Across Austria to the Timmelsjoch

I continued on the 25 this morning and it was more of the same lovely twisty country lane with very little traffic. I felt so good to be flipping the bike from side to side with a nice smooth surface you could rely on (most of the time) The were quite a few road crews out dealing with flood damage and erosion but that didn't really get in the way and there was so little traffic.

Eventually, I started to follow the path of the river Inn which looked to be in flood. The water was very muddy, not the usual azureish you associate with mountain rivers. I guess that have had a lot of rain here recently. I saw a good few rafting vans moving around so I waited for a while beside the river hoping for one to come along but no joy.

I stopped for lunch and ordered the lunch special and E6.50 and nearly exploded trying to eat it. They believe in value for money with their portions here. The side salad seemed to have a couple of spuds in it too. This was the view from the table, not a lot wrong with that. Abandoning half the food supplied in the interest of staying awake, I pressed on west. I had begin to think that Austria was perfect for biking but in the afternoon I was proved wrong. There is so much traffic here on the main roads(the small roads are fine). Nobody breaks the speed limits because there is no point. You will just run into the back of the next articulated truck ahead of the one you are following. The views however range from interesting to downright impressive. There is always something to look at instead of the back of the truck ahead of you.

I passed Kuftstein which has this impressive 12th century fortress and was tempted to go take a look but time was against me after all the traffic so I jumped on the motorway for 100km to get to the Oetz valley, where I went skiing earlier this year in Soelden. The place is as dead as a dodo at this time of year. The titty bar still seemed open though…..




The whole point of coming this was was to go over the Timmelsjoch pass to Italy. I didn't realise it but the Austrians charge E12 to cross. I paid and got my leaflet and souvenir sticker and a bit grumpy, I set off up. Coming from the north, the pass is unremarkable, just another high alpine road. I was beginning to feel a little ripped off.





At the top, looking over to the Italian side, the situation is very much more dramatic. The Italian side is where all the fun and danger is. Near the top, there is a 700 long tunnel and a sharp right hand bend just after the exit. A plaque on the wall commemorates 3 local chaps who didn't make the bend in 1998 because some snow had fallen and the little wall hadn't been built.



The descent down to Merano in Italy is fabulous, with smooth narrow roads, sheer drops and switchbacks. In fact, I don't know why anyone bothers with the Austrian side at all… and the Italian side is free. Apparently the Austrian side was originally built as a tourist road whereas most of the Italian side was constructed as a military road. My advice is do the Italian side twice instead.

 The Route
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