In July, my roomie and I went on a mountainbike trip. We then cycled the Transalp from Munich to Venice. We both participated in the Wendelstein bike marathon. Our joint season didn’t end there. In October, we met up with Tom once again. We drove out to the Southeastern corner of Germany and set off to ride to the Rossfeld. The Rossfeld is Germany’s highest road bike pass and built specifically for tourists to enjoy the panorama. We saw benefits in the never-ending summer of 2018.
It’s one of my favorite routes in the German Alps. However, I found the views from the Rossfeld less exciting than I had anticipated. That is, for most of the climb. On the final (and flat) kilometer, the panorama turned from trees to terrific. Since the summit sits on the peak of the mountain itself, the panorama opens wide to either side of the street.
Views were better on the downhill. We took a gelato break in Hallein, then crossed the valley and followed gentle slopes into the hills to the East of Salzburg. In order to avoid traffic and pedestrians as much as possible, we just crossed Salzburg along the Salzach. At some point, we turned South and completed the loop in Bad Reichenhall.
Both the first short pass (Hallthurmpass) and the Rossfeld offer challenging gradients in the double digits. Be prepared with proper gearing.
Onabike.cc 