How does your ride measure up?

The climb begins - Alpe d'Huez. Ratio: 42.1hm/km

Do you ever finish a shortish ride and wonder why you feel so knackered? Maybe it has nothing to do with speed or about your condition but about the climb-to-distance ratio.

Here in Austria, rides are often measured in Höhenmeter (hm), which is the vertical ascent, as being more significant than the actual distance covered. But that is only half the story.

After years of living in the Alps, and years of riding in mountainous areas, the idea of calculating the amount of climbing per kilometre pedalled, only recently came to mind while grinding up part of a circuit that seemed to have far more uphill than down.

 

Lonely climbs in the heart of Sardinia. Ratio: 21.5hm/km

By dividing the vertical ascent by the total distance, I came up with a figure of 19.3 meters of climbing per kilometer. Looking at this compared with the average for the year to date I could see why I was puffing a bit: over the past 3000km, the ratio was just 6.4hm/km (hm is for Höhenmeter – vertical ascent).

2017 seems to have been an easier year than the previous four; for each of those the ratio has averaged just over 8hm/km. This year has been skewed by a 750km ride along the incredibly flat Weser and Fulda bike trails in Germany.

 

It's easy to see why riding the Weser is popular. Ratio: 0.3hm/km

Looking back at some of the days ridden on tours this year gives a different picture of the terrain – and how tough (or not) the days really were considering they are done on bikes carrying a moderate load:

Average for the year to date                          6.4 hm/km

Day rides:

Austria, Steinberg Circuit                              12.9 hm/km

Austria, Enns Radweg, Altenmarkt – Steyr   14,0 hm/km

Sardinia, Alghero – Bosa                               19.1 hm/km

Sardinia, Bosa – Pozzomaggiore                   21,5 hm/km

Germany, Weser: Bremerhaven – Bremen     0,3 hm/km

A couple of big Tour de France specialities, completed in recent years when calculated with the distance for the climb and descent, are good for comparison:

France: Sault - Mont Ventoux - Sault             26.4 hm/km
                           but for the climb only           52 hm/km

France: Bourg d’Oisans - Alpe d’Huez           42.1 hm/km 
                          but for the climb only            84 hm/km

The mysteriously barren landscape at the top of the Mont Ventoux. Ratio 26.4hm/km

So it is clear to see why Germany’s 500 km Weser cycle route between Bremerhaven and Hann Munden is one of the most popular. Why so many people find an e-bike necessary on this flattest of trails is a mystery.

A short 28 km circuit from home shows a climb-to-distance ratio of 24hm/km which makes me feel a bit more justified in feeling knackered at the end. The final 5km is all up hill with much of it at 12%, which really is a sting in the tail.

Whether any of this makes sense, has any relevance or is even statistically sound, I don’t know. But doing these calculations is a way of occupying the mind when plodding slowly up a long hill. What do you do to take your mind of the grind?

For blogs on this site for these routes:

• Flat out along the Weser     - June 2017
• Sardinia 1, 2 3,                    - May 2017
• Mont Ventoux, take it easy - September 2015

What do you do to take your mind off the grind?

Enns Radweg: never again, and again, and again

Through the Gesäuse gorge - avoiding the tunnels on the old road

Every time we ride the river Enns long distance bike route we say, "never again". Or: "that's the last time we do that."

It's not because it isn't beautiful - it certainly is. More than that, it is dramatically stunning, with near vertical mountains soaring straight up from the gurgling river. Later, a more mature Enns opens out into manicured steep meadows and woodland before reaching the historic city of Steyr. This is Austria at it's best.

 

Soaring mountains rise straight up from the gorge

So why never again? There are no monstrously long ascents along the way, no killer climbs. The road surfaces are good. But riding this terrain is like death by a thousand cuts.

From Admont to Steyr, 120km, the route is almost never flat. After every joyous swoop down to the river, there is a steep grind back to the original altitude. It just never lets up. As the day wears on and the strength wears out, you find yourself hunting for lower gears which just aren't there. Almost as soon as each climb is complete, back down you go again.

 

Death by a thousand cuts, - the route for 70km from Altenmarkt to Steyr is never flat

There is also a long stretch, from Admont to Weyer that is along the main road. This is also a continuous series of ups and downs. Austria’s rule barring heavy trucks on Sundays makes this the best day of the week to ride through the Gesäuse gorge. The gorge is so narrow, there just isn't enough room for a separate bike lane. Only when the road dives into a tunnel are bikes diverted on to the old road. Further along, there is often enough space beside the main road, but sadly there is no separated track for cycles.

 

Swooping down to the river - just around the corner the climb begins again

The castle at Lösenstein

Maybe there isn’t the demand. At the height of the summer there were very few cycle tourists to be seen. Compare that with the thousands pedalling along the Danube or Tauern bike routes. The message has got around - to enjoy this scenery you are going to have to work for it.

The Main Street in the  city of Steyr

The reward is Steyr, one of the best preserved old towns in Austria. Steyr is a jewel. The main street is lined by historic building each different from the last, beautifully decorated and maintained. Away from the centre there are cobbled lanes and tiny alleys. The city sits at the junction of the rivers Steyr and Enns overlooked by ancient churches and a castle.

Will we ride this stretch of the Enns again? Doubtful. Knowing what lies ahead is offputting. But who knows?

Where the Enns is joined by the river Steyr 

Flat out along the Weser

So flat, you might be able to see the earth's curvature

There's one good reason why the Weser Cycle Route is one of the most popular in Germany. It's flat.

• So flat you could easily cover the 500-odd kilometres with a single gear fixed wheel.
• So flat you feel as if you can see the curvature of the earth. Are those distant trees really so stunted? 
• So flat, that after a glance at the altitude, you hope there won't be a descent. You are already below sea level. 
• So flat, that in 80km, you will record no more than 35m of altitude difference

 

Pedalling among huge wheatfields 

However being flat, it also has other qualities.  It can be a bit boring in parts.

 

Riding at this altitude, you don't want any descents

Starting out from Hann.Munden where the rivers Werra and Fulda merge to form the Weser, there are indeed a couple of minor hills. After that, drop into a cruising gear and forget about changing for a few days.

Heading north, the towns and villages along the way feature wonky, ancient timbered houses and narrow cobbled streets like something out of a fairy tale. And indeed they might be, as the brothers Grimm came from here and the Weser Is plagued by nasty witches, hungry wolves and cats in boots.

 

Hann. Munden - something out of a fairy tale

The river writhes it's way along the flat valley floor and on each side there are distant tree-covered hills. It is very pretty in a pastoral way that Constable would have been happy to paint.

 

The upper Weser is gently pastoral

Your pedalling rhythm need only be interrupted by a ferry crossing in one of a series of historic-looking craft that increase in size as the river widens.

 

Waiting for the ferry at Polle

Once past Porta Westfalia and Minden, it's not only flat, it's extremely flat. The architecture changes to brooding, low-walled red brick homes with huge, low-hanging roofs. The meadows and wheat fields become vast expanses of sugar beet. There is a fair chance that the prevailing offshore winds, uninterrupted by the terrain will be slowing you down.

Bremen

Bremen's ancient centre and the major port of Bremerhaven are welcome breaks in the rural idyll before the final bid for the North Sea at Cuxhaven.

The route could hardly be better signposted - you could follow it without a map. There's a wonderful variety of surfaces from the silky new asphalt trails, to evil, screw-loosening cobbles and lots of brick paving (why do they go to all that trouble?).

Excellent signposting, if you are alert, you can't get lost

A few questions remain:

• Is it better to start in the north with a tailwind and head towards the pretty bits?
• Why do at least half the cyclists along a totally flat trail, ride e-bikes?
• Why is everyone going the other way saying "moin"? (It turns out this is a local greeting to be used at any time of day).
• Why grow so much sugar beet? (Apparently an area 4m x 4m provides the average annual sugar consumption per head).
• And why is this route so popular? There are prettier rides by far.

Whatever, it's a good, gentle warm up to the summer touring season.

There are plenty of villages and towns with lovely old buildings

Bremerhaven - and the museum ship