Maxxis BIKE Transalp 2024 | Stage 3

Coffee and Chainrings Podcast

Stage 3 | Nauders > Reschensee

Distance
50,49 km

Altitude meters
2.081 hm

Level
4/5

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The Transalp doesn’t always take the fastest route, especially not from Nauders to Lake Reschen. Mountain bikers who have the outstanding range of 3-country enduro trails in front of them shouldn’t even think about taking a shortcut. So get into the trail fun!

From Nauders to Lake Reschen – that’s actually just a quick trip over the Reschen Pass for a coffee. You can make it there and back on the cycle path in your lunch break. On a mountain bike, however, you wouldn’t think of shortening the route in this way. You are in the land of 3-country enduro trails. So it’s off into the mountains and into adventure. The network of mountain bike trails in the border triangle between Austria, Italy and Switzerland enjoys an excellent reputation and the 3-Country Enduro Race is fully booked every year. Racers love the earthy, rough terrain. If you go biking here, you have to get along with roots and stones and must not be put off by smaller drops. But not all trails are so challenging that they are reserved exclusively for enduro racers with the best skills.

That’s why the trails are also suitable for the Transalp and it’s worth cruising around the area on a race bike. In Nauders, the route climbs from the start, initially on the Obere Pitsche, a panoramic trail above the village. From the Valdafuralm, above the forest, there are soon open views of the mountains. From here, a meadow path and a rough cart track take you down to the Goldseehütte. You lose a few metres here, but the short change downhill makes the climb entertaining. Now it’s time for the final ascent: The destination after a short ramp is Bergkastel, the top station of the Nauders ski area. A new trail was recently built here, the Hofratstrail, which the Transalp tackles for the first time. In the sparse alpine meadows below the mountain station, it promises not only unobstructed views of the mountains but also a fast-paced rollercoaster feeling – or a lot of flow, as they say in biking language. After a short forest trail, the enchanted Plamort Trail follows from the Stieralm over the high moor to the Italian border, ending at the passage through the bizarre armoured barrier.

The square concrete pillars with round, pointed metal cones on top have become the trademark of this pass, even if they don’t really want to fit into this landscape. Now you have reached one of the best panoramic spots of the Transalp. The white glacier cap of King Ortler, at 3905 metres the highest of all Tyrolean peaks, looms far back over Lake Reschen, which lies at your feet below. Now begins a rapid descent in the forest down to the source of the Adige and the lake shore in Reschen. The second ascent of the day can begin. Via the Reschener Alm, the trail leads into the Rojen Valley and further up to Schöneben.

This is the second mountain station of the day after Bergkastel and one of the biggest trail distributors in the area. We now take the upper and lower spin trails. And the suspension can really work now, because these trails are groomed but not levelled. So you hop down to the lake, full of concentration and ready to react, until these root paths spit you out just before the dam wall. Your arms can now rest a little, but not your legs. They still have to endure the last four flat kilometres – to the finish line at the famous sunken church tower in Graun.

• BIKE Transalp Stage 3: Nauders - Reschensee | DKEVENTS — event.delius-klasing.de

13.02.24 | Downloads: 570

Kapitel

1. Intro (00:00:16)

2. Stage 3 (00:00:35)

3. Outro (00:07:40)