Life is not a Practice

On Friday night the weather forecast was rain, wet and snow so I drove to Vinschgau to go trailing with Wera, Heidi and Gremml.



Today we did the Holy Hansen trail and the the Aigen Trail. Lots of great trailing, super weather and great fun.

28km and 1343 meters of climbing. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=xlbjwnlkvoupmged

Wera was with Heidi in Vinschgau so Bettina and I joined Group One. Paulina is 8 monthe pregnant and still faster uphill than me. The two grandmothers as well.



24km and 770 meters of uphill. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=vmdgduueokfrpubt

Wera and Gremml, Bettina and I.
It was very hot when we left but once the sun went down and we were in the trees, it was pleasant.



Stopped off at the Sorg Alp on the way home for a beer and a few "schnapps". There we met all the others from the other two groups who had also stopped for a drink.

41km with 889 meters of climbing.

Tuesday evening and the three of us went cycling. Jon had already decided on the Hopfensee - Füssen - Vils tour so we did that at a relatively gentle pace.



On the way home Heidi suggested swimming. Jon and I stripped off and jumped in while Heidi talked to her vet.

45km and 472 meters of climbing.

Between the rain today there was a dry spell so we headed off up the Reuttewanne. Unfortunately I was "on duty" today and received an alert on my mobile phone so had to return home to fix it. Just as we got home, it began to rain again.



14km and 505 meters of climbing.

It was Thursday evening but it was raining a bit during the day so one after another everyone wrote "I'm not coming." In the end it was Heidi, Wera and I. We waited half an hour until it was dry and then cycled up to the Herzer Hütte and down the Bayerstetten trail.



Only 13km and 558 meters of climbing but better than sitting at home.

Jon was very definite this evening. "Flat tour to Marktoberdorf." It is not actually that flat but I suppose he meant "No mountains!"

Just over 50 km and including a swim in the last lake we passed before getting home. There are worse ways to spend an evening.

And then red wine and Baileys.



54km with 654 meters of climbing. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=uizaynchwjjtgghm

A Saturday tour designed by Wera - get out of car and cycle 700 meters up hill followed by fantastic trails.



Four of us sweated up the hills and then had just as high pulses trailing back down.



1035 meters of climbing in only 21km. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=kxztmdmowunuhfmv

Thursday evening. Bettina, Wera and I cycled up to Bärenmoos for a beer. Bettina had to go straight home so Wera and I trailed the footpath in to Vilstal :-)



Then across to the Kögelweiher for a swim at dusk.



34km and 712 meters of climbing. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=utlnfttldcgioace

Tonight was Tuesday so we went out for a race bike ride. Jon had just spent two weeks in England enjoying English food and beer while Heidi and I had just cycled 1000km. Poor Jon!



It took us exactly 3 hours and I had an average pulse of 113bpm. Being fit is fun.

59km and 1011 meters of climbing. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=rgrqjggmzeqfpgfz

We were cycling from Nesselwang to Monaco -
https://neill.blogger.de/stories/2647310/ - and took a day off in Ascona to do some sailing on Lake Maggiore. We rented a Sun Odyssey 30.



The track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=wvoearpyrgijwjdb although I forgot to turn the GPS on for the first hour.

This years "let's do a bit of biking" tour was to Monaco.



We cycled over the mountains to Liechtenstein, on over the Alps to Lake Como and then on past Lake Lugano to Lake Maggiore where we had a day off and went sailing - https://neill.blogger.de/stories/2647325/

Rested, we continued on to a meeting with coffee in Turin and then over the Mediterranean Alps in to France and on to Monaco.



The whole holiday we cycled a little over 1000 kilometres and climbed more than 15000 meters.

The entire route from Nesselwang to Monaco is shown at http://www.gpsies.com/viewStages.do?fileId=hekeizhutqandcfh. From Monaco to Nice is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=lfblmblthfqhsmpd and from Munich Airport home is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=puefuerkludhftbu

Some photos at https://goo.gl/photos/oeGXWnCuEGS1jADU8

Sun today and rain forecast for tomorrow so I took the chance to do a quick ride while it was still nice.



20km and 260 meters of climbing. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=hhnbehopnvpehhaj

Thursday evening and the ladies from Group 2 told me that they wanted a fun easy tour so I was to go with Group 1.



43km with 766 meters of climbing in 2 hours 40. My average pulse was 132bpm. Just to add to the fun Inge added two climbs to the Rückholzer Steig just to get a few extra meters of climbing in. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=jiuvlykhqsfpzgzl

At least I proved I am not unfit :-)

Tuesday evening. No Jon and no Matthias so just the two of us. Weather was "unsettled" so we stayed near home and did a loop round Nesselwang. But the weather stayed dry with only a few spots of rain half way round.

44km with 648 meters of climbing. Max speed was 81kmh going down towards the Wertach bridge! Track at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=fswazzzxtqcthhjq

A week on Thursday we are leaving for Monaco so we thought we better check that our backsides were up to it. We had no plan except to get 100km done.



The weather was stunning and it was a ride that reminds you just how gorgeous this part of the world is. Blue sky rivers and lakes. Green fielsd and forests and snow and castles above everything. Most of the way on cycle tracks and unused roads - with one 50 meter climb on grit up to the Allatsee.

A fantastic day with a well deserved ice at the end.

104 km and 1161 meters of climbing. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=lalvokjrkjcikjjg