In June 2023 I undertook a great bikepacking project. With small and lightweight material strapped to my road bike I wanted to cross the entire alpine arc. A bikepacking trip with highs and lows from Nice to my home in the northern part of Switzerland. In this Blogpost I bring you along and tell you the story of my almost 4-week long bikepacking journey across the Alps. I sweated, froze, cursed, threw up, sang, cheered, and experienced a lot.
Chapter I - A solid start
The evening before and the first day
After having lived in Nice for almost an entire year, one day before my big departure, I went to a Restaurant with my closest friends that I met during this incredible year. The restaurant should apparently have been the best in Town, the not so friendly waitress and the snail in the salad convinced us, that it was quite the opposite of a good restaurant. Me and Alex agreed on starting the ride together tomorrow morning at 07:00 after every hour we spent in the city, we delayed the starting time by a bit. The next morning Alex came at around 09:00 and brought some croissants with him that we ate, and then hopped on our bikes and left the Menuiserie, our beloved shared flat. I was happy to be joined by Alex because I felt quite lonely in that moment.
In the first turn, I already dropped my chain, what a start. My bikepacking Bags were packed up with some clothes, food, repair tools, an extra battery to charge my phone, a camera and even a camping stove. I was nervous to leave my current home and start my 3-week journey across the Alps by bike. I would be alone for the first 5 days and then meet my colleagues that join me on my journey across Switzerland, the Dolomites and even the first part of Austria. Then I would be alone again to ride all the way to Vienna.
Alex joined me only for the first day after half the distance of the first day in the saddle, we said goodbye: I continued my journey direction North and Alex rode back to Nice. we’re both a bit sad this would probably be the last time for quite some time that we saw each other and got to enjoy a cycling tour together. Alex, a guy that I met in a local groupride, became one of my best mates in Nice, we shared our passion for bikeriding and became friends also off the bike.
I headed straight into a thunderstorm and soon got wet and found shelter in a roadside bakery. After cycling uphill for at least 3h in the rain, I had my first flat tire. Damn it, tubeless you worthless invention. Anyway, my moral was still high, I was hyped, I’m about to realize a project that I have planned for over half a year. I have found some sponsors, asked colleagues, planned a route, and rethought 150 times what gear I should bring along and what gear I should leave at home.
After riding over two alpine passes and a nice detour, I arrived in Isola, a little village that would shelter me for my first night alone outside with only my sleeping bag and an air matrass. After a little search in the town, I found a perfect public place with a roof that was giving me some shelter and there was even a public toilet next to it. On this public place I started cocking my Chinese instant-noodles, that will play a big role in the futures days. I slept well, I was tired after 9 hours in the saddle.
Day 2 “the best night of my bikepacking journey across the alps”
According to the weather forecast the next day would bring again summer-thunderstorms in the afternoon. I knew I had to traverse the Col de la Bonette, the highest alpine pass in the southern alps with its 2715 meters above sea level. I certainly didn’t want to be on the top when Zeus would unleash his rage. That’s why I woke up at 05:00 and also to not annoy any inhabitants of the small town with my homeless appearance.
I started putting pressure on my pedals and made quick progress. While riding up the Col de la Bonette I was super happy. “I’m here doing it”, I said to myself and I listened to some uplifting music. I was almost alone in that vast landscape. What a surreal environment. Only a nice woman in her campervan overtook me multiple times on the pass to stop and enjoy the views. I didn’t stop often. I had to advance. On the highest point surrounded by snow and rocks I put on every bit of clothing that I brought along, I knew the descent would be freezing cold.
After a beautiful descent and a quick sandwich in the next valley I attacked the second alpine pass for that day. The cold de Vars was steep, and quite remote. I love those French alpine pass roads that seem to be there almost explicitly for bicyclists and only exceptionally some motorbikes or cars. The final descent of the day would lead me into a small town called Guillestre in the Département 05 hautes-alpes. In Guillestre I had to find a place to sleep that was protected from the rain. When I saw a carpenter-factory, I knocked on some door to ask if I could sleep in one of the garages of the factory. A very nice woman opened the door and was intrigued by my cycling adventure. We began talking about sport and adventures and got along very easily. After a couple of minutes, she suggested that I could sleep on the adjoining veranda. There was even a bed on her veranda. I was surprised but had instantly a good feeling with her hosting me. She allowed me to shower, gave me food, and we talked for hours about our love for the mountains, being active and about what makes the hautes-alpes mountain region, around the town Guillestre perfect for living there. She showed me her region from a viewpoint and brought me to an old Fortress after that, we even went to a restaurant together for dinner. What a wonderful and refreshing experience. Thank you very much again Nathalie for hosting me that night.
Day 3 “crazy Americans”
New day, old story. I had to leave early to avoid the thunderstorms in the afternoon. I had to press on because this day was a bit longer than the usual 100km. While cycling though some villages just in front of the famous Galibier Pass, I suddenly was overtaken by a huge group of American cyclists. Unlinke Pogacar in the tour de France 2022, I was able to hang on to their groupetto and started talking with one of the guys. They were an old group of friends from the east Cost of the United States and they went for adventure holidays together. With rental road bikes they climbed up some of the most beautiful terrain that the alps have to offer for cyclists.
Rob, the guy that I talked most to, was a 55 year old man, in very good shape and overall a very interesting personality. While talking about cycling, the meaning of life and other topics like investment and the “renaissance man” the col de Galibier seemed shorter than he actually is. I loved the company and would really like to meet him again one day. After taking a Foto together on the top, we said goodbye and I continued my journey alone. I find the mix between being alone but also meeting people on the road very interesting.
Day 4 of my bikepacking trip across the Alps
Now it was time to meet my swiss cycling friends to continue the journey together. Until that moment I had one more pass to cross. That’s how I got to my first rest day. I did the pass in the morning of my 4th day and then in the afternoon was already at the spot that we had agreed on to meet up. It was a peaceful meadow next to some villages in a valley. A walkway crossed the meadow along the river Isère. Lying unter some trees, eating a lot of oranges, baguettes, chineses noodles and everything else that my hungry stomache could absorb, I felt like a knight in the medieval age that had ridden a long way on his hors and needed some rest. I rested my legs, listened to some music or the sounds of the birds and enjoyed the peaceful environment. My friends would arrive about 24h later, so there was plenty of time to do nothing but rest drink and eat. Little did I know that this was the spot that would ruin my entire trip.
Day 5 “being well rested”
The next day my friends arrived a bit late because they were attacked by a dog during the night and as if that wouldn’t be enough one of the guys’ cranks unscrewed from his bike while riding.
We greeted us enthusiastically and continued for a couple of hours until we found a sleeping spot. On the petit saint-bernard pass we found a house that was being built at that moment. The walls and the roof was already set up, but there were no windows yet. The perfect shelter for three cyclists that didn’t want to sleep in the rain.
Day 6 “the fall of Joel”
The next day we woke up quite late and hopped on our bikes to attack our queen stage of our tour about 170km and about 3’500 altimeter were planned for today. We wanted to traverse both saint-bernard passes and cross the border to Switzerland. After 1 hour of feeling great, I suddenly started to feel that there’s a little problem with my stomach, I felt weak and as if I had to throw up. On the top of the pass I ran into the restaurant asked for the toilet, tried to shit but realized I have to throw up to get rid of some poison in my belly. That felt horrible, to be on that cold toilette, puking out all the oranges and Chinese noodles that I enjoyed on my restday on the “knight meadow”. The problem was that I had drunk river water that was next to the knigh meadow. I had refilled my bottles multiple times and didn’t use any water filter. My body didn’t like the river water and reacted with feeling sick all day long to it. We tried to keep on pushing. I motivated myself and tried to be tough. Never in my life have I been so energy depleted and unable to eat. I suffered horribly, could almost not turn my pedals and felt like throwing up all day long.
In the evening I had to surrender 1000 altimeter unter the grand sain-bernanrd pass. I could not anymore. My colleagues were really supportive and helped me where they could. We went to “bed” on a 400 m running track on some sport field in some village on the pass. I fell asleep instantly, felt sick and happy to have stopped pedaling. My wonderful girlfriend and her mother were just on the other side of the pass and informed about my situation. They offered to pick me up by car and bring me to their vacation chalet so that I could rest. I didn’t know at that time that it was due to my river water drinking and I didn’t understand the reaction of my body.
Day 7 “being rescued”
The next morning, I felt a bit less like shit and absolutely wanted to cross the pass with my own force but was happy to be picked up the next day in Martigny. Hats off to my colleagues that took most of my baggage off me and pulled me in their draft over and down the pass to Martigny. Finally I’m here, my girlfriend awaits me gives me a hug and laughts because she thinks that I’m a crazy guy.
My bike and I got packed up into the car and driven to the vacation chalet. There everyone cared for me in a very gentle and supportive way. Popcorn and Strawberries were what I wanted to eat. After eating 3 strawberries my stomach started to ache and rumble. I felt sick again and felt like I had to throw up again. I had to lay down.
Chapter II - The healing process
Day 8-19 “trying to crawl out of my hole”
In the next 3 days I ate some strawberries, a package of popcorn and some bread and musli. I felt like I was hit by a truck, completely empty, no energy in my body and not able to eat. My head wanted to eat, I was hungry but when I ate something, it felt like I’ve swallowed heavy stones and I burped and farted like a champion. The body didn’t really absorb any of the anyways very few calories that I gave him. I couln’t eat bigger portions, because I felt like exploding after a couple of spoons.
Each and every day I felt a tiny little bit better, slowly I could start to eat a little bit more. I did no longer feel like throwing up after 3 strawberries. Even a small plate was possible. The burping and farting and explosive pressure of my belly continued. I also still felt sick and had zero energy. A couple of days ago I was biking 9h a day in the French alps and felt just fine, and now I’m not even able to walk 10 minutes to the supermarket without a rest on the park bench like an 80-year-old. In addition to all of the above, I had a very strange and disgusting body odor.
A sad truth that became a running gag was that I thought every day that the day after tomorrow I would be fine to bike again. I just needed two days of solid eating and then I could continue my journey. This day just did never arrive. After 10 days I went to the doctor and was prescribed some gut micro-biom pills. With that I was better soon. I restarted my trip but something was clear: It was too late to reach my goal: Vienna. I had some obligations in July and the due to the 12 days of sickness I had to modify my route.
Chapter III - I'm back on track
Day 20 “the washing machine-day”
The first day of riding felt strange after laying around like a dead animal for 12 days. I didn’t feel like Hercules and also had to fight strong headwinds, heavy rains and a Garmin GPS that went crazy with the raindrops on the touchscreen. In the Valais, a Swiss region I had to cycle along a big road, in the rain, with cars driving very close to me and spraying me with loads of water dust. I felt like in a washing machine. Everything was wet, even my bum but my Ortlieb Waterproof bikepacking bags did what they are supposed to do: They were waterproof. My lycra bike clothing didn’t stay wet for a long time thought, so soon I was able to indulge a big Kebab in Brig and start my climb up the Simplon pass. The weather forecast announced another rain front that’s why I set up my camp (air matrass and sleeping bag) in a garage under a ski lift.
Day 21 “queen stage of my bikepacking journey across the alps”
The next day I would test my legs and gut micro-biom. The simplon pass was cold and foggy on the downhill side I reached my top speed of the trip of over 83km/h, suddenly strong crosswinds hit me from the side and wobble my front wheel. That’s scary while descending with speeds like that. You don’t wanna be thrown around left to right when you’re racing down an alpine pass in those high speeds. I had to slow down considerably and stay focused to not be surprised by gusts of wind hitting my front wheel and causing a wobble. For the second time on this trip, I crossed the border to Italy. Only after a couple of kilometers the road was closed and I had to turn around, ride back up the road and take a train to Domodossola. From there I rode through the Centovalli in super-hot conditions. At one point it was 39degrees Celsius. After a quick supercheap Pizza I crossed the border another time to get back to Switzerland. I cycled along the Lago Maggiore, again in a headwind. I finished the day in Biasca, where I found an outdoor sports field, one of my favourite places to sleep. With many delicious Fajita wraps, I ended a perfect day. 175km, 2460 altimeter and 10h 53 min of riding time, I was back.
Day 22 “seeing Switzerland’s best side”
The next day would be less extreme but one of the most beautiful ones of my trip. If you wake up after 7h of sleep because you’re so hungry, then you know, that the day before must have been hard. The rest of my Tuna and Beans fajitas for breakfast and I was back in the saddle. The Lukmanierpass is certainly one of the most beautiful passes to ride by bike in Switzerland. Smaller roads and less traffic lead to a ride that is calmer and more enjoyable than the big “highway-pass-roads” that many big swiss passes have. When I arrived in Disentis, I headed straight to my favourite bakery in this region: Goldmann Toni e Renata. I have been there a couple of years ago with my Best friend and Adventure-buddy on a Ski-Biking journey. I had multiple pieces of cake and croissants on the Sun-terrace. While buying some food for the afternoon in the nearby Volg, I met a nice guy riding his road bike and we started talking. He also wanted to ride up the Oberalppass so we decided to ride together. Time flew by, when we started talking about skitouring, speed of life and burnouts. How wholesome to meet strangers, share interesting moments like that and then say goodbye but remember their words for a long time. A bit later he got picked up by his girlfriend, and when they overtook my he handed me some water out of the car window. What a legend! On the Oberalppass I met an entire high school class with their teachers that crossed the Alps by bike. Hats off to all the teenagers that crossed the Alps on their mediocre bikes and with heavy backpacks, but also big respect to the teachers that dared to start such a project with 20 teenagers. When I arrived in Andermatt It didn’t take me long to find a river to wash my clothes, a toilet, and a great sleeping spot next to a fireplace.
Day 23 “family reunion and riding with my brother”
The next day was super chill: I rode down to Wassen met up with my little brother, who would be my companion for the day and ride the last official alpine pass of my trip: the Sustenpass with me. Many Cars and Motorbikes didn’t hinder us in having a lot of fun and a good pace over the pass.
On the top, we met our mother and brother, who came to take some professional fotos of me. I had agreed with my two sponsors Ortlieb Waterproof and Komoot to send them professional pictures of my trip.
While riding down the Sustenpass to Innertkirchen my brother took pictures out of his car riding next to me. The result speaks for itself.
In Innertkirchen we also met our dad, so the whole family was reunited, and we ate some awesome cord en bleus and Schnitzels. That evening it was hard to say goodbye to my family that drove off while I was stying in Innertkirchen on the village square to sleep under a tree. I never had problems with being alone on this trip, but when my family was there, but then left again, I felt lonely. It was a different kind of feeling lonely, as on the first day, when Alex left me. On the first day it was more of an anxious feeling and here it was more a desire for family, relaxing, being surrounded by good people and stopping to pedal for some days. Brief a desire for comfort and a normal lifestyle.
Day 24 “transferring from the Alps to the Jura hills”
The next day everything felt easy. It was primarily downhill, no alpine passes, tailwinds, and a lot of good vibes. Along the Brienzer- and Thunersee I was on a super nice cycling route. In Interlaken I astounded some people in the Migros-Restaurant when I ate more than a band of workers would, at 10:00 in the morning. This day I had set out to ride all the way to Neuchâtel, which will become my new hometown, when I start University there in September. I had an appointment with some people the next day to meet and maybe found a new shared flat. Before arriving in Neuchâtel, Komoot, my trusted navigation compagnion played a little trick on me. It suggested a route over a hill. This was a hill of over 30% gradient and was horrible to ride. I did it but was on my limit and had to do a 30 minute break afterwards.
It was already evening when I stopped in Saint-Blaise. I plunged into the Lac de Neuchâtel with my clothes on and a bit of soap to wash myself and all my clothes, then I dried everything in the sun and I rested my legs with a nap on the shore of the lake. Later I found a little bistro that sold fish and chips. It was so delicious that I ordered a second portion. After that, I found a sleeping spot on the peer of the little harbour of Saint-Blaise. I wouldn’t have thought it, but it was the worst night of the whole trip. I felt sick from all the fat that I indulged from the two fish and chips plates. I was thirsty but to lazy to stand up and walk 10 minutes to the toilets to fill my water bottles up. It was hot and huge, dripping beavers were not helping with falling asleep. I was laying on that peer, sweating, feeling horrible and not able to find rest at all. Only after I got some water, I felt a bit better and could fall asleep.
Day 25 “I want to be at home”
The next day, I went to Neuchâtel to meet the people, I napped on the shore of the lake to compensate for last night. At around 16:00, I decided to not sleep in that horrible hoharbor again and start the last leg already now. I could ride for an hour or two and then find a nice spot for the last night. Somehow I was in good shape and the thought of sleeping in my bed and having a shower pushed me to continue. For the most part it was flat and then it got hilly a bit. Suddenly I was on the Hauenstein, a small jura-hill pass that I know from some bike tours that I did earlier. That was a strange feeling. I have been riding on the Hauenstein a couple of times already. I have done it as an after-work-tour. I was suddenly very close from home. Sort of “in one-day biking distance” of my home. “Come on Joel”, I said to myself, “let’s eat everything that we have left and the get home.” That’s what I did. In the end of my bikepacking journey across the Alps were three hills: The Hauenstein, the Sissacher Flueh and my most known hill the Sonnenberg. Usually I used to ride one or two of them in a singleday evening tour. Now I had to do all three of them. After 12 days of riding through the alps, my mind was adapted to 1500 m alpine pass ascends. The couple hundred meters of those three passes together didn’t impress me much. This kind of undulating terrain suddenly seemed so small and easy to me like never before. I flew over the three hills like it was nothing and arrived home at 22:30 in the evening. I hugged my dad, cooked an entire Rösti with three fried eggs and gulped it down in minutes. A shower and then I sank into my bed. For a long time have I not been so happy to lay in my bed and fall asleep. After many nights on a 3.5cm air matrass, a proper bed is something I tell you.
That’s part of the beauty of such an adventure. The type-2 fun of it. It’s often hard and not so comfortable but when you go back to everyday life, you appreciate the normal things that much more for a certain amount of time at least.
I would suggest that a trip like this could be seen like a simulation of life. Just shorter and less serious consequences. But you experience a lot, you live through highs and lows often multiple times per day. I hope you can learn to not give up in the difficult moments and that this translates to life in general. Maybe enjoying the highs can also be trained and translated.
A friend of mine once said, that the goal is to feel relaxed after a tour like that. Many people would not understand that statement, because it is hard to cycle every day for hours and hours. Yes, of course you’ll be fatigued at the end physically, but you will also be fresh mentally. It’s the opposite of a stressful office Job, where you think a lot, have pressure and deadlines, as well as no movement. On such a tour you hopefully have no pressure, no deadlines, and a lot of movement. For many people it would balance out their live in a positive way.
When I stepped on the scale, I saw, that I’ve lost 3.5kg on my trip. Whether this is due to water and glycogen depletion or to actual fat or even muscle loss is unclear. It took me around 3 weeks to regain my 3kg. And now my weight is stable again at around 61kg. That’s the first time in years that my weight has changed this significantly. I’m a quite skinny guy and didn’t even think that losing 3.5kg was possible for me.
I would suggest that a trip like this could be seen like a simulation of life. Just shorter and less serious consequences. But you experience a lot, you live through highs and lows often multiple times per day. I hope you can learn to not give up in the difficult moments and that this translates to life in general. Maybe enjoying the highs can also be trained and translated.
A friend of mine once said, that the goal is to feel relaxed after a tour like that. Many people would not understand that statement, because it is hard to cycle every day for hours and hours. Yes, of course you’ll be fatigued at the end physically, but you will also be fresh mentally. It’s the opposite of a stressful office Job, where you think a lot, have pressure and deadlines, as well as no movement. On such a tour you hopefully have no pressure, no deadlines, and a lot of movement. For many people it would balance out their live in a positive way.
When I stepped on the scale, I saw, that I’ve lost 3.5kg on my trip. Whether this is due to water and glycogen depletion or to actual fat or even muscle loss is unclear. It took me around 3 weeks to regain my 3kg. And now my weight is stable again at around 61kg. That’s the first time in years that my weight has changed this significantly. I’m a quite skinny guy and didn’t even think that losing 3.5kg was possible for me.
Chapter IV - What I would do differently
Not bringing a gas stove
In the beginning I brought along a cooking system consisting of a gas stove and a tin mug. With that I could cook chinese instant noodles. The stuff was to heavy and took too much space, but wasn’t that practical to use and who wants to eat instant noodles everyday. In Supermarkets you’ll find everything you need and want to eat.
Too many layer options
I thought, that having arm and legwarmers, and many different kinds of jackets and layers would allow me to always wear the correct layers and never to too warm or cold. The opposite is true. The more layers you bring along, the more you’ll search for the correct one in your bags, the more you will contemplate if another layer under the rainjacket would be better. You have to stop more often to open your bikepacking bags and are constantly taking on and off different layers and you’re never completely satisfied. In the end I had a cycling jersey, a down jacket, for the cold conditions and one rain layer, which also served as a medium cold layer, that breaks the wind.
Don’t drink river water
Well that’s self explanatory.
