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In a nutshell
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Start
Finish
Countries
Stages
Rest days
Extra stages
Highlights
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Vienna, Austria
Geneva, Switzerland
Austria, Germany, Switzerland
22 stages
Salzburg, Innsbruck,
St. Moritz,
Andermatt, Interlaken
2 optional loops in St. Moritz and Andermatt
Salzburg, Grossglockner Hochstrasse,
Krimmler Wasserfälle, Innsbruck,
Neuschwanstein, St. Moritz, Splügenpass,
Furkapass, Nufenenpass,
Sustenpass,
Interlaken, Bern, Lake Geneva
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Total distance
Average distance
Total climbing
Average climbing
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2.300 km
95 km
35.000 meters
1.500 meters
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1440 miles
60 miles
115.000 feet
4.900 feet
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Road condition
Period
Accommodation
Price
Discount
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90% paved
10% cycle route with natural surface
Tuesday June 11th,
2019
Sunday July 7th,
2019
Campsites and 10 hotel nights
€ 4.095,-
€ 200,- for early registration
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Description
Have you heard of the TransAlp? It's a popular mountain
bike race crossing the Alps from North to South. From
Germany to Italy through Austria or Switzerland in just
a week and a few hundred kilometres. It's a fabulous
ride, but it's a pity to take a shortcut through such
attractive countries.
A real TransAlp doesn't run North-South, it
should run West-East, or the other way around to
appreciate the diversity of the Alps and to enjoy the
best of Austria and Switzerland. The journey really is the
destination in this part of the world. Every day,
another highlight.
Austria's imperial palaces and baroque churches formed
the inspiring décor for the musical masterpieces of
Mozart, Strauss and Schubert. It's for Bike-Dreams the
setting for the start of their masterpiece: the
"Edelweiss Epic".
We jump on the bike and waltz us a way through the Alps
from East to West. A bicycle tour like a musical
masterpiece. The road instructions form the sheet music
and the elevation profiles dictate the rhythm. From low
valleys with flower-freckled meadows to high Alpine
passes. From slow gentle climbs along glaciers to fast
breath-taking downhills. From tranquil little streams to
deafening waterfalls. From graceful cathedrals in
classical cities to tiny chapels on top of a mountain.
From deeply carved canyons to large turquoise lakes.
From straight roads between alpine pastures where
cowbells chime to countless hairpins to reach the
homeland of the Edelweiss.
What's a better place to start a tour like this than in
Vienna, known as
the City of Music. The rolling hills appear soon if we
leave the grandeur of Austrian's capital behind. Quiet
valleys, hidden passes, mountain lakes and charming
villages bring us in four days to
Salzburg, the
birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A wonderful city
full of baroque architecture that looks back on a long
history as a metropolis of arts and culture, and where
classical music wafts from open windows in quiet side
streets.
We cycle to Bad Gastein
known for its hot springs with miraculous healing
properties. The resort has kept some of the charm of its
19th-century heyday, when Empress Elisabeth - better
known as Sisi - came here to bathe and pen poetry.
We reach the mountain range of the
Hohe Tauern. The
National Park with the same name is Austria's outdoor
wonderland and one of Europe's largest nature reserves
which straddles Tyrol, Carinthia and Salzburgerland. We
cross the range for the first time north-south by an
eight kilometres long train tunnel. The second time is
much more strenuous when we cycle up the
Grossglockner Road.
It's Austria's best road trip by far with waterfalls,
lakes and phenomenal views of the glacier-capped peaks.
We definitely reach Edelweiss altitude, especially when
we make the short, but steep, side trip to the
Edelweiss Spitze,
with 2.571 metres the highest point of the tour.
The epic journey continues through Tyrol, a region where
Alpine horns echo through the mountains and where the
pure Alpine air makes you want to start yodelling. Your
vocals will be drowned out by the splatter of the
three-tier Krimmler
Wasserfälle, with 380 metres Europe's highest
waterfall. A rest day is planned in the capital of
Tyrol, Innsbruck,
where the late-medieval Altstadt, the grand Habsburg
palace and the baroque cathedral are some of its
attractions.
A relatively short and easy stage to
Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
just across the border into Germany. It gives you the
option to take a cable car up to the Zugspitze, with
2.964 metres the highest peak of the country and a great
lookout over Tyrol in Austria, the Bavarian Alps in
Germany and Switzerland in the far distance.
We stay a day longer in Germany which is not without
reason. We make halt in
Füssen and the nearby castles of Ludwig II,
Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, which evokes
childhood memories of magical fairytale destinations.
We zigzag in two stages through Austria, from Germany to Switzerland. Another country, but still the same
Alps and a stunning collection of peaks, glaciers,
pastures, waterfalls and lakes. Except... the mountains
are higher and maybe even more impressive. Most of the
passes which we cross are also higher. We cycle a dozen
time up to 2.000 metres or (far) above.
We have planned "rest" days in
St. Moritz, which
has hosted the Winter Olympic twice, and in
Andermatt, a town
blessed with austere mountain appeal which was once an
important staging post. It's up to you: to enjoy your
rest these days OR to take the bicycle and tick off some
famous passes like the Albula Pass, the Nufenen Pass,
the Furka Pass and the legendary St. Gotthard Pass over
the cobblestoned Via Tremola road with 37 tortuous twists.
We briefly visit Italy when we climb the south side of
the wonderful Passo dello
Spluga, a pass which has been used since Roman
era and gains almost 2.000 metres in altitude.
You think that you can reach high altitudes by bicycle
in Switzerland. But by train, you can get even a lot
higher. This is especially true when we have a short
stage planned to
Interlaken, which is the gateway to the fabled
Jungfrau region. You can catch a phenomenal train ride
up to the Jungfraujoch,
3.454 metres towering in the Alpine sky. One of
Switzerland's classic experiences.
We leave the pearly white peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and
Jungfrau and head in the direction of
Bern. Time for some
culture and city life after all this overdose of
mountains and passes. Wandering through the Unesco World
Heritage-listed medieval old town, with its provincial,
laid-back air, is it hard to believe that Bern is the
capital of Switzerland.
Three stages remain till the finish line. Still enough
new impressions when we pass the glitz and glamour of
Gstaad and take the
cycling route on the northern shore of Europa's largest
lake, Lac Léman, also known as
Lake Geneva. We
cycle through Montreux, a visitor-magnet for the rich,
famous and everyone in-between, through terraced
vineyards, and through Lausanne, home to a boisterous
student population and the International Olympic
Committee. At the end of the tour, is
Geneva waiting. The
city houses the headquarters of some 200-odd
international organisations plus an overload of
boutiques, restaurants, chocolatiers and luxury hotels.
You'll find your well-deserved rest in one of them.
The tour starts at the beginning of the summer season.
Hopefully we get beautiful sunny days, but keep in mind
that the weather conditions can always be unsettled in
the Alps. The circumstances can become heroic if you
reach altitudes around or above 2.000 metres.
The 1st edition of the "Edelweiss Epic" starts
Monday June 11th,
2019 in Vienna. The finish lies after almost 4 weeks, 24
stages, 2.300 kilometres and numerous climbs at the
shores of Lake Geneva.
As written before : a bicycle tour like a musical
masterpiece. A symphony of famous mountain passes and a
wealth of culture in a setting of fabulous natural
beauty. If Mozart would be among us, he probably
wouldn't hesitate to join us.
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The credo of Bike Dreams is : "Life is not the
dreams you have, but the dreams you realize".
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