Paulina Faistl from Oberammergau crossed the Alps in summer - by unicycle.
A borderline experience.
Oberammergau / Torbole sul Garda
- 400 kilometers and a total of 6000 meters in altitude was stuck in Paulina Faistl's bones when she arrived at Lake Garda.
Completely empty, deranged and pumped out, she was walking along the beach of Torbole when she was promptly approached by three men who were comfortably drinking a beer in a bar: "Hey, we talked about you three minutes ago!"
If the young woman had had a mountain bike with her, she would not have been noticed.
Quite a few set off by bike north of the Alps with the aim of reaching the south side of the Alps.
And just as many post a picture in relevant Facebook groups on their tour.
So does the woman from Oberammergau.
However, not everyone is approached about the journey they have just completed after arriving at their destination.
There is a reason why this was the case with Faistl: she crossed the Alps not on two, but on one tire.
In ten days.
The idea matured in Paulina Faistl during the Corona lockdown
In the lockdown, the idea of going to Lake Garda on a unicycle matured. "For a long time I couldn't really imagine whether that would be feasible," explained the 22-year-old, who started unicycling ten years ago. At that time she saw little girls tearing through her street on a tire and thought to herself: “I want that too!” As a child, she first learned riding technique at the Oberammergau unicycle club.
Since she realized that she had to go out into nature with her sport, she has mainly been on a tire in her Ammertal mountains and, when it gets too steep, carries her bike up the summit on her back and then manages the descent in the Saddle.
Now it was time for a new challenge. In order to prepare physically and physically for their first multi-day tour, the "Einrad-Pauli", as she calls herself in the social networks, went to the bouldering hall twice a week and explicitly trained trunk- and shoulder muscles and practiced driving with 20 kg weights.
With the luggage ready for a long time, the decision was made in August with a view to the weather forecast: "I'll be leaving in three days!"
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Alone, only with a rucksack, “Einrad-Pauli” sets off on her long journey.
© Private
For the Ammertal, the starting point of her crossing of the Alps was in Ehrwald. Around eight o'clock Faistl stood there in the village square, alone, only loaded with a rucksack, from which a little stuffed dog always looked out as a reminder of home. "I had no plan at all," she confessed. Just let go of the goal, to recognize what you are actually doing well, to think about yourself, to feel the freedom. Once started, the feeling of unfamiliarity prevailed at first: “I first had to cope with the 20 kilos of luggage on my back.” Driving uphill in particular turned out to be “extremely exhausting”. In order to keep his balance, Faistl always had to shift his upper body forward. She needed at least one hand to hold on to the saddle. Her motto: “If I get off, it's over.“In addition, there was a severe muscle cramp on the second day. And when she drove through Pfunds shortly before the Reschen Pass, a town whose sight did not give her any positive energy, the Oberammergau resident crept into the feeling: Today it is not going. “But I didn't care, I never set myself daily goals. And if I can only manage ten kilometers in one day: I always get a little further. ”The journey is the goal. How others rush across the Alps in five days and turn it into an action that is associated with stress was not Faistl's thing. She wanted to leave behind the hustle and bustle of everyday life.I never set myself daily goals. And if I can only cover ten kilometers in one day: I always get a little further. ”The journey is the goal. How others rush across the Alps in five days and turn it into an action that is associated with stress was not Faistl's thing. She wanted to leave behind the hustle and bustle of everyday life.I never set myself daily goals. And if I can only cover ten kilometers in one day: I always get a little further. ”The journey is the goal. How others rush across the Alps in five days and turn it into an action that is associated with stress was not Faistl's thing. She wanted to leave behind the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
When she finally conquered the Reschenpass with just one dismount and looked out over the lake with the protruding church tower, “Einrad-Pauli” felt that she had made it.
“I have tears.
I knew that now I am free. ”She wanted to keep this feeling after her arrival in Torbole and spent a few more days on Lake Garda.
Faistl still draws on the emotions of her “decisive” four weeks when, back in everyday life, she has been commuting to Munich for her occupational therapist training since September.
On the train, she also thinks of a special conversation with a mountain biker behind Bozen, in which her unicycle got a name.
In the future, “Einrad Pauli” will give an insight into her tours with “Balu” on Instagram.
BY KATHARINA BRUMBAUER