Pusertal Cycle Route

Today we are cycling on the Euro-Velo EV7: Munich-Venice cycle path along the Rienz on beautiful side roads to Mühlbach. We keep passing narrow places where the GPS fails due to a lack of "satellite view". Except for small sections, we always cycle on asphalt. Overall, the route is downhill, with a few smaller climbs sprinkled throughout. The route is very well marked with signs and the numerous direction arrows on the ground are particularly helpful. There is busy cycling traffic from e-bikers, gravel bikers, racing cyclists, families and the occasional biobiker. After 18.5 km and passing the beautiful Olang reservoir, we treat ourselves to a cappuccino and espresso doppio in Mitterolang. We enjoy the delicious Italian coffee and especially the fact that the cappuccino is not served in a vessel like a small soup pot, as is the case in Germany. We cycle through the old Ragen district in Bruneck, take a quick look at the parish church and after another 5 km into the church of St. Lorenzen. We want to see the statue "Madonna with the baby Jesus with the grape" from the 15th century. An extraordinary surprise awaits us here: a woman comes out of the side chapel and says in horror "horrible, horrible". We go in and see a gigantic abundance of terribly maltreated bloody statues and horror-like frescoes. We can hardly believe the abundance of horrors. Surprisingly, we can hardly find any literature about this chapel. https://www.sentres.com/de/poi/kirche/kirche-st.-lorenzen/61280924/#caml=asw 1 km further on we see the former monastery and current Sonnenburg Castle on the right on the mountain. Built as early as 1020 as a monastery for noble women, it was abolished by Joseph II in 1785. After another 20 km we are standing in front of the narrow passage with the remains of the walls of the former Mühlbacher Klause dam. In ancient times, the border between the counties of Gorizia and Tyrol ran here. https://www.pustertal.org/de/highlights/sehenswuerdigkeiten/muehlbacher-klause/ 3 km further on we are standing in front of our destination for today, the Gasthof-Hotel Seppi, and Sepp is particularly pleased by the name. The owner explains the name to us as follows: In the past, there was only one street with houses on both sides. There were essentially only two family names and the oldest male offspring was traditionally baptized Josef. In order to be able to distinguish the families better, the properties on the right side of the street were called "Seppi" and those on the left side "Sepp".

After yesterday's Brenner Pass, my legs still hurt. Luckily it was almost all uphill to Toblach. It was a very nice bike path following the Puster via Bruneck to Toblach

The 4th stage ran mainly through the Pustertal on beautiful paths along the Rienz. We continued through Brunneck towards Olang at the lake where we took a short break. Our destination today is Dobbiaco in still dry weather.

And we continue along the Rienz River, sometimes along old railway lines, past old (enchanted?) castles, and there!!!! - the Dolomites, now you can see them!!🥰 We leave Brunico and Lake Olang behind us. It drizzles a bit at times, but overall, the weather holds up🙏 A "pit stop" for a coffee refueling at a charming café, where we take a wonderful break☕️🍰 In the evening in Toblach, we come across "Hans," probably the best pizzeria in town, where we beg the waiter not to give us a seat on the terrace (brrrrr🥶), but inside instead🙏

Once through the Hochpustertal. You can find the detailed report and a few more pictures here: https://gimliontour.sthinze.de/2021/08/26/tag-4-muehlbach-bruneck-toblach/

Cycling in the greenery...even in not too good weather is fantastic. The view of the Tre Cime from Dobbiaco is spectacular😍 And the journey continues... https://www.komoot.com/it-it/collection/1877609/-rotta-a-nord-est-da-bologna-alle-dolomiti-alpi-trento-fino-al-mare-trieste-passando-per -Austria

Today we went from Mühlbach to Niederdorf just before Toblach. Through the beautiful Pustertal Today, with about the same mileage, we even climbed ten more meters. But much more pleasant to drive. Yesterday all along the main road. It was really terribly loud. This noise got me shattered. Today, on the other hand, we almost only went through the beautiful nature. Today I more than enjoyed the bike tour again. It can carry on like this. Therefore - this tour is highly recommended, but really only for people with e-bikes. Everything else is drudgery

Bright blue skies and a fantastic cycle path. All of this at 17°C in the morning. What more could you want? Another beautiful day has begun. The cycle path is simply fantastic. Almost all of it is paved. Only very few gravel sections. But the further I go, the more clouds there are. About 5 km from my guesthouse, it starts to rain like crazy.😩 That makes me go to a café again and treat myself to an Americano. You have to look on the bright side, too. I would never have done it otherwise, so close to the finish.😂😂😂 As I said, a beautiful cycle path, but also with a lot of elevation gain, some of which are steep climbs, all set in beautiful countryside with fantastic views.