Großglockner — Bruno Bobbink

The Großglockner is one of the most spectacular climbs in Europe. It has the highest paved road in Austria, it is a serious challenge on the bike, and the views are incredible. For Roads to Discover, it was an obvious road to explore.

The route

Distance: 116 km
Elevation: 3,600 m
Start: Kaprun
Bike: Cannondale Synapse Carbon 2 SmartSense

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/19390416733

YouTube: Watch the route video

We started the ride from a campsite just outside Kaprun at around 6 in the morning. From Kaprun it is easy to get onto the road towards the Großglockner. Another good option to start from is Zell am See.

The first part of the ride is relatively easy. We followed a bike lane towards Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße, and because it was so early everything was still very calm and quiet. From Bruck the road starts to climb gradually, with the gradient getting steeper as you get closer to the actual start of the Großglockner climb.

The real climbing starts at the toll gates.

Picture from the top of the Großglockner

Climbing the Großglockner

Once through the toll gates, the road starts going up properly. The climb is hard, steep in some places and, most of all, very long. As you get higher, the landscape becomes more and more rough.

What makes the climb special is how isolated it can feel. You are riding deeper into the valley, with no towns around you, just the road and the mountains. The higher you climb, the more it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere.

When you finally reach the top, there is an option to make a detour to the Edelweissspitze. This adds another 2 km on an old cobbled road, but the extra effort is absolutely worth it.

The Edelweissspitze is the highest point of our route at 2,571 metres above sea level, and the view from the top is spectacular.

Down to Heiligenblut

After the Edelweissspitze we headed back down and continued towards the Hochtor and then further down to Heiligenblut.

By this point we had been riding for quite a while, so in Heiligenblut we stopped for a very simple lunch: supermarket food, eaten outside on a parking lot while trying to shelter from the rain. We also had a coffee before turning around.

Heiligenblut is also a useful place to know about if you need a toilet break, with public toilets available in the village.

Then came the part of the ride that made this route particularly difficult: we had to climb all the way back up.

The second climb

The second climb was definitely harder.

The fatigue from the first ascent was already in our legs, and this time we also had rain and wind to deal with. The weather in the mountains can be completely different from what you experience at the bottom, so it is worth being prepared for bad conditions.

From Heiligenblut to the Hochtor, it is roughly 14.5 km of climbing with around 1,160 metres of elevation gain. At this point there was no special moment or big achievement feeling. It was mostly about surviving the climb and getting back to the top.

This time we skipped the Edelweissspitze. Once we reached the top, we stopped for a burger and fries before starting the final descent.

Thankfully, the weather had changed again. The rain had stopped, although the top was still very cloudy.

From there it was simply a long roll back down and eventually back to the campsite in Kaprun.

What you should know

This is not an easy route.

At 116 km and around 3,600 metres of elevation, it is a long day on the bike even before you consider the weather and the two major climbs.

If you want to make the route easier, one option is to skip one of the climbs. Riding all the way down to Heiligenblut and then climbing back to the top adds a lot of difficulty, especially when you are already tired.

If you attempt the full route, I would make sure to bring:

Good lights
A proper rain jacket
Enough food for a long day
A weather forecast checked before you leave

The weather can change quickly at these altitudes, and what looks like good weather in Kaprun does not necessarily mean good weather at the top of the Großglockner.

For this ride I used the Cannondale Synapse Carbon 2 SmartSense, which was the road bike I used for the Roads to Discover project. See the bike here.

Final thoughts

By the time we got back to the campsite, we were very tired.

The Großglockner is an amazing road to ride, but it is not an easy day out. The combination of the distance, elevation, long climbs and unpredictable mountain weather makes it a serious challenge.

But that is also what makes it worth riding. You get the huge mountain landscapes, the feeling of being completely surrounded by nature, the challenge of reaching the top and, if you still have something left in the legs, the option of adding the Edelweissspitze.

For me, that is exactly what Roads to Discover is about: finding roads that are not just nice to ride, but that give you a story to tell afterwards.