Passo Rombo - Timmelsjoch

A view to kill: glaciers as seen from Passo Rombo
 Finally, the high Alps! Ask any cyclist about spectacular rides in the Austrian and Italian Alps and the "Jaufenpass" (Passo Giova") and "Timmelsjoch" (aka Passo Rombo) will be in the "must ride" categorie. Notably, the "Oetztaler Radmarathon", a unique event in which 5000+ cyclists ride 240 km with an elevation gain of 5,500 meter, is built around those two passes. And as I am Lothar of the Hill People, I decided to enjoy these two climbs. It was a wonderful day with 180 km and 3700 m of elevation gain (113 miles and 11,000 feet).
The weather forecast for the weekend was perfect und I cycled on Friday after work from Munich to my domicile in Seefeld/Tirol, the perfect launching pad for Alpine Tours, by foot, bike and skis. Since I was still recovering from the Bavaria 1000K, I decided to take the train from Seefeld to the Brenner pass (1374 m) and start my ride into the Italian Province of "Alta Badia" or "South Tirol". Both Italian and German are officila languages in this province and towns and places have two names, an Italian and German one. For the history buffs: the Alps separates Southern Europe from the rest of the continent and the Brenner Pass had been the gateway for the Romans to conquer central Europe 2000 years ago. A few hundred years later, germanic and other nordic tribes (including the Vandales) used the same crossing and took over the Roman empire not only by battle but mainly through imersion. Now the Brenner is on the border between Austria and Italy. Prior to WWI, land south of the Brenner was part of the Austrian-Hungarian (Habsburg) Empire and the part called South Tirol switched hands in 1918.

My ride from the "passo Brennero" started with a 14 km downhill to the town of Vipiteno/Sterzing (984 m asl). Stopping for pictures on a fast downhill are show stoppers, but I had to take one of the Sanct-Zacharias Thermal water factory. After a "Latte Maciatto" stop in Sterzing I headed for the Jaufenpass.
Thermes
Latte Machiatto in Sterzing
Riding from Sterzing/Vipiteno into the mountains
Looking at all those switch backs
By 1000 hours I was climbing 3400 feet of switchbacks but I was not alone. Both the Jaufenpass and the Timmelsjoch are "biker's paradise" and 100s of motorcycles passed me with their high pitched engines piercing the peaceful alpine air. In comparison, cars are a delight. My Trek 5200 with a tripple chain ring is permanently stationed in Munich and those extra gears were essential, in particular on the last climb at the end of the ride / the end of the day!
Reaching the passo Giovo / Jaufenpass
Alpine paradise
Do we ever lign up our bicycles like this?
Checking in at 2500 meter
After a steep descend I passed through the small town of San Leonardo. For the next 7 km the street paralleled a river with a modest climb. In Platt, the "climb of ther day" started in earnest, 1800 m over the next 22 km to reach the passo Rombo. A water stop at a local bar also provided some welcome rest - my legs were still tired two weeks after the "Big Eight through Bavaria". I pursuaded a tourist to take a picture of me with the sign, thus providing evidence that I was there. Note, since I plan to get UMCA Year Rounder credit for this ride, I decided to dress accordingly and also promote American cycling. I even found a pin in tourist shop to decorate my Carradice bag.
A 60 km descend, with a couple of rollers, led me to Oetz, the mouth of the river with the same name. Turning west, I folled the river Inn for another 25 km followed by the last 13 km leg to Seefeld, which included the last climb of the day.

Stats

total distance: 180 km
elevation gain: 3700 m

Brenner-Sterzing: 14 km, -400m
Sterzing-Jaufenpass: km, +1115 m
Jaufenpass-San Leonardo: km, -1400 m
San Leonardo - passo Rombo: 29 km, +1800 m
passo Rombo - Oetz: 60 km, -1700 m
Oetz - Telfs: 25 km, 200 m
Telfs - Seefeld: 13 km, +600 m
  
Elevation profile of the Oetztaler: Jaufenpass and Timmelsjoch are the two on the right
http://radtouren.ra.funpic.de/streckenprofile/Bergrunde.html