Salt and Lake Trail - bikepacking adventure: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The start is at 08:00 in Mondsee, and from there the route crosses the Salzkammergut over the borders of Upper Austria, Salzburg and Styria. The published map extract reaches from Salzburg via Bad Ischl to the area around Bad Aussee and the Totes Gebirge, a region of lakes, narrow valleys and limestone massifs in which every crossing from one valley to the next costs climbing.

The surface is mixed and mostly unpaved: gravel roads, forest tracks, farm roads and scree sections. Eight thousand metres of climbing over the profile's 455 kilometres works out at around 18 metres per kilometre: no extreme figure for alpine terrain, but one that feels quite different across several days on loose ground than the same number would on tarmac.

The rules give the whole thing its character. It is explicitly not a race: no aid stations, no mechanical service, no booked accommodation, but up to six days to finish. Riding is prohibited between 22:00 and 06:00, and in wildlife protection zones between 18:00 and 08:00, a rule that shapes your daily planning more than any gradient does. A tracker is mandatory. The organiser publishes no course file; the map images that exist are screenshots of a route planner and too coarse for reconstruction, which is why the catalogue carries no track for this row.

Pacing Strategy

On a self-supported bikepacking adventure of 455 kilometres and 8,000 metres of climbing you plan days, not speeds. With a riding window from 06:00 to 22:00 (considerably shorter in wildlife zones) three to six riding days is realistic, depending on how many hours you actually spend in the saddle and how much time shopping and bike maintenance consume.

Intensity belongs permanently in the easy aerobic range. The reason lies in the region's structure: the climbing comes as crossings between valleys, that is as longer gravel ascents, and each of them is ridden more economically seated at high cadence than with force. Overcook the first two days at excursion pace and on the third you lose not minutes but hours.

The real planning trap is the night rest. It is a rule, not advice, and it cuts the day off hard: being twenty kilometres from accommodation or a suitable spot when the curfew starts is a problem. So plan backwards from your overnight point rather than forwards from your odometer. The second point is resupply: in the Salzkammergut, shops sit in the valleys, not on the crossings, and in late September they close early and on Sundays do not open at all. Water and food for a whole crossing belong in your bags before you start into the next valley.

Training plan for Salt and Lake Trail - bikepacking adventure: 12-week build

The load spreads across several days of six to twelve hours in the saddle each. It is low aerobic and very long, with far more muscular and stabilising work than the numbers suggest: a loaded bike on gravel and scree demands core, shoulders and hands for hours, and the climbs take longer and go slower with luggage than they do in unloaded training.

What decides the outcome (or, at an untimed event, decides whether you finish) are days two and three. That is when it becomes clear whether your position, fuelling and sleep worked. Fitness is rarely what breaks first; saddle comfort, hands and digestion are.

The training emphases follow directly. Ride long sessions with full luggage, not merely long sessions: a loaded bike handles differently, especially downhill and in tight switchbacks. Plan at least one training block with two or three long days back to back and a genuine night out. Add strength endurance on long gravel climbs while seated, plus regular neck, hand and core work. Interval training plays almost no part here.

Among the conditions, the late date is what counts. In late September the Salzkammergut is cold in the morning, can be wet and in extreme cases wintry at altitude, and the day is short, which is precisely the reason for the night-rest rule. So train in the clothing system you intend to carry, test rain gear on a genuinely wet day, and practise repairs in the field. And get comfortable navigating by GPX: the route is unmarked, and you only receive the file as a registered participant.