Route advice Alps etc?

[Hankj]

Hi all -

I'm buying a modest but perfectly workable bike in Salzburg and touring for a month weeks in September this year. The first week is with my family on a set course looping the Tauern trail. Then they fly off and I think I'll head out solo on the Alpe Adria toward Italy. I think I swing west once I'm in the Dolomites and ride some of the valley routes through to Bolzano. Then down to Verona. AFAI can tell, these all look like pretty well worn bike routes.

From Verona I'm not sure (nor really sure about the first part). I think I might hop on the train at that point and head toward Provence? Maybe work my way up to Burgundy? Will have toured some Loire earlier in the same trip with my family (we like bikes . Then (or instead) maybe head up to the River Maas/Meuse trail in Northern France and creep my way toward Amsterdam.

I'm reasonably fit at 6'3" 200lbs and 100 miles a week fairly religiously. But I'm really not much of a cyclist compared to good cyclists, and I'm in my mid-50's. I'm trying not to bite off more than I can do in planning (though I would like to ride up the Alpe e Huez, which should be high comedy on my loaded urban bike converted to tourer).

I plan to not have too much of a plan, look at booking.com in the morning and see where to sleep next. But I do for sure need some better broad ideas, about potential routes, important tips, potential pitfall, etc. All help much appreciated

Hank from Seattle

 

[Hankj]

quick add on that I've done 10ish week long credit card tours in Europe with my wife and daughter, so some of the basics are already locked down. But getting a bit more out there this time around ....

 

[cougie uk]

There is a bloke on twitter - @cyclingalps who knows all of the routes - he's been suggesting great detours based round the Tour de France route this week.

His website is www.cycling-challenge.com

 

[chris-suffolk]

You may already have done some Alps, in which case you already know what's what, else be prepared for some BIG hills, and VERY long ascents. My first climb in the Alps a few years ago really took me by surprise, and was much more of a mental challenge than I had anticipated, and I was on a light weight carbon road bike.

 

[Cathryn]

No wisdom to add but the Tauernradweg was my first ever tour and it was life-changing. I adored it. Enjoy!

 

[Hankj]

Awesome Catherine thanks. My family has done many of the classic flatter "tourist" tours in Europe, never the Tauern. It looks fantastic and we are really looking forward to it. 😁

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I do for sure need some better broad ideas, about potential routes, important tips, potential pitfall, et

I'm not sure where to begin, to be honest. That's a pretty broad area that you're talking about.
I've done the Alpe Adria on to Venice and a lot of the Via Claudia Augusta. Away from the "main" cycling routes I found Italian signage ..... rarely.
There can be big storms in that part of the world in September.
I had no problems on the roads in Italy once I got used to cars beeping me from behind. I took it as a sign of aggression when, in fact, they were friendly warnings that they were coming up behind. In towns, however, I felt like I had a target painted on me.

As for the rest..... Your OP is vague on how long you have.
For routes a good source can be bike touring companies. RWGPS has a decent search function too.
https://cycle.travel/map will show all the main routes in Europe. You can also book accommodation directly through the site. And it's a great planner in its own right.
If you do a search on this forum you'll find a lot of info about taking bikes on trains.
AirBnB can be a good alternative to Booking.
There's no shortage of routes and some people can find all that choice overwhelming.


But that's routes. It looks like this is a chance for you to be solo, without family and only yourself to please. Where do you want to go? What do you want to experience? To my mind, that's what you should be concentrating on and once you have a list then look to join them all together. You'll be in a part of the world where cycling is a part of life - there's no need to stick to a "route" unless you want to.
What fires you up? What sets the pulse racing? What gives a warm and fuzzy feeling? If I was you I'd be thinking a whole lot less about tyres and a whole lot more about where I wanted to go.
And then, when you're heading there and something else takes your fancy you can just change direction.

Good luck!

Oh! As for this......

But I'm really not much of a cyclist compared to good cyclists, and I'm in my mid-50's.

I've read the Big Book of Rules, Laws and Standards for Bike Touring, Bikepacking and General Shenanigans on One, Two, Three, Four or Five Wheels from cover to cover and there's nothing in there about having to be a "good cyclist". Nor are there any Touring Police to pull you over, examine your records and toss you in jail if your performance isn't to standard.


Ride your own tour!

 

[MichaelW2]

Bring a low gear. Bring a friend with a low gear.