5 of 5 Edelweiss

Booked in for a lifetime

Monday, October 5, 2020 | Thomas Ritt / Christian Preining | News / Europe | 6 Comments

The happy couple

Thanks for these pics, Matt. Stelvio shrouded in clouds and the sheep on Monte Grappa - good memories!

The tour is over and it was again much too short and I can hardly wait to go on tour with Edelweiss again. After all, I was lucky to ride with a great group again.
And not to forget: a very special greeting to Michael, the other tour guide from 10 years ago. I still cherish the Edelweiss scarf and it is with me on every tour.

Blog by Simone

Day 8 - Seefeld - Erding

Sunrise. Yes, it's cold!!!

We had an overwhelming view of the Zugspitzmassiv. Cold, but dry and a clear blue sky.

Winter Wonder Land on the bike. How lovely, but also very cold. But we have fun, needless to say.

Day 7 - Cison de Valmarino - Seefeld i. Tirol

Passo San Ubaldo (706 m), not that high, but very special. Every switchback is in the tunnel, not enough place, you know.

Lago di Carezza (Karersee). Really nice, fewer people and a beautiful reflection in the lake.

The Reflcetion is more impressive on this picture, therefore the second one.

Poor Victoria, her husband John forgot her in the Alps and so she had to look for a lift...

... good for her: gentleman Frank gave her a ride

Day 6 - Riva del Garda - Cison de Valmarino

View of Bassano del Grappa. A lovely city, nice to stroll around and look for really beautiful souvenirs.

Statue "Il Bacio" from Severino Morlin. A young alpine man embracing his beauty and kissing her before he goes to the front.
An invitation to lovers and young people and a warning against the drama of the war.

It's all Grappa in Bassano del Grappa, like the name already says. Of course, the choice is quite difficult.

View from Monte Grappa (1775 m), which is the highest peak of the Grappa-Massiv.

Our humble hotel tonight: Castel Brando in Cison de Valmarino. What an amazing place...

Yes, right, we have to climb these stairs to get to our rooms. After a hard riding day a piece of cake.

When we were told that we could spend a night in a castle we imagined a room like this one. When we entered, we immediately felt like Royals. And I can confirm, we slept very well.

Day 5 - Bolzano - Riva del Garda

Hurry up, Christian does like to start the daily briefing on time.

We are in Glurns, the smallest town in Italy, only 905 inhabitants. Here you can see a typical apple harvester. The boxes in the trailer are full of apples.

We did it! North-East Ramp of Passo dello Stelvio! And the conditions almost perfect: dry surface, partly brand new asphalt AND not that much traffic. Sorry, no photos of the many many switchbacks. It was simply too foggy at the top of the pass.

And on we go, working through the list of passes: Passo di Gavia. Still foggy and very bad conditions to drive. Very bumpy and it is raining again. What surprise! But first we rest a little and hope for better weather.

Passo di Tonale (1882 m) with its Ossario, a memorial of the first WW. And as usual: foggy and wet. Why should we wish anything else? Anyone can ride on dry roads.

We just enjoyed our dinner. Pizza and Pasta in a very cosy atmosphere. What else could we wish for...?

... certainly a dessert! And what is better than eat a really delicious ice cream in Italy? Perhaps riding next day? According to the principle: Ride, Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
And for your information: 6 Passes and certainly more than 250 switchbacks.

Day 4 - Cortina - Bolzano

The rain welcomes us also today and the second pass we cross is the Passo Falzorago. Here down in the gorge we can see the old road.

Right close to Passo Valparola you can visit a bunker from WW1.

Passo Pordoi: checked! Still raining. We will be the best trained group doing passes in wet conditions!

Last stop before we come to an end of diving, uh I mean for sure riding for today

On top of the Ritten, just before we arrive at the hotel, we are rewarded with a beautiful rainbow. And hard to believe: down the road to Bolzano, as a perfect end of the riding day we were riding the perfect road: excellent surface, nice smooth curves AND it was dry. Yippie Yah Yei.

Hotel Magdalenerhof in Bolzano made us feel very welcome!

Day 3 - Friuli, the unknown Italian jewel

We checked the first 2 passes off our list for today: Gailbergsattel and Plöckenpass. Now we will have a coffee break.

Next stop: the top of Monte Zoncolan, which is very demanding. A really narrow street and up it was quite bad and bumpy.

Here is the proof: this street is nothing for beginners. And yes, this is were we have to ride down.

The view was not existing. But suddenly the clouds cleared a bit and we got an impressive sky.

Weatherwise it was very changeable on the second riding day. But as you can see, we didn’t let that spoil our mood.

Last coffee-stop at Auronzo di Cadore, very close to our hotel in Cortina d'Ampezzo. So how many passes do you think we crossed? Well, despite rather bad conditions we managed to get 6.
The whole list you’d like to read? Here it is: Gailbergsattel, Plöckenpass, Monte Zoncolan, Passo del Pura, Passo della Mauria and Passo Tre Croci.

Before dinner we did a short walk through Cortina d’Ampezzo. Including some shopping. And who do you think has found something to buy? Wrong, it wasn't me...

Day 2 - Großglockner calling

The first pass is done: Sudelfeldpass (1123m). Now we have a short rest and then we continue

The group at Pillersee, having lunch. Großglockner, we're coming!

Die Gruppe am Pillersee, beim Mittagessen. Großglockner, wir kommen!

Highlight of the Day: Grossglockner. We are up to 2571m and we have already conquered 2 of 4 passes on the Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße: Fuscher Törl and Edelweißspitze. Last one a little bit tricky, because of the cobblestone pavement.

Last one: Kaiser Franz Josef Höhe (2369 m). From here you have a good view of the Pasterze. It's the biggest glacier in Austria.

She thought, her bike in the front with the Pasterze in the background might be a good motive.

Day 1 - Arrival Day - Sauerlach

Everyone has arrived! And everyone is already eager to conquer the 40 passes.

But not immediately. First Thomas and Christian explain how to behave on an Edelweiss Tour. And now the welcome dinner is calling…

Day 0 – Transport Day

Ten years ago, she got in contact with Edelweiss on the 30th-anniversary tour. And now she is on tour again for the 40^th anniversary of Edelweiss. And with the same tour guide on board, who is now her husband.

Vor zehn Jahren hatte sie bei der 30-Jahre-Tour ihren Erstkontakt mit Edelweiss. Und jetzt ist sie wieder auf Tour, zum 40jährigen Edelweiss-Jubiläum. Und zwar mit demselben Tourguide, der jetzt ihr Ehemann ist.

Both on the way to Mieming, Tour-Preparation. She on 2 wheels, he on four. Well, someone has to transport our luggage.

She captures his professionalism loading the bikes. Luckily for him, he has some help from colleague Simon.

It is almost 2 years ago that he did that. But once a professional, always a professional.

Everything loaded and secured. Ready to go!

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Erwin und Birgit

Sunday, October 4, 2020 at 09:22

Liebe Simone,
dein Blog von unserer gemeinsam erlebten Tour ist wunderschön! Wir schauen fast jeden Tag rein, um uns an die wunderbaren Tage und Touren zurück zu erinnern und alles noch einmal Revue passieren zu lassen. Wir waren eine gute Truppe, und wir grüßen alle ganz herzlich, falls auch sie hier rein schauen

Thomas Ritt

Monday, October 5, 2020 at 19:38

Danke, freut uns sehr, auch wir schauen fast täglich in den Blog und träumen uns zurück in die Alpen.
Liebe Grüße Simone & Tom

Michael Göbel

Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 09:54

Hallo Simone,
schön dass du an mich gedacht hast.
Euch beiden noch eine gute Zeit.

Thomas Ritt

Monday, October 5, 2020 at 19:37

Ja, du warst in unseren Gedanken dabei. Übrigens, nochmal zur Erinnerung: zu unserer Silberhochzeits-Tour wolltest du den Tourguide machen! Also immer schön fit bleiben...

Bob

Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 14:06

I am very happy to see this tour happening, at the same time disappointed not to be riding with all of you. It looks more like an endurance test with the rain your having, but everyone is smiling.
This evening at the 40th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION have a beer for us, we will enjoy your moment.

To the next 40 years
Prost ,
From the USA

Thomas Ritt

Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 08:12

HI Bob,
believe it or not, but the weather is much better than the forecast predicted. And the roads are just as stunning as we expected. So yes, it's great to be riding!