3 From the Brenner crossing and fun bed stories.

Day 3: Sunday, 08/25/2019

Route: Munich-Venice Cycle Path

Start: Innsbruck
Destination: Freienfeld

Distance covered: 75.2 km
total travel time: 5:03 h

7:07 AM (Julle)

Good morning! Nico says I have to write something. So I'll just write that we've finished breakfast and that we're about to go up the Brenner Pass and that we're all still tired and a little scared. Hmm, that's all I can think of right now.

10:41 AM (Krissi)

So, now it's time, we are only 12 km and 450 m of altitude away from the Brenner Pass. We haven't gotten lost today and each of us made sandwiches for 5 people. So we could start off overmotivated.

The "worst" part of the route was the short distance from Innsbruck to Vill. But with music and audiobooks, we managed just fine. In the middle of the route, Alex started to worry if her battery could handle the distance. So we went to Steinach to the "super-" friendly swimming pool lady to charge the battery. In the meantime, Max removed the mouse from Anna's brakes. We really hope Anna can still brake downhill. Julle's goal: to pass the Brenner Pass within three hours. We'll easily make it...

We already got rid of some baggage during this short break for charging the battery. Our lunch has almost been devoured. At least mine ^^.

1:16 PM (Max)

We're taking a beer break. Brenner Pass has been conquered. I still have to distribute one slap though. But as the only "man", I have to be able to run fast afterwards. Thanks to Anna and me, our beer is nice and cool due to perfect storage. But there's not enough. I wouldn't want to change places with the others, otherwise I would starve. Now I'm trying to fill up the page. And I say goodbye.

With kind regards, Maximilian Daum

1:22 PM (Nico)

We're having lunch right now on our way downhill from the Brenner Pass. And I'm feeling great!!! After the first hill early this morning, I was really exhausted for a moment. But with positive thoughts from Krissi, it went really well afterwards. And going up and down again was really fun. And going up the Brenner Pass itself went quite well too. I only had to stop once to put on cycling gloves because I was sweating so much and my hands were slipping. But then we reached the top and saw the sign for Brenner and the border sign for Italy and I was so happy and going downhill to the break was so much fun that despite the effort, we're all in a really good mood now. So, and now we've also drunk the 3 beers that Anna and Max brought along. Cheers!

1:47 PM (Alex)

We're still sitting by the side of the road and it's just an awesome feeling to have conquered the Brenner Pass! As a reward, we had three cans of beer (from yesterday) and of course chocolate! But we still don't know where we're going to sleep tonight, but at the moment we're still pretty motivated and uplifted by the success of the Brenner Pass. So let's just wait and see. But now we're going to continue because it's slowly getting dark in the sky. What a fantastic day!

6:41 PM (Alex)

So, again: after our little (beer) break in the middle of the road, we rode about 500 meters further and it started drizzling. So we stopped and made ourselves and our bags waterproof. It took a while until the rain really started, and in the meantime, we even took off and put on our rain gear again.

Eventually, we arrived in Sterzing after long descents: a beautiful, cozy old town. During our further journey, I unfortunately lost a few screws and a part. Max then discovered during the repair that the brakes were also almost broken. Quite a drama for me, but everyone else was actually pretty chill about it. So we googled and went to a bike rental place that was still open and asked for screws, unfortunately without success. So from now on, Max has to tighten the screws 2-3 times a day.

Now we're in Freienfeld at a 4**** star hotel with a sauna and a pool. Of course, we had to try everything right away. For this evening, a table is reserved in the restaurant at 7:30, but unfortunately they don't serve pizza on Sundays. But don't be sad: we still have a few nice days ahead of us in Italy, where we'll definitely get some pizza.

For tomorrow morning, a short meeting with the Daum family is planned. (As Max would say: on a Seidl or most of us at 10 a.m. an ice cream.)

9:03 PM (Krissi)

So, we just had dinner. It was good, but not a lot. Which means Max is going to eat 4 more sandwiches in the room now. We really found a 4**** star hotel here. A real bargain with a pool and a sauna. And before Nico gets sad, I'll now write the story about the traffic light.

We waited there for a really long time and took a snack break. Max had already eaten 2 or 3 of his 6 rolls. And Julle and I treated ourselves to some gingerbread cookies. Then we finally continued, up and down serpentine roads. Overall, the day was really doable. We only had to turn around a few times. Actually, only the expensive bikes had problems here. Anna's squeaky chain and Alex's e-bike, where about 5 screws are missing...

By the way, Alex just complained that she feels uncomfortable sharing a room with Anna and me. I can't understand that at all... especially after the cuddle session with Julle, Alex, Max, and Anna. I just want to mention that here, in case Alex is complaining ^^, they're all squeezing into Julle's bed right now. By the way, Nico even took a selfie of it – just to be on the safe side! So Alex shouldn't feel harassed at all. Especially since the whole cuddle session originated from her.

PS: Alex and Max in bed -> the bed is creaking... (Alex fun bed stories).