Downhilling in Whistler, BC

We left Paris behind (in my case reluctantly - I could easily live there!) and flew with Lufthansa on a very uncomfortable plane for 10 hours to Vancouver. The seats were very hard on the plane and I was well glad to get off in British Columbia (BC). We were pretty jet lagged as BC is about 9 hours behind Paris so we taxied to the hotel in Vancouver and chilled for a couple of nights. Ben and I were still not all that well either.

From Berlin to Milan

Bussed up to Whistler (2-3 hours) through 120 km of roadworks getting the place ready for the 2010 winter Olympics and stayed in the village in an apartment in the MarketPlace for those who know Whistler. It was great being right in the middle of things - you can walk everywhere with a fantastic supermarket selling everything you want or need except grog - its at a different 'liquor store' just like home. We had gotten used to the European way of having everything all together in one shop (hypermarche) or everything in all different shops (boulanger, boucherie, patisier, Champion, etc).

From Berlin to Milan

Ben rode downhill bikes for the next 4 days - I lasted a day and couldn't go anymore than that. The Bike Park is brilliant with 3 lifts running and over 200km of downhill trails to ride at three different levels - green (easy), blue (medium) and black (hardest). We rode De Vinci bikes (made near Toronto), Norco bikes (made in Vancouver) and Specialized bikes (made I know not where). The place was very busy with both bike riders and boarders/skiers - there was still enough snow on Blackcomb mountain to have better cover than Mount Perisher has in a good season in winter!

Bussed back to Vancouver and caught the 15 hour direct flight home to Sydney - was a great trip home with Air Canada.

The Left Bank

From Berlin to Milan

Well our milk drinking got the better of Ben and I and we had to partake of the French medical service and see a doctor. I was a little concerned about costs etc but we were really not very well. We saw a doctor near to where we were staying on Rue de Boulanger near the Pantheon and he was great - would accept no money, made sure we came back the next day to see that we were improving, made recommendations for us when the medications he rescribed ran out, etc, etc. As I keep saying through the blog, we have been very lucky and been helped by some fabulous people wherever we've gone.

From Berlin to Milan

Anyway, Paris was great as of course it always is - I love the place and the people. I love trying out my French and being being spoken to in French in return. We have had to try a bit harder on the trip with languages because it seems like wherever we went, we were in areas of Germany, Italy and Romania where little English was spoken. But it was great fun.
Staying on the left bank in an apartment allowed us a view of the city we hadn't had before - we have previously stayed near the Moulin Rouge a couple of times and so we saw Notre Dame (still lots of gypsy beggars here - watch your monies - a new scam was a lady would seem to pick up a gold ring just in front of you and ask you if it was yours while the kids crowded around you while you were distracted by this and make a lunge for the wallet or similar). Did you also know that Americans pronounce Notre Dame as Noter Dame?
The Pantheon, Jardin et la Palais du Luxembourg, Tour Eiffel, etc - what a great city!
Paris is also a leading example of providing bikes for people to use and encouraging their use with bike paths specifically marked on the roads. On many streets, there are say 25 bikes for hire using a parking meter type of gadget to hire it - first hour is free. You can return it to any of the similar bike stations throughout the city and it is locked into place and the computerised locking system tells the central system that you have 'returned' it and to compute a final price. The bikes have lights front and back, gearbox rear hub and very easy to ride. Roads here are narrow but again drivers are pretty forgiving and everyone 'fits' on the roads.

The Romanian Leg

Sorry for the delays for updates but things happen.
We caught up with Tania's Romanian cousins in Cassano d'Adda, Trezzo sur d'Adda and Crema - all near Bergamo. Found out that Pelligrino mineral water is bottled here as well! I knew I liked it.
We donated our bikes to the cousins and mine was already in use by the time we left for Romania. Bike riding is much more of a way of life here than in Australia and rain, hail, shine as well. The roads are probably not as good in Italy as the general roads in Australia either but the drivers are very forgiving and just wait if they have to in order to pass bike riders on the narrower roads. We were very impressed.
The other thing to note about Italians is how hard they work compared to home. A typical day is 7am to 7pm with a half hour break. Often its 6 days per week and they get 2 weeks annual leave. We have it pretty good at home really.
We (eventually!) flew on to Romania with WizzAir - can't really recommend them if anyone is thinking of travelling cheaply around Europe. We had two flights booked with them - one was delayed for three hours and the other was cancelled due to a pilot strike! Anyway, we flew to Cluj Napoca and hired a car and drove the 339km (which took nearly 9 hours such are the state of the roads BTW) to Tania's Aunts/Uncles in Bogota in Eastern Romania.

From Berlin to Milan

This was an emotional time for me as I hadn't been there since 1987 ie. before Ceaucescu was toppled. It was great to see the freedom and general sense of well-being now though there is a vast lack of 18-40 year olds in Romania as they have mostly left to other EU countries for the higher wages. Cluj Napoca though was a university city and was very vibrant and alive though many still said that they would be seeking work in other EU countries when they were finished study.

From Berlin to Milan

We rebooked flights out of Cluj Napoca with Tarom Air since our WizzAir flight was cancelled and had a dream flight back to Milan and onto Paris via Zurich. Unfortunately Ben and I had picked up food poisoning - our own fault really I suppose - we were drinking and enjoying lapte (milk) straight from the milked cow until it caught up with us and we are still recovering even now some weeks later.

St Moritz to Cassano d'Adda

The last couple of legs were easy in comparison to the rest of the ride. Little did we know that we had already done the climbing up to St Moritz and the Maloja Pass was in fact not a climb but a 30 km descent through sweeping curves and switchbacks - just climb the roads you see on the Tour de France in the Alps. What an amazing ride - still stunning scenery, good coffee and great riding. The weather was very kind to us and we were very lucky - spoke with other riders who had been camped in the Alps for a week so far and had been rained on for the whole week!
Down to Lake Como and found a hotel at Bellano with our own balcony over the lake - a beautiful place.

From Berlin to Milan

Last stage of the ride through to the relatives near Bergamo near Milan was very busy traffic and narrow roads but the drivers were very courteous to bike riders - saw lots of other riders here and all being avoided by drivers and just accepted as part of the everyday traffic on the road. Went through some interesting tunnels along the lake towards Lecco but this too was OK in Italy.

From Berlin to Milan

Into Bergamo we got stormed on in the later afternoon before a very kind lady, working in an office next to where we were sheltering from the storm, gave us some coffee and directions to Cassano d'Adda where our relatives lived. Got helped again by a lady on bike when the bike path we were following according to Google Maps turned out to be blocked by a cross European Railway - she was able to show us and in fact rode with us to find the actual street we were looking for.
We had made it - 4 countries, 1200km, lots of tailwinds, no flat tyres and everywhere we went were helped by some very friendly people - touring is really a team effort, even if you don't yet know you are on the team!

Scuol to St Moritz

Weather was clear and bright today as we headed toward St Moritz. It was up! but with views unfolding with each turn of a corner, it was fairly straight forward riding. It was only about 60km and we got into St Moritz before a storm hit at about 2pm. We were safely in a cafe sipping Kaffee creme at that point!

From Berlin to Milan

Staying in Youth Hostels the last two nights has been good value with 3 course dinners and breakfasts to salve some aching hungers. Tomorrow moving onto Lake Como somewhere we hope and out of the Alps - the forecast is for the weather to close in by the end of tomorrow so our timing might be OK. Bikes are all good now - mine had a stiff rear cable for the gears but was able to fix that last night. Our legs are holding up OK too - we climb the Maloja Pass at 1850 metres tomorrow and then we hit some serious downhill to Lake Como I hope.
Have I mentioned how stunning the mountains are? The mountains are stunning! We are at just below the tree line and snow line at about 1400m in St Moritz so the pass climb is ``only`` about 400m, but we`ll see tomorrow. Having a pre-dinner drink at the Youth Hostel (Pinot Grigio no less) and reading a SF6.20 English newspaper - first reading news we`ve had since we left home.

Fussen (Deutschland) to Scuol (Switzerland) via Ostereich

Weather turned out to be great for our attack into the Alps. Over the border to Reutte in Austria and promptly got lost again heading up the wrong valley - but hey, I was used to it by now.
The climb up to FernPass (1205 metres) was not bad a climb but the traffic was unbelievably heavy both ways - a bit like Great Western Highway on soccer Saturday morning. No bike paths up to the pass so we had no option but to deal with the traffic but it turned out OK. It started to rain toward to top as well - just a passing mountain shower though. Found a mountain bike track down out of the pass - a bit like Bees Nest Hill times 6 in terms of steepness and slipperiness and length but at least we didn`t have to deal with the traffic in the rain going down. I crashed and burned on some tree roots but it was all good fun, just being my usual self.
Stayed at Imst overnight in a fantastic hotel with balcony views and sensurround views and sounds of mountains. Italian for dinner and hearing a lot more different languages around town now.

From Berlin to Milan

Monday dawned fine and sunny and we found the Inntal Randweg bike path of the Via Claudia Augusta - the old Roman road leading from Donauworth in Germany through to Verona in Italy. This is a very popular bike path and we saw lots of other bikers today which was brilliant. At time there were remnants of old roman road with carved wheel tracks still evident. Signage for the path was excellent and we didn`t really touch roads at all for most of the way to the Swiss border at Pfunds where the Via Claudia goes over the Reschen Pass into Italy and we turned south west and went into Switzerland towards St Moritz.

From Berlin to Milan

Crossing the border was interesting with customs checks still evident and of course the Swiss still have their own currency (Swiss franc) and slightly different electricity plugs - seems like sheer bloody-mindedness to me but what do I know?
With the Via Claudia leaving us to go to Italy, we searched in vain for Swiss bike paths, though the roads were pretty deserted and very high quality. The riding to Scuol was uppish but generally following the River Inn which begins somewhere near St Moritz and of course, flows through Innsbruck in Austria. The next real test will be the Maloja Pass after St Moritz at 1850 metres. Staying tonight at the Youth Hostel and before you question that - we are not the oldest here thanks very much!

Augsburg to Fussen

Well the rain eased and we made our way out of Augsburg without getting lost - yay! Generally found the Romantische Strasse which is the Via Claudia Augusta or old Roman road all the way to Schongau - about 90 km for the day. Some excellent riding in the, at times, middle of nowhere - cool and overcast with fairly flat and pleasant riding.

From Berlin to Milan

Into Schongau to stay at a hotel in the Stadtmitte - had liver dumpling soup which is the local grub - an acquired taste I believe!
Woke on Saturday to rain but we thought we would push on toward Fussen which is the start of the real climbing. Rained all the 50km of the ride but the paths we rode varied from cowbell pastures, the River Lech every so often with a milky sort of colour, green fields, tall forests and the first glimpses of the Alps in front of us. It was very cold riding though and my shorts were just not cutting it really! We barely hit a road at all for the 50 km and it was wonderful - on a summer´s day it would be fantastic riding.
In an internet cafe in Fussen now after visiting the local kirches and schlosses and of course feeding ourselves at pastry shops. Have checked our options for what we do if the weather doesn`t improve - should be able to bus or train through but we´hope for finer weather first.

Pegnitz to Augsberg

We're sitting in the Youth Hostel in Augsberg and it has rained for much of today. Yesterday was a big day from Pegnitz to Weisenberg (south of Nürnberg)- about 120km for the day and so pretty boring highway riding. It started out OK with the B2 continuing to look after us as far as Nürnberg - beautiful rolling hills and little traffic to deal with ~ that all changed when we hit the big smoke of Nürnberg - lots of traffic and a beautiful walled zentrum - with moat, though now functioning as a car park. It was only 60km to here so we decided to keep going as the weather was holding OK.
The next 60km to Weisenberg involved highway riding and very busy and even a few km of autobahn for which we were told to get off by the very friendly roadworkers. Made it into Weisenberg by about 5pm and stayed inside the of walled town in a 13th century hotel. It started to rain about an hour later and hasn't really stopped since unfortunately. Beautiful dinner of meat and various veges at the hotel with breakfast following Deutsch fashion of meats and cheeses (Jarlsberg no less!) and vrious breads - all good wholesome stuff.

From Berlin to Milan

Today was still raining so we packed up and went to the local hauptbahnoff (train station) and bought tickets for our bikes and us to Augsberg, which was essentially our planned destination for the day anyway. The train was great with a separate area to store bikes (and plenty as well) and place for us to sit nearby to monitor.
Checked into the Youth Hostel now and we're not the oldest ones staying - yay! Augsberg is another walled city with moat and tower gates - have I mentioned that I coud become accustomed to living in a castle with a moat? Might be a bit grand do you think?
Saving grace today that I didn't get lost once - we were only travelling by shanks pony though!

From Berlin to Milan

Hopefully weather get's better tomorrow (Friday) and we ride onto Fussen at the start of the Alps. Bikes are well and so are we and really quite fit and ready to climb.
Thanks for the comments everyone - hope you are enjoying the rantings.

Leipzig to Pegnitz

Left Leipzig earlyish with my poor old bike making bad noises from the hub. I say earlyish because we had to fight the German hordes at the Youth Hostel free breakfast - some even came armed with their lunchboxes and stocked up for later!
We headed toward Gera on the B2 which we will follow pretty much all the way to Augsburg. The riding to Gera was rolling hills and pretty hot - about 32 degrees and 85km. Thought we have had to sleep on park bench as hotels were pretty hard to come by but found a beautiful one off the main drag and settled in the luxury to which we would like to become accustomed. Sundays are not a day to be looking for anything to be open very much in Germany.

From Berlin to Milan

Monday dawned hot again and I wasn't going anywhere until my poor old rear hub had some due care and attention. Turned out that the internals of the cluster carrier had pretty much shredded themselves - I was lucky to make it this far I think. Bike shop guy was great though and fixed it all on the spot and so on our way to get lost (again!) getting out of Gera - lost an hour here - I was not a happy traveller.
Very hot and unimpressive riding to Hof - about 90km and our first taste of some bigger hills and close traffic. I worked out that I am getting about 20km per litre of water. Cheaper than petrol - water is about 50 cents a litre while petrol is over 2 dollars a litre so I'm in front! Found the Youth Hostel in Hof (at the top of another hill of course!) but the room was cheap and fantastic after a hard day - even though we had to pay an extra 8 euro because we were (just) over 26 years old. Bike is like new as well.

From Berlin to Milan

Tuesday we headed off from Hof under cloudy and cooler skies but still steamy. The riding was the best so far with uncrowded roads, no steep hills, lots of rolling Bavarian countryside and quite a few bike paths - highly recommend this area for riding. Got lost (again!) in Bayreuth but found Pegnitz after 90km where we are staying in a Gasthaus with CNN on TV for company. Had a hotdog mit senf under the walls of a castle for lunch - cobbled streets, no traffic. Even when we hit the main roads which we had to at times, the drivers including trucks, tractors, cars were all very forgiving and gave us a wide berth.

From Berlin to Milan

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we head off toward Nurnberg and beyond toward the Alps hopefully by Friday depending on the weather. It has been very stormy here at night so thankfully we have not had to ride through any real rain so far. We saw in the paper though that south-west Germany (where we are headed to) has had big floods from storms but we haven't had to deal with any of that thank goodness.

Away we go - Berlin to Leipzig

Left Berlin on Friday on bike paths all the way out of the city and most of the way to Lutherstadt Wittenburg - beautiful forests, forgiving drivers (cyclists really are a way of life here and they are in the psyche of all citizens). Very hot riding - over 30 degrees but excellent conditions. Stayed at the Youth Hostel in the Wittenburg castle - neat rooms and very helpful English-speaking staff. 108km today and going fine on the B2.

From Berlin to Milan

Saturday had the morning in Wittenburg - Tarn bought scarf and bandanna and saw two weddings. Left for Leipzig about 1:30pm for late lunch in Bad Dubens which had a good old-fashioned market fiesta going with ferris wheel etc. Hot and at times stormy ride for the last 38km to Leipzig to the Youth Hostel at Schoneberg Ost. 68km today and Pat´s bike is making a few noises around the chain that weren't there before - tomorrow will tell if its anything major.

From Berlin to Milan