From Füssen to Riva – Taking the Madonna Across the Alps

It’s the last few kilometres towards Lake Garda. My legs feel heavy, the sun is beating down, and my field of vision starts to narrow. It’s time for the last resort - reload with a chocolate bar.

On my journey from Füssen, Germany to Riva del Garda, Italy, the Madonna carried me up and down many a mountain. But let’s start from the beginning.

With the goal of crossing the Alps, I embarked on an exciting journey this summer. The plan - Füssen to Riva in 6 days on the Madonna V2.2.

To prepare, I swapped to a smaller, 30-tooth, chainring and decided, after much deliberation, to keep the grippy enduro casing tyres on the bike.

Loaded up with enough energy bars, maltodextrin, and magnesium tablets, I made my way to Füssen. Though Italy was still far away, the journey began with the obligatory pizza the night before, followed by an early night.

The alarm rang at 7am, but I had already been awake, excitedly, for a while. Not even the downpour outside could dampen my spirits. Finally, at 9am, it was go time.

The plan for the week - start in the rain, finish in the sun.

We climbed the first 650 m towards Austria from Hohenschwangau. In Germany, Neuschwanstein Castle remained hidden in thick fog, but upon entering Austria, the weather began to clear, offering us stunning views of Lake Plansee.

After a gondola ride and a solid snack, we tackled our first trail of the trip, the Blindsee Trail, which was mostly flowy but had some technical and rocky sections. It was a perfect start to the week’s trail highlights and left us eager for more.

A few bike path kilometres later, we arrived at our destination for the day, Imst.

The day began with a 20 km bike path transfer along the Inn River. After that, we wound our way along the mountains south of Landeck. 1,100 m of climbing later, we stood before the Schönjochbahn in Fiss, which took us up to the 2,436 m high Fisser Joch.

The Frommestrail greeted us on the 10 km descent with sunshine, flowing turns, and breathtaking views. From Serfaus, some more technical trails brought us back down into the Inn Valley, where we started our transfer to Pfunds.

Upon arrival at the hotel, bike shoes were swapped for flip-flops, and it was time for a cannonball dive into the pool.

In reality, it was more of a belly flop followed by a hospital visit and two staples in the head. But I won't include that part.

The morning transfer brought us to the 3-Länder Enduro area. Once in Nauders, the Bergkastelseilbahn and Zirmbahn lifted us up to 2,496 m. From there, the 6 km Zirm Trail flowed down the mountain. Verdict? A second lap before lunch was a must.

After a quick refuel, we set off towards Italy. At the Plamorter Moos wetland, a cattle grid and colourful flags marked our entry into La Dolce Vita.

Passing the tank barriers we encountered the first technical trail of the day, the Bunker Trail. Although the Madonna can be a bit tougher to pedal on transfers compared to a trail bike, its suspension was a blessing on the rough descent.

After a spin on the Schöneben Flowtrail, we flew down 20 km of bike path, descending 600 m into Vinschgau at full speed. After an excellent Italian dinner, we spent the night in Schlanders.

Day 4 began with a breakfast fit for champions, as the day ahead promised to be tough. With 1,800 m of climbing and 68 km to cover, it would be the most challenging day yet.

Through misty forests, we fought our way up to the 2,018 m high Rauchenbichl. The reward? Kaiserschmarrn for lunch, accompanied by the first rays of sunshine. From Rauchenbichl, we followed alpine trails along the south side of the Naturnser Hochjoch, heading towards the Ultental.

As the morning fog lifted, the midday sun shone down. Perfect conditions for grinding up 1,000 m of climb. Constantly refuelling on carbs, we made it over the Gipsbichl by 6pm and cruised down the Gampenpass road to an evening pasta party.

During that day in the saddle, you could see how quickly the weather can change in the mountains.

On the way to our lunch stop, Cles, the terrain slowly began to shift. The light trails and hiking paths led us through more limestone and Mediterranean flora.

We wound our way through orchards and past Lago di Santa Giustina towards the final climb of the day. The 600 m ascent, with five steep concrete ramps of nearly 20% gradient, went surprisingly smoothly thanks to the onset of heavy rain, which motivated us to test out the muddy trails in the Dolomiti Paganella Bike Park later on.

With plenty of pancakes fueling us, we started the day with a downhill cruise to Molveno.

After the rigours of the previous days, we took the morning to enjoy a relaxed bike park session. Trails like Willy Wonka and Hustle & Flow offered us some final moments of airtime and elevation loss.

From Monte Razo, we caught our first glimpse of our goal, the azure-blue Lake Garda. Following the plateau, we descended a rocky S3 trail with that signature Lake Garda flow, leaving us just 30 km from the long-awaited shoreline.

Despite the blazing sun and scorching heat, we pushed hard on the bike path, making a few cross-country riders wonder what kind of bike just passed them.

After 440 km, 7,303 m of climbing, and 15,282 m of descent, we finally made it. Ice-cold beer in hand and straight into Lake Garda.

After a week in the Alps, I can say this about the Madonna, it didn’t let me down. A quick tyre pressure check and a chain lube in the morning, and off you go.

With the 30T chainring, the climbs were manageable. If you don’t need as much grip on the trails, you could opt for lighter tyres. Other than that, I’d do the trip the same way again.

If you’re interested, check out Rock My Trail’s Spend More Time on Trails Alpencross. Who knows, maybe we’ll see each other on the next one.

Words: Luca Dransmann