Three ways out of Merano

Photoshoots, get in the van, drive to the pretty bit and ride that corner 10 times, back in the van. Thats how it works right? An easy few days being chauffered around the mountains is what I was expecting.

Wrong. That big rental van is just to get us to Merano, Crossing mountain ranges was the brief. Three solid days in the saddle were waiting for us, keeping it authentic, all 4 of us riding the whole time, Three on Gravel bikes and James the photographer with the help of the rental e-MTB he needed to lug around all his equipment for the weekend.

Although we stayed in the same accommodation each night every day felt like part of a journey, each location picked specially and each landscape different.

South Tyrol is on the northern border of italy and was until after the First World War part of Austria, the culture, architecture and language reflects this mix. Coffee, Strudel and Pizza became standard fuel for our days in the mountains.

I live in the South Downs and although we can rack up a decent amount of climbing over a days riding (no Northerners, its not flat down South) the elevation profile generally ends pretty jagged, the ups and downs are constant.

Getting on a bike and being told to ride up a mountain for the first time in 12 months comes as quite a shock to the system. Nearly 7000ft of elevation, no downhills to have a breather on, no twisty single track to get out of the saddle and move around and no shady woodlands to cool down in. My god was it worth it though…

We started on tarmac up to the first mountain hut refreshment break (Raspberry cream sponge cake and a full fat Coke, yes I needed it) After this we started up the gravel track towards Eishof, a mountain hut that was once the highest permanent settlement in the whole of the eastern Alps. The path kicked up a couple of degrees at points and we struggled to keep traction but the scenery was beautiful, reaching Eishof the path continues further up towards the rocky peaks, a group of older Austrian men on full suspension bikes take one look at our gravel bikes and warn us that its bumpy up there.

After more food and getting all the photos we needed we set off back the way we came, it feels weird not to be continuing a journey but by the time we exited the tunnel we had climbed up through at the start of the day were all grinning ear to ear.

Meran 2000 was our destination for the second day, a ski resort just West of the city. In the spirit of ski resort holidays (and to avoid a lot of climbing) I took the cable car up, only to find we then had to ride half the way can down again to start shooting.

We pass the ski runs and snow cannons, the rocky paths are now busy with hikers and E-bikes, its so good to see people of all generations out enjoying the mountains. Exploring various tracks up here was amazing, as the day wore on grey clouds started to bubble up in the distance.

We needed to crack on to our final location of the day, a hut high up on the peak, at the top of what turned out to be a good 45 minutes of hike a bike up a loose gravel track. The views from every angle were incredible, the approaching cloud and thunder rolling in adding to the magnificence of the mountains.

The first few drops of rain hit us as we layered up ready for the descent, a sense of urgency growing as a huge flash of lightning lit up the clouds in the distance. By the time we reached our accommodation and had taken off our shoes the heavens opened, wind gusted through the apartment slamming doors and windows as hailstones violently battered the building.

The final ride day took us past Lana and into Stelvio National park, our destination was Lago Fontana Bianca, a mountain lake at 1800m. The route was pretty much straight out and back, a 30 mile climb, lunch, a 30 mile descent. At least that was the plan.

Out of town we left the roads, weaving through apple orchards and vineyards the route took us sharply upwards, it wasn’t long before the tarmac turned to stones, stones turned to grass. The morning dew had left the surface slippery and it wasn’t long before I was off and pushing, luckily it was short lived and we soon rejoined the road and got some miles under our belts.

The climb was steady, a couple of tunnels cut into the rock lead us up to a lush green alpine valley, again different to the two previous days and reminiscent of The Sound of Music. A dam created a huge lake near a town, thinking this was our destination pavlovs hunger kicked in, my belly ready for lunch, I was out of luck, a couple of shoots up and down along the top of the dam, a nibble of chocolate wafer and our ride continued further upwards.

Alongside the lake was a gravel path, we stopped to fill out bottles with the most delicious cold fresh mountain water, our last sustenance until the lunch waiting for us at the top. Another hour of climbing passed, the route was beautiful but the early afternoon sun had heated the roads, patched of trees up higher offered welcome shade.

By the time we got to the top I was exhausted, I could feel by the slight shake in my hands that my blood sugar had dropped, a closed restaurant was not the reward I was hoping for. We shared out the last of the wafers, turned around and started back down the way we’d come.

I quickly perked up, giggling and wooping ensued on the decent, tucked down in the drops we raced down, smooth tarmac leading a twisting path down the mountainside, each of us got to the bottom exhilarated, smiling from ear to ear and ready for a huge pasta meal.

All in all this felt more like a holiday with mates than a photoshoot, the Dolomites providing an incredible backdrop, perfect riding and delicious food. I will, most certainly, be back for more.

Thankyou to James Cripps for the Photos, Tim Wiggins for the planning, Jo Burt being Jo Burt.