Cycle Day 5. Sep 7th. A tangled mess on the bike, but made it to Italy!

 The first order of business was getting to a bike shop to solve my shifting issue. Phoned ahead to a shop near central Innsbruck, packed up camp and made it there before 11am. Got a lovely guy named Ian who actually hailed from Dresden, who couldn't find any problem with my derailleur or chain, but began to think something was amiss with my rear wheel hub, as the rear wheel wouldn't " freewheel" properly. This worried me as the right parts for a hub fix might not be available right away. 

My hero Ian


That's the tangled mess of fine nylon thread that had become
 wrapped inside my rear hub!


However, when he proceeded to take things apart, he found the strangest thing.... a tangle of nylon threads like a spiders web had somehow worked it's way into the hub, and that's why my back wheel could not spin properly!!! Isn't that bizarre. Right enough, earlier I had noticed that one of the straps on my new frame back had become strangely unravelled, but it wasn't hanging down anywhere near the chain or rear hub. But maybe a single strand attached on to the tire and worked its way down to the hub, and eventually the whole thing came apart and got wound up inside? Who knows. But as soon as he pulled it all out, everything was good! Ian also adjusted one of my brakes as it was a bit soft. What a relief!!

After that, Nancy and I carried on to do a little exploring in the historical center of Innsbruck, before heading to the train station at around 2pm to hopefully secure tickets for our bikes and us up to Brenner Pass.

The River Inn in Innsbruck 

Innsbruck historic centre

I should explain here that the roads going over Brenner Pass form the main transportation artery between Austria and Italy. There is the main autobahn, and also a secondary road serving the local villages. Of course bikes aren't allowed on the autobahn, and some road-cyclists do ride up the secondary road. But there are a lot of sections with no shoulder, plus some sections that are very steep. So most cycle tourists do opt for the train. And that was our plan 

So by 3,30 pm we were on Brenner Pass in the community of Brennero. The train was easy - a regional OBB train that terminated at the pass, and with very easy access for the loaded bikes without having to unload anything.

Bikes on the train heading up Brenner Pass

Train view going up to Brenner Pass


We were now in Italy!!  From here it was a joyful downhill cruise on a terrific asphalted path on a disused railway surrounded by forest and moutains, and always within sight of the busy autobahn to the town of Sterzing Vipiteno. Dark clouds had been following us for a while before we got there, and as we arrived in the town where we hoped to camp, the heavens opened and a strong wind came up. That changed our mind and we proceeded to find ourselves an apartment for the night, which happened to be right in the old town.

Views from the cycle paths going down the
Italian side of Brenner Pass





Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2026 at 4:58 AM

    I’m watching you, keeping an eye on you, and wishing you a safe journey. Jirka

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2026 at 10:20 PM

    So many challenges, and you’ve just started! You two are Super Women! Colleen

    ReplyDelete

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