Day 14 { june 8th 2002 }
“Run the gauntlet!”
Last stop before we will haul ourselves on top of that huge pile of rocks, the Alps. Man, that is one hell of a task. We meet a sporty elder German, and dodge some raindrops. The Alps seem to come to live: thunder and rain. Beware!
We break up camp early that morning.
The ‘battle plan’ is to cycle to Splügen and set up camp over there. Bianca is looking forward to the Polenpas,
an unpaved road renowed for the surrounding natural beauty. But we still have some miles to go.
The terrain inbetween Lanquart and Chur is urban and is considered by us as ‘necessary evil’. If I’m not mistaken, in the vicinity of Trimmis, we follow a wrong track alongside a railroad. We can’t be blamed; there is constructionwork going on and the roads are badly damaged or turned into muddy trails. Bianca reveals excellent map reading skills and innate navigation capabilities and in no time, we’re heading for Domat/Ems.
“...we are in remarkably good spirits”
It’s not a pleasant city to cycle through; concrete seemed to be the cheapest material to use.
The colour grey therefore dominates. The sky at the same time, seems to have forgotten how to display the color blue.
Anyway, we are in remarkably good spirits. I think rain would not have been able to wash it away. We upgrade our rations
at a local supermarket, and consume some lovely croissants in front of a church, sitting on the paveway. Our bicycles
parked on the other side of the road receive the usual attention.
“...a display of raw power”
With extra ballast (water) we head for the outskirts of Domat looking forward to the Polenpas.
When it is in visual range, it starts raining. Damn.
‘The entrance’ of the Polenpas is steep.
We all switch to our lightest gear settings and plough our way through mud and pebbles the first few meters. Bianca
and I have to walk after a minute or 2. I can feel that there is enough excess power in my legs left, but my gears just
can’t rise to the occasion. Rick on the other hand displays raw power and crawls upwards into the forest. He goes for it!
“...grey clouds bumping into mountaintops”
The densely wooded slopes guard us a bit from the rain. On the other hand, it also keeps most of the light out, thereby
creating a strange and depressed atmosphere. Add to that the majestic mountains which can be seen through the edges of
the wood and the muddy forest trail and you are once reminded of the fact that you are a long, long way from home.
The narrow trail leads us alongside a vertical rocky wall on the left, and beautiful scenery on the right; small waterfalls,
misty hills, grey clouds bumping into mountaintops and dense forests way beneath us. This is top-of-the-line visual magic!
It starts to rain, so we put on our jackets. But not for long. It soon stops.
“...it is downright scary...”
Once outside Thusis, we face the first ‘leg’ to Splügen; the ‘Via Mala’. Now, this passage has a clear entrance; a tunnel inside a rocky wall.
About two days ago, mountains could be seen in the distance, clouded by the hazy atmosphere, and now we are cycling inbetween them.
They’re constantly shrouding us in their shadows thereby doing a very good job intimidating us (don’t get me wrong; in a pleasant way).
Like I mentioned before, there is a tunnel we must go through, so R&B put on their reflective jackets. Lights are switched on, and we’re ready to go! But my rear light is playing hide-and-seek in one of my bags, so we decide that Bianca rides at the rear (she does have a ‘tail light’), me in the middle, and Rick up front. Believe me; it is downright scary, cycling through tunnels.
For example, the noise the vehicles make is amplified and creeps against the ceiling ahead of us way before the car or truck passes by. And all the time we hope that they SEE us.
“...I’m on edge within 10 seconds”
It’s hard work climbing upwards. Speed is down to almost 7 to 8 km/h. The road is perfectly paved, and cars whizz by.
Temperature outside is an estimated 29/30 degrees Celcius. Every patch of shadow or tunnel is greeted with a smile.
I know it is getting a bit boring, but the scenery we encounter is awe-inspiring. Makes you feel tiny on your bike.
At a given moment, I come out of a tunnel and pass a busstop in the gorge. R&B lag some 5 minutes behind me. Have to wait for them, so I stop. Stupid thing to do especially when you’re surrounded by tourists who just HAVE to make a picture of a rock formation.
I’m on edge within a second when some people make stupid remarks in my face about my Condor. Grrr...
“...climbing and sweating
with clenched teeth”
Some minutes later, an old looking man on a rare bicycle passes me by. His shirt reads; wielerclub Valkenswaard. Of all places.. (Valkenswaard is about 1 mile away from Eindhoven, where I live). Via Mala is followed by the Rofflaschlucht. This is part two of the episode ‘climbing and sweating with clenched teetch’. When we approach the lake at Sufers, the landscape has become featureless and the weather does not want to coöperate anymore.
“Splügen! Straight ahead
of us.”
It’s still dry, but dark, threatening and windy. Lot’s of heavy clouds seem to be caught in between the mountains.
Nope, it’s a very unstable situation above our heads.
After R&B have caught up, we head for our ‘main target’ for today, Splügen which is not far away anymore.
On our way, we encounter a racing cyclist, going downhill, wrapped-up in winterclothing; thick mittens, a balaclava, a scarf.
“Wow, did you see that guy?”, I yell over my shoulder. No reply, but we all fear the same. Will there be snow at the top?
Will it be freezing cold? Rudi could be right... But then, at last, after passing some rocks, out of the blue; Splügen!
Dead ahead of us. It has started drizzling in the meantime and I think I speak for all of us that we long for a warm shower.
Chances are small we will find one here. We picture ourselves in our tents. Cold.
“Nobody can be seen”
Before we cycle into the (tiny) village, we encounter a sign, advertising bed and breakfast. It’s accompanied by a flagpole with a proud Frisian flag. Euh... Frisian people, here?!! (Friesland is a province in The Netherlands close to the North Sea). We look at a large, two-story chalet, build in the middle of a black, concrete parkinglot. Nobody can be seen. We park our bicycles against the wall and try to find a door. Stairs lead upwards, but.... a handle is attached to a timber-clad wall.
“We sleep like a log that night”
A rope tied to it leads upwards and disappears into a windowpane. We look at one another and Bianca bites the bullet. A distant bell makes our presence noticed. A woman hangs out of the window and asks; “ja?”. The funny thing is that she IS Dutch! We unpack in our room and have dinner later on that evening in a small restaurant downtown. By the way; it‘s still drizzling outside and the village looks desolate, wet and abandoned. Just a collection of some roads, shops and concrete. Not one living soul can be spotted. We meet an elderly couple from New-Zealand and exchange some information about our experiences. Unnecessary to note that we sleep like a log that night after having taken a warm shower. We all feel happy when we go to bed. Truly happy. A great feeling :)
