me change...
Then comes the challenge - a pass tunnel of 853 m - and suddenly lots of
traffic - there's been an exit from the motorway and nobody wants to
miss this last beautiful part it seems? There's only one lane in each
direction, but a sidewalk wide enough for my bike and me. A 20 cm edge
and 30 cm to the white line, that's fine - I drag the bike through.
It's actually nice to use my legs for another purpose, but it's so steep,
that my right arm starts hurting. I have to keep bended and straight
alternating. Even I've tried this before is it a scary experience, which
can only be surpassed by cycling IN the road, rear light or not. The
sound is overwhelming when a car advances - and they do constantly - and
when it has passed it sounds as if another one is on its way. The sound
is thrown to and fro the tube.
When I get through AT LAST - I can ride the bike the last part which is
gallery, which means that the tube is open in one side, here's the
sidewalk wide enough so I dare - I see a road/cycle path outside. Maybe
it's only a emergency lane?
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| The gallery leads to the pass to the north... | ...but I have to go straight |
The meter says 1320 m and I've cycled 52,15 km and I'm on a bench
watching the switchbacks ending in a gallery up there.
I take a break after 500 m - just a short one. After 1 km I have to stop
to catch my breath. According to the meter I've only ascended 80 m,
meaning 8%. Is this because of the altitude? I can't seem to breathe.
I was not supposed to enter through the gallery, that lead up north, I -
if I may say so - just have to continue "straight". But it flattens.
It's wonderful again being able to go 8 km/h without gasping for air.
I stop one last time. Now I can SEE the restaurant on top. It starts to
rain - what else could one expect?
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| The top is in the distance... | ...and here I am |
16.40 I'm there. The meter says 1740 m, it is actually 1800 - yes, it
says so above the entrance. Now I can adjust the meter.
The rain intensifies. A young man without bags want a photo so he takes
some for me too.
It was really an exhausting part, now I'm waiting for the rain to stop.
It's cold, so I step inside, where there is a souvenir shop to one side
and restaurant to the other. I spot a free outlet where my battery for
the camera gets a boost of a quarter of an hour. I was too stingy to pay
500 d.kr. for an extra original Sony batteri. Stupid.
I search for my rain trousers. They're not on top where they ought to be.
I give on searching all bags throughly and start the descend. The rain
is not so heavy but with this speed I get wet anyway. My speed doesn't
exeed 40 km/h, that's too dangerous. I get down to Sct. Anton. There's
an open info house. There's warm inside and a bench so I eat my supper
there. I feel a violent hunger after the effort. I eat a fine bread with
cheese and marmelade. On top I had a banana and a bun.
Go on searching for a camping site. I've not become wiser -
unfortunately. I THINK I've seen 3 different in the map. When I go down
to ask the prize at the first one it's 13,50€ and I go on. Hans had paid
8, 8.50 and 12! Which he found was too much.
When I take a closer look at the map, it was the only one - so I start
looking for a place to camp "wild". There are no horisontal areas at the
road. No sideways, just steep valleys.
I go all the way to Landeck, where I cross the river to the hospital and
turns left passing a purifying plant. In the end the road turns too
narrow for normal traffic and the gate is open to a pen or whatever it
is. Not exactly in my dreams. To one side the railway, where several
freight trains pass thundering by. 50 m away the motorway crosses the
valley on a high bridge. 20 m away are high voltage masts and 50 m away
the river roars. The last is OK. There's a heavy smell from animals.
Now, at 22 it starts to rain - again. No surprise.
99.40 km
15.3 km/h
45.3 km/h
6:29:09 h