I reached breaking point two weeks ago. I’d had enough of indoor training sessions on the rollers, enough of the cold and the snow—and even enough of skiing. In my hometown of Garmisch in the Bavarian Alps, everything had been carpeted in white for months and my gravel bike had not seen any action for too long. The time had come. I decided to layer up in my finest winter cycling gear with my gravel bike and pedal north. Direction: Munich. At least in the city there’d be less snow and the weather forecast looked promising enough for me to even consider shedding some clothing layers on the approach to the city. Feeling optimistic, I loaded my bike up with some mainly empty bikepacking bags to carry ride essentials and store the layers I hopefully would not be needing further down the road.

While there was the hint of sun on the slopes when I set off, it was still fresh outside and the first hour was bitterly cold. I thought about quitting and returning home to the rollers, but fortunately, by around 10 am the sun intensified, and the temperature rose to a comfortable level so I was able to shed my first layer – it felt like a victory. As the kilometres ticked by, so did my motivation and things were looking good. I came across a small snow bar at a cross-country skiing track, so I decided to stop for some food and the day’s first beer break. 

From that point on, the day was mine and I felt unstoppable. After about 100 kilometers I was on the edge of Munich and met up with an old cycling friend with whom I’d ridden together on one of my pro teams for coffee and cake. After the endless winter in Garmisch, it was so good to see a familiar face from cycling and the conversation flowed so easily so I decided to stay the night and ride back the next day. Luckily, with all those extra layers I was prepared for basically every eventuality. When the next morning rolled around, the plan was straightforward: Get up and ride! 

This time around, I was riding into the snow and out of the warmth, but I just got my head down and the first 100 km flew by. After around seven hours of riding, I pulled up at home, where the temperature gauge said -5° C and in my now very fatigued state I knew that more coffee, cake and the sofa were calling. 

In terms of the route, this is the ultimate winter escape from the ski slopes to the streets of Munich via gravel, but it also works well for summer when you’re looking to escape the tourists and soak up the Alpine lifestyle.