http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... =10&t=6543
so please don't expect similar photos... (all from mobile)
long story short: got myself a really cheap bike. The cheapest bike I ever bought. The hope discs making almost half of the price
. First time for a rigid bike since 1674 and first time ever on one gear.Used it for about a month prior to this trip (an intense month) including an overnight trip (was more about chatting, eating, drinking and smoking). Only thing I changed were contact points and tires.
We've had crazy warm days throughout October and so far November, a good opportunity to go high up - probably for the last time this year (with a regular bike).
So there I went, threw a smaller chain ring onto the bike and left straight after work for Preda in the Graubünden (eastern Switzerland). I had a plan but kind of knew it would be unlikely to happen, so I just rode without one and let myself float about and see what the conditions allow.
A short ride in the night brought me to a decent bivy spot in the last bunch of pine trees, beneath stunning stars and many shooting stars (vanguard of Leonides?).
Not often I use a meths stove at -7.5 °C.
Morning glory, the Albula Pass road somewhere beneath me.
Snow free pass at nearly 2500 m in mid November
After some snow biking and technical single track fun I descend further into the main valley of the Engadin.
... by coincidence I rode along roads I rode in winter on my fat bike.
roughly same spot.
Identical spot
Gravel roads, single tracks, little ups and downs - I found a nice mix and enjoyed easy traveling and many stops in the warm sun.
Then, slightly reluctant I headed up from Susch toward the Flüela Pass, some 950 m climb.
The climb was tough and asked for a few small stops to rest the legs and eat some direly needed calories.
Soon it was downhill all the way to Klosters, little snow with a hard crust at the beginning and the rest of 25 km and 1200 m elevation loss on dry single tracks. Some sections at the top very technical and then tamer and faster lower down.
It just wouldn't stop and was pure fun with the rigid bike.
Well, it's mid November after all (it's real snow from the last snow fall)
Just a few hundred meters above Klosters I hit the lower section of a bike park track I rode a couple of years ago, with a very, very different bike. I hardly got some air this time, but it still was tons of fun and I felt really lucky to come across the track by chance.
I headed to the train station and whilst I waited for the train I brew myself a hot chocolate and a bag full of warm goodies (freeze dried grub) which were enjoyed during the beginning of a long, late train journey back home. Switzerland may be a small country and have fast and many train connections, but it can take me longer from my door to some Engadin valley than from home to the Pennines
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