I chose the silbur route for the AlpenBrevet, mostly because of the tough but within sensible limits of distance and ascent, but also because I wanted to see all new passes and not have to face the cobbles of the Tremola again. I slept pretty well considering the conditions, and the guy next to me on the verge of heavy snoring, but its so convenient right by the start/finish in Meiringen, cheap and clean so no problems there.
The ride was blessed with fantastic weather and views today, the ride was scenic from start to finish so very nice to be out on the mountain tops today. It was cool and getting cooler climbing the Grimselpass, but once at the top the sun was shining and after that there was no fear of freezing feet or hands on the descents. I still wore the jacket, but it wasnt necessary and soon had to be removed.
As I was going at a good pace, I reached the split between silver and gold/platinum riders after the short descent of the Grimsel. It seemed everyone turned right at this point, as I turned left and up the Furka pass. It really did feel like I had gone the wrong way, and from here on it was a lonely ride, only picking up other riders on the flatter section before Andermat and the descent to Wassen. After that, it was everyone for himself as we pedalled the relentless and never ending gradient of Sustenpass.
The scenery was breathtaking from start to finish, so I'll just add some photos from here.
Official time 6hr 12s, 28th out of 532 silver finishers. The time is what I expected, but comparing to the etape du tour, the average speed was slower, despite having a final descent to the finish! So that would suggest todays stage was much tougher than the Galibier and Alpe d'huez, and this was only the silver course!
Next year I could be tempted to do gold, but its a significant distance and ascent further. No thoughts whatsoever about the platinum route.
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