Breitenberg Thunderstorm

Aiming big today. I had asked Nico last month if he would consider biking up the Breitenberg in June and he was ready for it. We agreed in the day that today would be that day. Over 30°C and high humidity were our weather conditions.

Towards the evening we then had the typical thunderclouds rolling in as is usual on days as this, but that did not deter us. Set of towards the Breitenberg at 18.30, our first brush with the thunderstorm in Pfronten Röfleuten where we received a few drops of rain. We were considering to boot out of the tour this early already, but as Nico already had posted a message in FaceBook about us biking up the Breitenberg we pressed on. Arrived at the bottom of the Breitenberg one hour after starting and set of on the long way up. 6km and about 600 altitude meters uphill. I requested a stop twice, to recuperate and take some pictures. The only living things we saw and felt were two other MTBikers on their way down, a grass snake (nearly mistook it for a worm once again) and lots of flies and mosquito. Reaching the top we had a brilliant view of Allgäu with thunderclouds in the evening. After a stop to get some long clothes on and something to eat, we started biking down. Stopped a few minutes later again, as we had just seen a big, bright red sun in the west. Spectacular view from that point. Got a few panorama pictures with the sky red, a setting red sun and rain loads coming down in certain areas. Also saw a lot of lightning bolts, but didn't catch any on photo. Nico managed to get one just coming out of the clouds, but that was it. A long way down, past a building site with explosive warnings around it. Reaching the bottom, lights on and fastest way home. Heading home we had bright flashes of lightning everywhere, except on our position. Watching the light display we arrived in Nesselwang were I bid goodbye to Nico. Visited Johanna and said happy birthday as she turned 20 that day, and then of to home for a shower and a nice bed. I was dead after that tour.

Track at GPSies and some pictures at Picasa.

Time in saddle: 3 hours 20 min.

Distance: 41.4 km

Average speed: 12.3 km/h