My Personal “ Hill 108 “ for Wouter

The 2011 Giro d’Italia’s tragic loss of Wouter W. remains as a constant memory with many ! Personally I find that as I ride the bike over various different terrains certain memories come to mind with recollections of various events over a lifetime of activity whether from travelling in Australia or Europe . Scenery in the Austrian mountains is similar to the French and Italian Alps so much so that you can imagine you are in another locale as you round each corner of the road . On parts of the road today the colours of the leaves reminded me of views in the Eastern States of the USA where Autumn sees a smorgasbord of startling colours ranging from Reds through Yellows to Greens . Normally I only see Greens on these rides .

Brandenberg Valley is a cul-de-sac and the round trip is about 26km but is shaped like an inverted W. so this is why I am reminded of Wouter !

Mornings I like to take the western road which runs north to Aschau in B. for about 9km and I nearly always side track and ride up into the village thus adding height in the sunlight . Here is a view of the back of the valley on the westerly ascent :





Instead of turning uphill the road veers right with a descent of 15% for about a mile runs along the valley floor and then ascends to another group of houses and farms before declining gradually to a gulley and then there is a sharpish climb of a couple of kilometres to Brandenburg where the descent of 9km to Kramsach begins with several false flats along the route .

Taking this route today was only interrupted on one occasion by cattle being herded through the village on the outskirts of Brandenburg . One old guy only arrived at his gateway after some cows decided to try out the taste of his flowers . About 4km from Kramsach there is a splendid view south of the valley and beyond .

Arriving back in Kramsach I turned about and set off uphill to repeat the route riding the Easterly side of the valley which remains shaded much of the morning on the ascent . As I was climbing through the windy section a clown on a noisy motocross bike scraped my shoulder to show his dimwitted sense of humour . Not only did he pollute the atmosphere with noise and fumes he also demonstrated his stupidity since when I described him to one of his neighbours , the woman said she would have her husband a “ Cop” speak to him ! Love to have been around for the result !

As mentioned elsewhere Alpe d’Huez Annually in June has an event raising Funds for “ Cancer Charities “ , this area lends itself as ideal for doing something similar as a large number of Dutch visit this area each year for Skiing ! Perhaps “ Tirol Tourism “ can find a way to fund the initial event and thus create another opportunity for those who will be surplus to the 5000 participant limit imposed by the Dutch Organisation for their 2012 event . There are any number of other worthwhile events that could locate here as an alternative venue since generally the weekday traffic is minimal by comparison to so many areas and access to Kramsach is by way of the Autobahn Exit there .

My Personal “ Hill 108 “ for Wouter