Mountainbiking in South Tyrol
Roads can lead you far, curiosity even further.
After few days spent in the heart of the Dolomites, riding our bikes around one and only Sella Ronda and having fun on trails around Val Gardena, it was time to move further. We went further up on the map, to the other corner of South Tyrol, Mals.
We were invited to be part of the South Tyrol Trail, the first completely self-sufficient mountain bike adventure set in South Tyrol, where it doesn’t matter whether you ride EMTB, MTB, road bike, or gravel: after enrolment, you receive your track to load on GPS or smartphone and all you need to do is get on your bike and just start the journey.
On hundreds of kilometers and thousands of meters of height difference, the track combines the best parts of enjoyable and panoramic trails in South Tyrol – from the Ortles glacier to the full range of the Dolomites. And the best part of it is, that time is unlimited – this challenge is not against others, but against yourself! You can even do just a small part of the track and return next time to complete it.
And this is what we did. We decided to do “just” a small part of the trail, which started in the most convenient place, to get us ready for what was following.
Hotel Gaberhof in Mals was just perfect for the recovery and to get ready for what was following.
Our journey started just there, a few meters from the hotel at the train station, where we picked up the gear and got all instructions on how to make our next two days smoother.
We were following the track on my phone. Most of the trail was gravel or cycling path, which we shared with other event participants, not knowing that we were leading so people were cheering for us all along the path, which gave us a bit of special push to keep pedalling.
The plan for each day was 60km and around 1000 m of uphill pedalling.
First day weather forecast didn’t look promising so we needed to speed up a bit, but still managed to do a few detours on our marked trail, one of them was a gondola ride to do a Haideralm, where we found some lovely trails all the way down to the valley, where we hit the road to our first sleepover on a South Tyrol Trail.
Our second day looked more promising looking at the weather forecast, but that also meant it’s gonna be harder to pedal.
This time trails were more fun. We spend most of the time in the shade of the trees, riding along the river, and of course, did some lovely uphill riding on the hot asphalt.
But it was worth it. Every meter which we pedal up paid off. There are so many nice trails where we avoid main roads and managed to enjoy the pure nature.
Our second day finished in a small town Lana, close to Merano.
Tired, full of dust, but happy to be there in another lovely hotel, where I could easily stay longer than just one night.
But this was it. Our bike adventure ended in Lana. Our last day was all about travel back. First, we took a train back to Mals and from there we hit the road back to reality, home.
To sum it up..
South Tyrol Trail is for sure something I will never regret. I would really recommend it to anyone who would like to experience something different. The whole idea of the South Tyrol Trail is to feel the diversity of the region and there’s no better way to feel it, than traveling through it on a bike. Read more about it HERE.
In this year’s edition, there was no enduro trail, but organizers promised us, they will add it to next year’s plan as there are so many opportunities along the trail, that would be a shame to skip them.
Yes, we carried all the gear with us. We packed backpacks with everything that we need and we hit the road.
Yes, there’s water on every corner. You can fill up your bottle and make sure you stay hydrated.
Yes, it’s worth it. It’s a bit different but definitely worth it.
Yes, do it!
