The Challenge

Our adventure will test endurance, our sense of skill and most importantly bind our spirit of camaraderie as we tackle The Munsterhof Ironman Challenge.

Riding across France and Germany the Ironman Challenge is based in Mustair, a picture postcard alpine village and home of the Hotel Munsterhof, Hotel Muensterhofone of the famous Motorbike Hotel Group. http://www.motor-bike-hotels.co.uk/ located at the triangle of Switzerland-Italy-Austria, just near the Stilfserjoch-Pass and the Swiss National Park.

Here we will find 35 of the most challenging passes of the Alps and our challenge will be to ride 26 of them in three time trialed days, ending back at the hotel with a wondrous sense of self fulfillment and ‘thank **** that’s over’.

STELVIO PASS - The Stelvio Pass located in Italy, at 2757 m (9045 feet) is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps,  The original road was built in 1820-25 by the Austrian Empire to connect the former Austrian province of Lombardia with the rest of Austria, covering a climb of 1871 m. Since then, the route has changed very little. Its sixty hairpin turns, 48 of them on the northern side numbered with stones, are a challenge to motorists. The Stilfser Joch retains an importance for sport when it is open from June to September. Countless motorcyclists struggle to get to the highest stretch of road in the Eastern Alps. The Stelvio Pass was also picked by the British automotive show Top Gear as its choice for the “greatest driving road in the world”

GAVIA PASS - Gavia Pass (el. 2621 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Italian Alps. It is the tenth highest paved road in the Alps.  The pass lies in the Lombardy region and divides the province of Sondrio to the north and the province of Brescia to the south. The road over the pass (SS 300) connects Bormio to the northwest with Ponte di Legno to the south and is mostly single track on its southern section.

TONALE PASS - Tonale Pass  (el. 1883 m./6178 ft.) is a high mountain pass in northern Italy across the Rhaetian Alps, between Lombardy and Trentino.  It connects Valcamonica and Val di Sole. It is delimited by the Ortler Alps to the north and the Adamello range to the south.

GAMPEN PASS - Gampen Pass (1,518 m) is a high mountain pass in the South Tyrol, northern Italy. It connects Lana in the Adige valley and Fondo in the Val di Non. The pass is open year-round. The pass road has a maximum gradient of 9%

Three circuits - three days

TIMMELSJOCL - Timmelsjocl. (8232 ft./2509 m.) is a high mountain pass that creates a link through the Ötztal Alps along the current border between Austria and Italy.  The Timmelsjoch connects the Ötztal valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol to the Passeier valley, later Adige Valley, in the Italian province of South Tyrol, as it bridges the saddle point between the Jochköpfl (10,305 ft./3,141 m.) and Wurmkogl (10,112 ft/3,082 m) peaks to its northeast and southwest, respectively.  The pass is sometimes called the “secret passage” because it is little-used compared to the much easier and lower Brenner Pass some 15 miles/25 km to its east, and Reschen Pass some 40 miles/60 km to its west.  On July 7, 1959, after four years of construction, the 12-kilometre road was finally opened to the public. The road was well-engineered and integrated into the landscape.  The pass is now popular with car and motorbike tourists. Due to its elevation, steepness, and narrow road, the pass is closed to lorries and vehicles with trailers. The pass road is open to traffic from the first half of June to the second half of October (the exact dates depend on snow conditions) daily from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

RESCHENPASS - Reschenpass (Italian: Passo di Resia) is a pass (1504 m) over the Main chain of the Alps, connecting the Inn River valley in the northwest with the Vinschgau valley in the southeast. Since 1919, the border between Austria and Italy is located there, and at the Brenner Pass further to the east.

So follow the blog from 27th July 2012 as we set off from ‘Bobsmodels’ in the UK, through to Calais and overnight at Reims, Quality Inn - Reims onwards to Ballrechten-Dottingen, Landhaus-zur-badischen-weinstrasse complete the Ironman and return triumphant via Le Petite Pierre, Hotel Liondor and Saint Quentin Hotel Canonniers