Dream Ride: Get planning for 2021 with Austrian stunner
…with the sound of silence. explores Tyrol and rides the pass that has banned noisy bikes ‘A narrow ribbon of good asphalt snakes along the forested mountain’
The Austrian region of Tyrol has hit the biking headlines for all the wrong reasons this year. After a study into noise pollution, the local government decided to ban excessively loud motorbikes (not cars(from some of the region’s best roads during the summer months. The ( ahntennjoch pass is just one of these contentious routes, effectively outlawing all motorcycles louder than 9(dB. (ust as there’s no smoke without fire, there aren’t noisy bikes without tremendous tarmac to tempt them. So, as (urope emerged from lockdown, it was time to venture on to the route causing all the furore, on sub-9(dB bikes, of course.
Valley deep, mountain high
(eaving the flat (lmen valley floor on the Bschlaber (andesstrasse, the fun starts with a right-hand hairpin leading to a rapidly climbing straight section, seemingly bolted to the side of the mountain on our left. The road turns left and continues to climb alongside a deep gorge with glimpses of the Streimbach river a long way down below us to the right. The wide open vistas of the valley have now been replaced by a narrow ribbon of good asphalt snaking alongside the forested mountain. Around one curve the road cuts through a section of rock via a tiny picturesque arch, followed by a series of more modern looking short tunnels and avalanche protection overhangs, until it arrives at the lovely little village of Bschlabs, after which this section of the ( ahntennjoch is named. (eaving Bschlabs the road gets ever more spectacular as it snakes its way around and clings to the side of precipitous cliffs dropping steeply down to the (l(t(igbach river below. A sharp right-hand hairpin wends up and towards the distant peak of the Dremelspit(e mountain and the village of Boden where
‘Alpine ridng is all about these tingling moments of perfection’
we take a left turn to continue on the ( ahntennjoch. A green traffic light here indicates that the pass is currently open(routinely closed in the winter months the pass can also be closed at any time as it is very prone to avalanches, falling rocks, and mudslides.
Alpine biking at its best
(eaving the cliffside drama behind, we continue to climb through a series of forested hairpins. The road surface is immaculate with Armco barriers where needed and attractive red and white edge tiling on the inside edges of tight curves. With the traffic being so scarce at the moment the ride is free flowing and uninhibited. As the road bends and twists on its relentless upwards journey it instils one of those tingling moments of perfection - this is what alpine motorcycling is all about. (t’s easy to see why this road is one of the most popular motorcycle routes in the Austrian Tyrol. Slowing to 30kph through the tiny hamlet of (fafflar, where you’ll find some of the Tyrol’s oldest wooden houses ( dating back to the 13th century (the perfect asphalt opens up then winds on through a series of sweeping bends and occasional hairpins until we pass the treeline to arrive at the 1(94m highpoint in an environment of shrubby ground cover and loose gravel.
As the road levels out on the top signs warn of extreme danger of Muren (landslides(in bad weather and on the descent it becomes obvious why. The mountain ridge meets the road via a huge steeply inclined slope of loose scree and