30^Jun Sun
07:15

Let’s do a big ride orbiting Garmisch! Sights will include Plansee, Zugspitze, Walchensee and Kochelsee. Pace will likely be between 20 and 25 km/h excluding stops, so it should take around six to eight hours plus breaks. I will be on a road bike.

There are two options for this ride: let me know in the comments which route you'd like to take.

Route

Start off by climbing out of Oberau and up to Ettal (230 m at 4% over 5 km), and then follow the valley all the way up to the Austrian border by Ammerwald (300 m over 18 km). Next drop down into Plansee (-140 m over 8.3 km). It is 8.2 km along Plansee and Heiterwanger See, followed by a 50 m climb over 2.6 km along to the Fernpaßstraße. This section is not paved, so we may choose to detour around Tauern via Reutte (an additional 4.7 km, 365 m descent and ascent). Next follow the Fernpaßstraße along to Lermoos (9.9 km, 140 m asc, 170 m desc.). Now comes the decision point:

Telfs route (156.2 km, 2480 m): From Lermoos, head south for 2.7 km to Biberwier, then climb up to Fernpaß (250 m over 6.7 km). Next is a speedy descent to Nassereith (-400 m at -4% over 9.7 km), followed by a climb up to Holzleiten (290 m at 6% over 5.1 km). A gentle descent into Telfs comes next (-520 m over 17.2 km). Then comes the nastiest ascent of the day: Möserer and Buchner Landstraßen up to Buchen. These hairpins add up to an ascent of 620 m at 9% over 6.8 km. Once they are completed, though, the rest of the ride is almost entirely downhill: Mittenwald is only 18.4 km away (-360 m). If we choose to stop there, the day adds up to 123.3 km and 2032 m (see Transport for trains), or we can continue on to Krün, 8.3 km down the valley. See below for the route from Krün.

Garmisch route (121.0 km, 1530 m): From Lermoos, head east for 3.4 km to Ehrwald. Follow the main road to Garmisch (-320 m over 21.6 km), then climb up to Klais, Germany's highest railway station (265 m over 11.5 km). From here we can turn left to Krün (4.2 km), then continue as below; or right to Mittenwald (6.2 km), so the day adds up to 97.7 km and 1120 m ascent (see Transport for trains).

From Krün, head north to Urfeld (15.2 km, 190 m asc., 250 m desc.). Then follows a short climb up to the pass (80 m at 9% over 0.9 km). Next is a speedy descent to Kochelsee (-300 m at 6% over 5.2 km), and a final 2.7 km along to Kochel station.