Shortly before midnight, I'm cold and everything is wet. With every turn of the cranks, I can feel water sloshing back and forth in my shoe. We are cycling in the light of our lamps on a gravel track somewhere on the border between Austria and Germany. The rear wheel of the person in front of me is constantly throwing stones in my face. The white bandages on my leg are now grey from the rainwater. The time has come: for the first time on this tour, after more than 16 hours and 300 kilometres, I ask myself the question of meaning - or as fellow cyclist Max would say: the question of the meaning of life. Why this torture, voluntarily, not forced by anyone? Does a land of joy open up behind the suffering border? I don't know.
Gravel tour with a history
Only one thing is clear: it all has a history. A year ago, a few of my mates and I had rafted along the Isar from its source to its mouth, 300 kilometres from sunrise to sunset. Emotionally drunk, we thought we could top that. We soon came to the Inn, one of the longest and mightiest rivers in the Alps at 517 kilometres. The route could be completed in 24 hours. And although I hadn't cycled much after a winter full of ski tours, I was still sure that my fitness would somehow be enough. Other things caused me more headaches. What if the weather doesn't play ball? How would I fight the tiredness at night? Will my body be able to cope with the exertions or will my back, knees or bum go on strike? I devised strategies to keep my motivation high if the worst came to the worst.
Maloja, 7.30 a.m., end of June. The time has finally come: we set off in eager anticipation of the next 24 hours. The picturesque route takes us past Lake Sils, fed by the River Inn, and through St. Moritz. The weather is perfect, perhaps a little too warm. We follow the young Inn on narrow paths and forest roads, its upper reaches still rushing through the Engadin as wild and pristine as Jan's enthusiasm: "Men, I'm telling you, you can't do it on a racing bike, you don't want to on a mountain bike. This is pure gravel joy!" He's right, many trails can't be mastered on a road bike, but are too undemanding to have fun on a mountain bike.
Performance differences in the group
Although the route is generally downhill, a few short but steep climbs challenge us. There are even two longer climbs on the road, where the differences in performance in the group become apparent for the first time. Felix sets the pace at the front, for him the climb only seems to feel like a slight headwind. The rest line up behind him. Max, an ex-mountain bike enduro pro who has only ridden a distance of more than 200 kilometres by bike once in his life. Quite different is Tom, owner of a bike shop in Munich, who only gets going on distances beyond 200 kilometres. Then there's Jan, who despite little training - but with all the more mental strength - probably takes on and masters every challenge on the bike. Achim and I have also done little training on the bike this year, but hope that the many kilometres from the old days will save us - Achim and I used to ride amateur races together. We are joined by Paddy Graham, a Red Bull freeski pro, who has planned the tour as the conclusion and highlight of his endurance training for next winter, and photographer Baschi, who is at home in many different sports.
We leave Graubünden in the Swiss town of Martina and cross the border into Tyrol. There, after just over a hundred kilometres, we take our first long break. After that, the route remains varied. Felix keeps up the pace with an impressive performance. On flat sections we cycle at almost 40 kilometres per hour. Gradually, the Inn, which flows alongside us, loses its original wildness. From kilometre to kilometre, the now stately river seems tamer and tamer. After Landeck, we turn onto a roadworks road parallel to the Inntal motorway. The rain of the past few weeks has caused the twin tyres of the lorries to leave rough ruts in the surface, which is now dry, hard and dusty, but allows us to drive at high speed. Achim and I ride at the very back of the rushing pack, which stirs up so much dust that we can hardly see anything, just the rear wheels of the lorries in front of us. In order not to lose the slipstream, we cling to the rear wheels like toddlers to their mum. We bump along the dusty track, close together, when suddenly my front wheel gets caught in a deep rut. I hit the ground roughly, feel a crack in my chest on impact and slide a good distance across the ground.
Plunge into the unknown
I'm quickly back on my feet. My trousers and jersey are torn, and some of the "wallpaper" is also shredded. Fortunately, the bike is virtually undamaged. I ask Achim to look at my wounds. When he presses on my chest, I feel a sharp pain. I'm sure I've broken a rib. Fortunately, my breathing is not restricted. We try to clean the wounds. After disinfecting the wounds with a hand sanitiser, I feel sick with pain. I feel a slight taste of blood in my mouth. Nevertheless, I don't want to give up, I want to finish the tour! However, there are still 320 kilometres to go and it seems impossible to make a realistic assessment of whether I will make it. That's why we carry on for now. The injuries are still not interfering with my pedalling and if the pain stays like this, I should be fine ...
About an hour later we reach Innsbruck, where the next break is planned. The support vehicle has everything a cyclist's heart desires in the way of refreshments. Paddy's wife is waiting for me, she is a doctor and looks after my wounds. My crash and the follow-up treatment cost us around an hour in total, which really annoys me. I am all the more grateful for the calmness and understanding of my fellow cyclists.
The will alone is not enough
The sun is now low and we enjoy the light and the mild temperatures in the early evening hours. Innsbruck is now almost two hours behind us when Baschi pushes ahead and asks us to slow down: He wasn't feeling well. The colour of his face underlines his request. A short time later, he vomits several times. I won't go into a more flowery description of what he is going through. Nobody wants to swap places with him, it seems impossible to continue the journey. But Baschi is a fighter with an iron will. After a few minutes, he swings back into the saddle. Less than 500 metres later, he throws up again. Now he realises that willpower alone is not enough, that his body is too weak.
The positive mood in the group disappears like the blue sky, which is now obscured by dark clouds on the horizon. A thunderstorm is brewing. Even a blockbuster film could not have portrayed it more dramatically. Achim and Max stay with Baschi until the support vehicle arrives. The rest roll on slowly to keep moving. After a while, Baschi's carers catch up with us again and we pick up the pace. The mood slowly improves - and the thunderstorm has also passed us by.
Lightning flashes through the night
But we have a considerable kink in our schedule. So the planned dinner has to be cancelled and we have to think of an alternative. So, without further ado, our support vehicle is converted into a pizza delivery service. We reach a car park and the support vehicle at 10 pm. Rarely has a pizza tasted so good! After dinner, we start preparing for the journey through the night.
As I change my broken trousers and jersey, I realise that my movements are becoming increasingly difficult. My left side is badly damaged, but my legs are still good. I'm motivated to carry on, but someone else has decided during the break that the Inn adventure is over for him. Felix! Our tractor? Felix had been ill in the days before and had already realised a few kilometres into the ride that the illness was more in his bones than he wanted to admit. "Now we're already two down, I hope it doesn't go on like this!" says Achim with a worried look.
The six of us drive on. All around us it is black, in front of us the gravel glows brightly in the light of our lamps. Suddenly, lightning flashes in the sky and thunder rumbles. In the darkness, a thunderstorm has crept up on us like a lion on a gazelle. We are completely surprised and a few minutes later we are in the middle of a downpour, somewhere on a dyke on the River Inn. It's cold and windy. Achim discovers a hut where we take shelter, completely soaked. When the rain subsides, we continue our journey, but half an hour later we get caught in another heavy thunderstorm.
The strategy works
My mood is at rock bottom. The moment I had been dreading seems to have arrived. Before the journey, I thought about how I could motivate myself in a moment like this. Now I have a lot on my mind. Above all: my family. My wife and son had to do without me for many hours when I was training for this adventure. Because I was convinced that I absolutely had to cycle through Switzerland via Tyrol to Germany in 24 hours. Valuable family time. If I gave up now, it would all have been for nothing. I had come up with two or three other very personal reasons. They help: Little by little, I'm coming to terms with myself. My strategy is working, I feel motivated again, more than before.
Over the next few hours, I realise that I'm not the only one struggling with problems. Jan is driving next to me. I look into a face that seems to have aged ten years. He's had severe heartburn for several hours, he's not feeling well at all. So each of us has to carry our own baggage: our knees ache, our backs ache, our bums ache or our stomachs ache. But everyone has pulled through so far.
One last obstacle
As day breaks and dusk slowly falls on the horizon, we leave the bright tunnel of the lamps and take in more of our surroundings again. Once again, deer change sides and give me the feeling of being one with nature. The first rays of sunshine warm our faces. We look at our speedometer: 400 kilometres. It's strange when you're happy that it's only about a hundred kilometres to the finish.
It's soon nine o'clock and the first walkers are out on the banks of the Inn in the bright sunshine. "If only they knew: Unlike us, they are well-rested and have probably had a good breakfast," says Max, taking a savoury bite of the last bar he has just pulled out of his jersey pocket. The anticipation of the end of the tour lets us roll along with relish. Until we have to stop - the road is closed, six kilometres from the mouth of the river. We tackle a three-kilometre diversions and a few extra metres in altitude with burning thighs. A final hurdle that doesn't diminish the feeling of happiness I experience on these metres along the Inn. The Inn, which has accompanied us for so long, now lasts a little longer than the planned 24 hours.
Addendum: At home it turned out that I hadn't just grazed my skin; my pelvis was badly bruised and a rib was broken.
Route
The tour along the 517-kilometre-long Inn is varied and impressive. For the picturesque start along the mountain lakes between Maloja and St. Moritz, the route leads along wide forest roads or cycle paths - time to get in the mood and enjoy the scenery. Afterwards, the paths along the young and wild Inn become narrower. Short, steep climbs followed by challenging and leisurely descents make the time fly by. Time and again you pass quaint Swiss mountain villages with small fountains where we fill up our bottles.
After the border with Austria, the tour changes character. The Inn is now a stately river and the paths are mostly wide forest roads. In Tyrol's lively capital Innsbruck, we share the cycle paths with commuters, students and families, which requires us to concentrate on our cycling. Behind the city, the Inn Valley widens with every kilometre. As night falls, the wide view changes to the narrow focus of our lights. At first, the mountain ranges are still vaguely recognisable on the horizon, but soon they sink into the black of the night. Beautiful trail sections are great fun, but require full concentration in the light of the headlamps.
The second half of the tour also remains varied. The ride takes us through bird sanctuaries, small towns and villages, always alternating with forest tracks and narrow paths. Passau, where the Inn flows into the Danube, is a beautiful end point.
Tip Inn cycle path
If you don't want to cycle our tour in one day, you will find many accommodation recommendations and options for dividing the long route into shorter stages at innradweg.com.
Information on
Arrival and departure
From Frankfurt am Main with two to three changes in seven to eight hours to St. Moritz. Taking bikes on long-distance trains costs 9 euros and requires a reservation; the trains only have a limited number of cycle parking spaces. The 18 kilometres to the starting point in Maloja can be covered either by bike or in 30-40 minutes by bus (B 4); bikes can be taken on board. The destination Passau is connected to the ICE network.
Accommodation
You can't get a holiday flat for one night in the high season. A hotel should be booked well in advance.
Maloja Swiss House
Phone 0041/818382828
Modern rooms in a traditional wooden house. After Engadine nut cake and a large breakfast buffet, you're ready for the start. Double room with breakfast from the equivalent of 210 euros.
St. Moritz Youth Hostel
Phone 0041/818366111
Simple, beautiful double rooms cost from the equivalent of 150 euros with breakfast, in a 4-bed room one person pays around 50 euros including breakfast.
Training preparation
If you want to ride a distance of more than 500 kilometres in one go, you should have done your training homework, especially as the majority of the route is on gravel and not on smooth-rolling asphalt. To cope with the physical strain caused by the bumps and vibrations, you should train for many kilometres on gravel beforehand. Your diet, riding position and clothing should also have been tested so often during training that you can be sure that everything fits! Please don't try out new things for the first time on such a long ride! A good riding position is particularly important so that knee or back pain does not force you to abandon the tour. In addition, mental strength should not be underestimated during such long exertions; in the end, it's your head that decides whether you persevere or give up.
Equipment
You should think carefully about what you will need immediately when travelling and what you can repack during stopovers. The handlebar roller and saddle bag are not accessible while riding. You can reach into a bag on the top tube (for bars and gels) or in the frame triangle without having to stop. Tip: Don't skimp on lighting.
Good illumination contributes significantly to a more relaxed journey at night. A large field of vision is particularly important on long journeys because tiredness reduces your ability to react. It is better to pack one more spare battery than too few.
To avoid seat problems, we recommend packing a second pair of cycling shorts. Especially on long, hot days, a change of shorts on the road can help, as can a seat cream, which should be tested for compatibility in advance!
