Day 12: Wed 17th June 2009

 

Ride: Livigno to Brescia (Montechiari) - 157 miles

 

Most of the group woke up nursing at least some semblance of a hangover. Phil certainly had a bad one and Kyle’s must have been monumental.

 

Nonetheless everyone was ready by 8.00am and Pete, Gaz, Bob, Taj and Cat were ready even earlier so they shot off ahead, leaving at 7.50am. Kyle came out after they had left to find them gone and spent the next 10 minutes chuntering about the fact they hadn’t waited so all 8 could leave together.

 

Anyway pretty much at 8.00 on the dot Phil, Kyle and Mark got on the road. It was a straightforward run: Over the Forcola di Livigno to the Bernina pass; south to Tirano; right towards Sondrio and then left over the Passo dell'Aprica to Edolo on the SS39. At Edolo we turned south on the SS42 and then the SS510 past Lago D’Iseo towards Brescia. On the outskirts we picked up the signs to Montechiari airport.

 

Kyle adopted an interesting riding style that morning, which had him, slumped over his tank bag with his feet hanging over the pegs. Phil thought he must be asleep at one point but he was going round the bends OK so must have been paying some attention to the road!

 

The stretch past the Lake was a pain as it ran through a series of long tunnels where there was no overtaking. The road was full of HGVs travelling at about 30 mph as there was a heavy load up front holding everyone up. We thought we die of carbon monoxide poisoning but luckily the tunnels came to an end.

 

All in all an uneventful trip back to the airport. Phil’s odometer showed about 1,350 miles covered in the pervious week.

 

We changed in the airport car park and then Chas Mortimer arrived with one van and his two Polish employees arrived with two others shortly afterwards.

 

Pete and the others turned up 45 minutes later. True to form they had to stop at a McDonalds for another intake of cholesterol.

 

Then it was on the plane and home, arriving in Bewdley about 8.00pm after what by consensus was our best tour yet.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 11: Tue 16th June 2009

 

Ride: Gavia, Mortirolo, Bernina, Julier & Albula - 210 miles

 

After the previous day’s rest for Gaz, Pete, Taj and Bob we agreed on a group ride out to knock off the last of the top 10 highest passes in Europe - the Gavia, and then ride round over the Mortirolo, Bernina, Julier and Albula passes the back to Livigno. Mark decided to take a break as he’d been on the road for at least 8 to 10 hours every day for the last 10 days.

 

We had the usual false start with Phil thinking Kyle had been left behind and so waiting for him at the first roundabout, unaware that there was an alternative route from the hotel to the pass out of Livigno. No bother thought Phil and he continued en route confident that he would bump into them at some point. The group rode over the Passo d'Eira and Passo di Foscagno and into Bormio ignoring the turn off to the Stelvio.

 

From the centre of Bormio the Passo di Gavia is well signposted. Firstly you have to put up with a windy bit through Valfurva but then you have a lovely 5 mile fast and flowing section up to Santa Caterina where the pass starts.

 

 

The road surface, nearly all the way up, except for the last stretch, is not that good but don’t let that deter you. The initial section winds up through the trees with lovely views over to the left towards Pizzo Tresero, 3,594m.

 

Then it opens up and the road follows the side of the mountain before you reach a section just after a bridge over a mountain stream, which climbs further up the mountain, clinging to its side. As you turn the corner at the top you have a lovely view to your left up the valley and with the Corno dei Tre Signori, 3,359m, at its head.

 

Just before the summit there’s a lake, which was still covered in ice and snow just before the refugio.

 

 

After a number of photo stops on the way up Phil arrived at the refugio to find the others having the coffee and fag break. They’d been there about 10 minutes.

 

The Gavia has been used many times in the Giro d’Italia and is sometimes designated the Cima Coppi, the highest point of the race. On the 5th June 1988 the race passed over the Gavia in a snowstorm - there are pictures in the refugio. Apart from the snow and the rain in those days a lot of the pass road was just dirt - no tarmac - so the conditions were terrible. It makes you appreciate just how hard the pro cyclists are. On that day in 1988 Andy Hampsten, the only American ever to win the Giro, took over the race leadership and went on to win it.

 

 

After the break we set off down the southern ramp. This is relatively open at the top but as you get to the tree line the road is tight, steep and mostly single track with passing places. You are better off descending rather than ascending this ramp on a bike.

 

 

We ran down to Ponte di Legno and then turned right on the S42. About 10 miles down the valley we took the turn signposted Monno and Passo di Mortirolo - or Passo di Foppi. We rode through Monno and a fairly gentle climb up to the pass summit. In fact we stopped just below it not realising that it was 100 metres round the next bend.

 

 

 

On the way up we passed a number of cyclists who were coming down. We had yet to appreciate what they had gone through to get to the summit, assuming they had ascended from Mazzo on the northern side.

 

 

Lance Armstrong described the Mortirolo - it’s only ever climbed from the north side in the Giro - as the hardest climb he had ever ridden. The ascent is 7.6 miles long and climbs 1,300m making an average grade of 10.5%. The steepest section is 18%. The road has umpteen hairpin bends most of which are tight, so it must be difficult for the cyclists to get any rhythm going. For the motorcyclist it means taking a lot of care, as the road is mostly single track. So it’s not a great riding road but if you like pro cycling it’s worth seeing.

 

At the bottom Phil got detached from the group - his Garmin said go right. The rest went left. After waiting for each other at junctions probably only a few hundred metres apart, Kyle decided to head up the pass for a bit just in case Phil had come off. As it was Phil was safely at the bottom.

 

 

After about 10 minutes Phil thought the best thing was to continue on the agreed route, which was west to Tirano then up the Bernina Pass to San Moritz before tackling the Julier and the Albula.

 

When he stopped at roadworks past Tirano he thought he was on the right track - the Stop-Go man - a chatty Swiss - asked about Phil’s bike, asked whether he was hot in his leathers - he was - told Phil that he had a Honda Shadow - how interesting - and then volunteered that 6 British bikers had been through 5 minutes before. Good thought Phil. I’m on track and just need to catch them up.

 

The Bernina from the southern - Tirano - end is a great road to ride. As a major north-to-south artery it is wide and pretty well surfaced. There is obviously more traffic on it but there are lots of opportunities to get past. It tightens towards the summit before the turn to Livigno to the right and then opens up at the summit as described in the previous day’s report. Once past the summit and over to your left you have a good view of the glacier which runs down from Piz Bernina, 4,049m.

 

The road bypasses Pontresina and then you turn left through San Moritz to Silvaplana. At Silvaplana you can carry straight on towards Chiavenna and go over the Maloja pass but Phil turned right to towards Tiefencastel for the Julier Pass. A few gentle hairpins take you up from Silvaplana and onto the valley floor where you have a nice fast road up to the summit. It’s only about 5 miles from Silvaplana to the summit, with the road climbing about 480 metres.

 

 

Once over the top two sets of hairpins take you down about 485 metres over the next 6 miles to Bivio - none of them are tight as again this is a major artery with a lot of traffic. From Bivio the road runs down past Lago di Marmorera - in fact a reservoir but it’s still very pretty - and down a tight section into Mulegns.

 

 

Phil had been following a group of 6 or so German bikers who weren’t, at least in his opinion, riding very well but who were definitely holding him up. Luckily the next stretch down to Rona was straight and fast and he got past. The road was then fast and flowing all the way to Tiefencastel. Unfortunately the absence of anyone else in the group meant that the opportunity to take an inappropriate photo of the sign denoting the village of Cunter was missed.

 

Just before you reach Tiefencastel you can turn right at the roundabout to get to the Albula Pass. The road initially follows the valley floor with the railway always close by. And a golf course on your right as you approach Filisur. The road then starts to climb and after about a mile you can see the road fixed to the edge of a cliff by a gorge well above you. Two hairpins take you up to this feat of road engineering. It’s narrow now so it must have been just single track before they upgraded the road.

 

 

A little further on you pass through Bergun and the road continues to climb but the road gets narrower, tighter and the surface isn’t as good. It’s still OK though. The railway can’t climb as steeply so the rail engineers overcome this by having the line climb in loops inside the mountain. A couple of miles up from Bergun you see a series of tunnels and viaducts, which must take the line up a few hundred feet in no distance at all. As you pass Preda you exit the tree line and the road opens up. Becoming quite fast and then you’re at the summit.

 

 

The road down is fast and open. There are few tight bends and it was a pleasure to ride down - it would also be a pleasure to ride up this section - to the base of the pass at La Punt Chamues.

 

 

Phil then turned right to complete the loop back towards Pontresina. Mindful of the comments about the type of road the day before he took it easy and wasn’t surprised to see the Swiss Police writing a ticket for a car driver who had obviously been a bit too enthusiastic with his right foot.

 

Taking the Bernina southwards again he took the Forcola di Livigno back to base at Hotel Cervo to find that the rest of the group had been on the beer for at least 2 hours.

 

 

Mark, it turned out had decided to go for a ride and had also ridden the Gavia and Bernina. The others rather than heading for Tirano and the Bernina had inadvertently gone the opposite way to that intended and had ridden back to Bormio up a road none of them were that impressed with - it seemed that most of the time they were in a tunnel rather than out in the open.

 

Anyway as this was the final night on tour the usual session commenced down at the restaurant Bivio.

 

However, we did manage to agree on an 8.00am start the following morning for the final run back to the airport at Brescia.

 

 

 

Day 10: Mon 15th June 2009

 

Ride: Stelvio, Umbrail, Ofen & Bernina - 153 miles

 

Last night the Stelvio had been discussed extensively and it went without saying that Kyle, Phil and Mark would ride it today. Yesterday Bobby, Pete, Cat, Taj and Gaz had ridden it going up the northern ramp - with its 48 almost zero radius hairpins - and down the southern side - the gentler side of the Stelvio. However, from Livigno it's more logical to ride it in reverse, going up the more open southern ramp and down the steeper, much tighter northern ramp. For the most part last nights discussion had been about which was the best way to ride the pass, north to south or south to north?

 

However, after all the talk about how steep and tight the Stelvio was Phil wasn’t feeling wildly enthusiastic about riding it this morning. He'd begun to think that his HP2 Sport wouldn't feel at all comfortable with all those tight hairpins that constantly turn back on themselves, and up a virtually vertical wall of mountainside. All in all it didn't sound like a pleasant ride out. Nevertheless, whatever Phil's misgivings, he, Kyle and Mark set off as planned and with the opportunity to knock off another couple of the pass roads from the bagging list of 10 highest passes in Europe - the Stelvio at number 2 and the Umbrail at number 10.

 

There are only three roads that lead out of Livigno. You can either take the Munt La Schera tunnel to the north, the Forcola di Livigno to the west, or the pass roads Passo d'Eira and Passo di Foscagno to the south. Kyle, Phil and Mark headed south.

 

 

It's 23 miles from Livigno to the bottom of the Stelvio's southern ramp but after stopping to take photos Phil lost touch with Kyle and Mark early into the ride. The route however is pretty straightforward, up and over the Foscagno heading towards Bormio and then take the left turn up the Passo dello Stelvio - or Stilfser Joch.

 

 

At the bottom of the southern ramp there's a bust of Carlo Donegani, the great civil engineer who built this Imperial road over the Stelvio. It was commissioned in 1818 by Franz I, the Emperor of Austria, to connect the Austrian Empire to Lombardy. This 30 mile long road with its 60 plus hairpins climbs 1,871m peaking at 2,758m. Construction started in 1820 and work was completed in 1825 and there's a museum on the Stelvio that documents the construction of this mountain pass. Like the pass, the museum is open from late May until early November.

 

 

After all his misgivings Phil actually enjoyed the ride up - great views and the hairpins weren’t that tight.

 

The southern ramp can be broken down into three sections. The first is open and flowing and takes you through a number of narrow tunnels. The tunnels are generally wet, unlit, and single lane so take care going through them.

 

 

The short second section takes you up a series of 14 hairpins that are next to a fast flowing stream - almost waterfall - and this marks the midway point.

 

 

The third section starts after the 14 hairpins and this is a lovely road where the pass begins to open up again.

 

 

Unlike to first section, this part of the pass remains wide and open all the way to the summit. On the way up to the summit you'll pass a turning off to the left, this will take you down to the Umbrail and ultimately Santa Maria.

 

 

After a number of photo stops on the way up Phil eventually emerged at the top however the commercial centre at the summit is incredibly busy and Kyle and Mark were nowhere to be seen.

 

 

No problem thought Phil, just ring them and leave a message, at which point his phone rang - it was Mark. Both Mark and Kyle were at the Tibetan cafe, about 400m away and another 100m higher. They'd seen Phil arrive and were looking down waving at him to get his attention.

 

 

To get to the Tibetan cafe just turn right (or left) at the summit and wind your way up the loose gravel road, past the car park, and bear left. You get a fantastic view of the iconic northern ramp from there, and the coffee is good too.

 

 

Going down the northern ramp was no problem, it was Monday and the traffic was light, and in everyone's opinion coming down it was easier than going up it. For a start it's far easier to see what’s coming up and in fact a couple of times they stopped to allow bikers coming up to use the full width of the road. Riding 48 hairpins, 46 of which are consecutive, does tend to impart a sense of déjà vu, but having said that the Stelvio is one of the iconic Alpine roads and just has to be ridden.

 

 

After a short stop in Prato allo Stelvio it was on to Glurns and back up the Mustair valley to Santa Maria. There, in the middle of the village, they turned off left and headed up the Umbrail Pass. This is the only pass where part of the road is unmade however even the unpaved section is pretty good.

 

After a series of tight hairpins early on the road opens up but as it does so, the surface turns from tarmac to hard packed earth with loose gravel on the surface. Fortunately there are only a couple of tight corners and if you're worried about the front wheel washing out don’t be too proud to put your feet down. And don’t worry about the back, that will take care of itself.

 

 

You're not on the unpaved section for very long, and after crossing over a small bridge and the road becomes tarmac again, and then it’s a straightforward run up to the summit.

 

 

From the summit you can see the Stelvio and in fact a little further on there’s a T junction which connects the Umbrail with the southern ramp of the Stelvio. After a few photos at the top they retraced their steps and headed back down the pass to the town of Santa Maria and a second coffee break.

 

 

Over coffee Kyle, Phil and Mark got into an involved debate about why nobody had got their knee down on this trip. Phil's answer was simple - he didn't have knee sliders. Phil then pointed out that the next section of road over the Ofen Pass - or Pass dal Fuorn - would be ideal for a bit of knee down activity. He pointed out that Mark had only been a whisker away from grounding out the left hand silencer on the Blackbird the previous day, and all that was required was for him to start hanging off the bike and point his knee at the tarmac, whilst maintaining a decent speed round the tighter corners...et voila, Bob est votre oncle!

 

What followed could only be described as laughable. Mark was even further from the tarmac than he was the day before. Phil thought he had got a really decent lean angle only to look down and see that the left hand cylinder head was a good deal nearer to the ground than his knee was. And from Phil’s perspective Kyle appeared to be trying to qualify as a contortionist. Net result - no knee down action. Phil decided that the only way he would ever get his knee down would be to buy extra large knee sliders and then strap a couple of Coke cans to them.

 

After that debacle they continued on the Ofen, past the Munt La Schera tunnel - which takes you into Livigno - and on towards Zernez. The road between the tunnel and Zernez is very good and might merit a pass name but for whatever reason it doesn’t.

 

 

At Zernez they turned left towards San Moritz and followed the signs to the Bernina. The final leg of the route today consisted of a ride up the northern ramp of the Bernina, a short way run down the other side, and then a left turn over Forcola back into Livigno. The first section of the road out of Zernez was very good up to Pont de Chamues, where you can turn right for the Albula, but after that it’s pretty much a bypass all the way until the turn off to San Moritz. It's just the sort of road that encourages speed but where you're likely to ride straight into a police speed trap.

 

At the San Moritz roundabout they then turned left past Pontresina towards Tirano and Italy and the northern ramp of the Bernina Pass. From the Pontresina end the Bernina doesn’t climb a great deal and there is only one moderately tight section. Other than that it’s a very fast open road. It runs very close to the Bernina Express railway which crosses the road a couple of times. Just don’t do what Mark did, which was park by the side of the road to take a photo only to find the train bearing down on him from behind!

 

 

From the top of the Bernina it's only a couple of miles down the southern ramp until you reach the left turn that takes you over the Forcola di Livigno and into the Livigno valley.

 

 

The Forcola, though reasonably high, is a straightforward road on both sides, and from the left turn off the Bernina it's only 9 miles back into Livigno. So from there it was a straight run back to base at Hotel Cervo to meet up with the rest of the group and find out what they'd been up to all day.

Ride: Ofen, Umbrail & Stelvio - 133 miles

 

Cat had done his own thing today as none of the others was up for a long ride out and he fancied covering a few miles. And ironically he'd covered some of the same ground that Kyle, Phil and Mark had. He'd left Livigno via the Punt dal Gallo arch dam and ridden through the Munt La Schera tunnel - a toll tunnel costing Euro 7 - where he turned right onto the Ofen Pass.

 

 

 

And it was on the Ofen Pass that Cat discovered motorcycling nirvana. The road over the Ofen heading towards Merano is the perfect road for his V-Max, a bike far better suited to fast open flowing roads rather than the tight hairpins of the Stelvio and the like.

 

With no particular plan Cat's thought had been to ride out of Livigno through the tunnel and then somehow loop back on an alternative route, but without riding the Stelvio for a second time. However, after riding for quite some time, just enjoying the moment, he realised that to avoid the Stelvio he should have turned left after the tunnel, towards the Bernina Pass, rather than turning right towards Merano.

 

After a quick stop to check his map a decision was made. It meant a slight retrace of steps but if he headed towards Santa Maria he could pick up the Umbrail Pass and join the Stelvio, riding down it's gentler southern ramp - whilst managing to avoid riding up it's tight northern ramp.

 

 

From the Stelvio he simply dropped down onto the Passo di Foscagno and followed the SS301 over the Passo d'Eira, and completed his loop back into Livigno.

 

All in all another great ride out for all those that ventured out, but probably more so for Cat who, after a few days spent scratching his head wondering whether he'd bought the right bike, discovered what his V-Max was all about.

 

Bobby, Pete, Taj and Gaz did venture out during the day and like Cat they rode north out of Livigno towards the Punt dal Gall arch dam, but unlike Cat they had lunch on their mind and their plan for the day was simple. Find somewhere scenic but not too far away from Livigno to have a lazy lunch, take a few photos, and then head back to base.

 

From Livigno it's a short scenic ride to the arch dam with the 7 mile road following the shoreline of Lago di Livigno - or Lago del Gallo. Actually a resevoir rather than a lake, it lies mostly in Italy although the arch dam marks the border between Italy and Switzerland. Most of the road is open tunnel and we presume that this is to allow the road into Livigno to remain open during the winter months.

 

 

 

 

By alll accounts they did find somewhere to have lunch, chancing upon possibly the worst meal anyone could find in Italy, or it could have been Switzerland.

 

 

 

 

Day 9: Sun 14th June 2009

 

Ride: Arabba to Livigno via Timmels Joch - 204 miles

 

For our transit day from Arabba across to Livigno we once again split into two groups. Not so much food and non-food groups, but rather those who wanted to hit some high passes en route and those that didn't.

 

Besides the 18 passes in a day ride, Phil and Kyle had also targeted this tour as the opportunity to complete the 10 highest passes in Europe bagging list and as a group we had already ridden the Col d’Iseran, Col Agnel, Col de la Bonnette/Restefond and Col du Galibier. This year we had climbed the Grossglockner Hoch Tor (number 8 on the list) so all that remained was to ride the Passo dello Stelvio, Passo di Gavia, Timmels Joch and Umbrail Pass.

 

This transit day was the obvious opportunity to knock off the Timmels Joch and it also presented the opportunity to ride the Jaufen Pass - the most northerly pass that's entirely in Italy.

 

And so the two groups were formed; Phil, Kyle and Mark would ride the high passes to Livigno while Pete, Gaz, Bobby, Cat and Taj would take a more direct route.

 

 

First up was to get over the Passo di Pordoi and Passo di Sella and down to the autostrada - the A22/E45. And it was from there that the direct route group headed south towards Merano while Phil, Kyle and Mark headed north towards Brenner and the Jaufen Pass.

 

Phil, Kyle and Mark's run up the A22/E45 was uneventful but they did encounter a significant traffic jam a few miles short of the exit. This could have been a queue for the toll or possibly the border check when you enter Austria but either way it wasn't a problem as they were able to filter through it, but not always to the delight of the cage drivers. On more than one occasion exception was taken to their filtering.

 

Exiting the autostrada at Sterzing the Jaufen Pass - or Passo di Monte Giovo - pretty much starts immediately. There was heavy traffic going up but once they got past the camper van at the head of the queue - it’s always a camper van - the road became very pleasant to ride up through and out of the treeline. After clearing the treeline the road really starts to open up and at 2000m, just below the summit, there's a nice restaurant where they decided stop for a break and a coffee.

 

 

From the restaurant the road remains fast and flowing with superb views and with only another 100m of climbing it's only a short hop to the summit.

 

 

The run down the other side hugs the side of the mountain giving great views over the Val Passiria befoe finally taking you below the treeline where the road tightens up again. All very pleasant, or at least it was until they got down to the valley floor, about 6,000 feet lower, where it was very hot.

 

 

 

At the bottom of the Jaufen they turned right up the valley towards the Timmels Joch - or Passo del Rombo - being passed in the process by a pair of very fast locals who raced ahead. By now Kyle was low on fuel and knowing it was a 36 mile return trip to the top of the Timmels they began their search for fuel.

 

Getting fuel from unmanned fuel stations had been proving difficult this trip simply because we didn't know how to operate the automatic pumps. It had become a bit hit and miss and there were times when we just gave up and headed to the next fuel station to try our luck again. In Moos however Kyle got lucky and making the most of the situation everyone decided to fill up.

 

The pass starts in earnest after Moos and it's fairly tight for the first few miles but then opens up at which point you can see the pass climbing up the opposite side of the valley. You continue along one side then cross over a bridge and up the other side. The climb is precipitous - you wouldn't want to go over the edge - and the hairpins are tight like the Stelvio.

 

 

After a few more miles you reach a tunnel - this was the last bit built by Mussolini before Hitler asked him to stop in 1939, until work recommenced after the war. In fact the pass wasn’t linked to the road on the Austrian side until 1959.

 

 

Once they got through the tunnel it was only just over a mile to the summit but the 5,000 feet and 18 miles you climb to get there is certainly worth the effort - even if you got out of your way to do so like they did.

 

 

Rather than dropping down the Austrain side - like many Austrian roads it carries a toll - they retraced their steps and headed back down the pass towards Moos until they reached the valley floor where they headed for Merano.

 

 

As they got lower and lower the heat went up and up and it didn't help that there were a lot of bikers who seemed averse to overtaking cars travelling at 40mph. It was Sunday afternoon though and the weekend traffic was now really starting to build and in fact progress into Merano was painfully slow.

 

Entering Merano you're only at about 900 feet above sea level, and that fact combined with the very heavy traffic and slowing pace meant it got incredibly hot on the bikes. In Merano Phil was following the directions on his Garmin but they aren’t foolproof and can’t deal with roads that are now no entry. Indicating left Phil realised that this was now one way and no entry so he turned right. In a state of confusion Kyle decided to hedge his bets and carry straight, and thinking it was a through road, found himself in a hotel car park. Clearly the heat had got to him so while Phil and Mark waited for him to turn around they agreed that a stop was in order at the earliest opportunity.

 

Regrouping a few minutes later they found their way out of Merano and spotted somewhere to stop right on the edge of town. What they found was a haven for bikers and if anyone else should find themselves in Merano looking for somewhere to stop then this would be the place.

 

 

Rewarding themselves with a beer for good behaviour they had a pleasant break before setting off again in the direction of the Stelvio. Traffic was still busy but they managed to scythe through it including scything through a large group of bikers who couldn't seem to make up their minds whether they wanted to sit in traffic or overtake it. It soon became clear that they just wanted to overtake at high speed on dead straight stretches, then slowing down at the first sight of a corner. They obviously didn’t appreciate the old adage that any fool can open a throttle in a straight line. Sure enough though they turned off towards the Stelvio while Phil, Kyle and Mark continued on to Glurns. At Glums they turned left into the Mustair valley and the Ofen Pass - or Pass dal Fuorn.

 

Crossing into Switzerland they headed up the valley passing the hotel Phil had initially booked over the internet for this leg of the journey. He’d come out to this area in March, had seen the hotel in the flesh and decided that it wouldn’t do, so cancelled it. He’d then settled on a in Hotel Cervo in Livigno and everyone was hoping that it would be even half as good as Hotel Evaldo in Arabba.

 

It’s a good biking road all the way from Glurns but when it reaches Santa Maria im Mustair it turns into something special. Fast sweeping bends take you through Tschierv when the Ofen pass road really starts. Phil loved this road and led the group up to the top of the pass. The fact that there are only a couple of hairpins on the way up to the summit, and none on the way down, tells you how open the road is.

 

At the summit they stopped at the refugio for another beer and to watch other bikers go by. They were particularly impressed by the wheelie pulled by what appeared to be a local rider on a KTM Super Duke.

 

 

Then it was a 6 mile run down to the bottom of the pass - taking less than 6 minutes - where on the left the 4km Munt La Schera tunnel takes you into Livigno. This is the only year round guaranteed entry point into Livigno. The Forcola di Livigno which comes in off the Bernina Pass had only opened a couple of weeks before and the Passo di Foscagno, which comes in from the Bormio side, must be shut periodically because of snow.

 

The toll for bikes is Euro 7 each and then there's a short run down the side of the resevior Lago di Livigno - or Lago del Gallo - into Livigno itself.

 

 

It was simple to find the hotel - our base for the next 3 nights - and Phil, Kyle and Mark weren’t surprised to see the rest of the group sitting outside a bar on the other side of the road getting stuck into the beer.

 

 

Hotel Cervo turned out to be very good indeed and at Euro 53 a night, including secure underground parking, it was excellent value for money.

Ride: Arabba to Livigno via Stelvio - 160 miles

 

The other group's trip had been uneventful but they had decided to come via the Passo dello Stelvio - or Stilfser Joch - which they had ridden up from the trickier northern side and down the gentler southern side. From the bottom of the Stelvio they rode over the Passo di Foscagno and Passo d'Eira into Livigno.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 8: Sat 13th June 2009

 

Ride: Sella Massif - 34 miles

 

Before we booked our motorcycle trip to Italy we spent a lot of time online scrolling through dozens of websites doing research. We wanted to find somewhere to stay in the Dolomites - a base for 3-4 nights - which would give us easy access to as many passes as possible, while keeping costs as low as possible.

 

For the most part the Dolomites are located in the province of Belluno, with the remainder being in the provinces of Bolzano-Bozen and Trento. It soon became clear to us that the province of Trento - where the Marmolada (3,343m), highest mountain in the Dolomites, is located - was where we wanted to be. Ideally we wanted to be in a town and initially looked at places like Cortina and Corvara. However, the majority of hotels we found were either closed in early June or were very pricey. Eventually we came across Hotel Evaldo in the village of Arabba.

 

The Evaldo was very reasonably priced but we didn't really know how lively Arabba was, or how convenient it would be to gain access to many of the passes we wanted to ride. It turned out to be an ideal place to base ourselves, with easy access to dozens of passes and right on the edge of the Sella Massif. The hotel restaurant was excellent, every morning they provided a huge breakfast buffet and for Euro 15 they provided and four course meal every evening. In fact with all the facilities and hotel bar we never felt the need to leave the hotel.

 

If you're looking to base yourself in the Dolomites we recommend Arabba and the Evaldo.

 

 

After yesterday’s exertions and arguably more importantly yesterday evening on the beer it was clear at breakfast that no one was up for a long ride out. Some opted for a morning of rest, reading, or a game of giant chess. While others settled for a wander around Arabba and some bike fettling. Cat on the other hand decided to spend the day in bed sleeping off last nights excesses.

 

 

On a lazy day like today the advantage of being based next to the Sella Massif meant we had immediate access to a route that would only be 34 miles long yet still take in four magnificent passes - the Campolongo, Gardena, Sella and Pordoi.

 

In winter it's possible to ski around the entire massif by using the Sellaronda ski lift carousel and each winter the alpine touring ski Sellaronda Skimarathon race is held, which leads around the entire Sella and covers a little over 26 miles of mountain trails.

 

In the summer, during the first week of July, the Maratona dles Dolomites is staged, an annual one day bicycle road race where up to 9,000 cyclists compete against each other. Apparently it's Italy's biggest Granfondo and is open to amateur and professional cyclists alike, covering up to seven mountain passes of the Dolomites - you may want to bear this in mind when considering dates to visit the area as the build up to this event begins up to a week prior to the race. Known as "Riders' Week", and mainly in the Badia valley, there are group rides, training rides, cycling events and parties organised and held daily.

 

After a morning of doing very little most got bored and decided upon a straightforward anti-clockwise trip around the Sella Massif, starting with a ride up the Passo di Campolongo to Corvara. Kyle, Phil and Mark headed off first with the others - except Cat - following a short while later.

 

 

After a fuel stop in Corvara - for those in need - we turned left and headed up the Passo di Gardena, with the opportunity to take a few photos on the way up to the top. The ride up the eastern ramp of the Gardena is certainly worthy of mention. It's an excellent well surfaced road composed of open flowing hairpins with short straights in between - and with classic Dolomite scenery.

 

 

At the top Kyle, Phil and Mark stopped at the first - higher - restaurant for a coffee, after which Phil decided to turn around and return to Arabba, rather than continuing over the Sella and the Pordoi. In the meantime Bobby, Pete, Taj and Gaz arrived at the top, but decided to ride on to the Sella instead of stopping.

 

Heading towards the Sella from the Gardena's high restaurant you immediately pass the second - lower - restaurant. From there it's only a short drop down until you're onto the Gardena valley road (circled below right).

 

 

It was on the Gardena valley road that Kyle and Mark did their good deed for the day. Half way down the valley they came across an elderly German biker pushing his broken down BMW. Stopping to offer assistance they couldn't believe the number of people that had simply ridden past, and continued to ride past.

 

Determining it was a battery problem they offered their fellow biker a push to get him going again but clearly there was a misunderstanding. Fumbling in his tank bag he produced some straps and seemed to be asking for a tow instead. Neither Kyle nor Mark were keen on towing the old gent, while Hans "The Battery" - as he later became known - appeared equally averse to bumping his bike. So with a shrug of his shoulders Hans started off down the road again. Did he even have a battery they wondered?

 

Knowing there was a downhill section coming up, but not knowing how far, Kyle and Mark rode on to see how far the walk would be. Establishing that it was about a quarter of mile Kyle parked up and jumped on the back of Mark's bike. They rode back to Hans where Kyle jumped off. Needless to say while Mark rode on to turn around Kyle managed to persuade Hans to jump on his bike and started pushing - the BMW started first time and Hans was on his way.

 

 

After a second stop a little further down the valley - to watch a helicopter take off - it was on to the junction at the bottom of the western ramp and then left up to the top of the Passo di Sella to meet the others.

 

 

It was pretty chaotic at the top of the Sella and with all the bikes, cars, campervans and coaches, parking spaces, even for a bike, were limited. To add to the chaos no one seemed to be watching where they were going, instead taking in the spectacular views that the top of the pass afforded. While Kyle and Mark parked up and ordered a beer, Bobby, Pete, Taj and Gaz decided to ride on to the Pordoi with the idea of getting lunch somewhere less busy.

 

 

From the Sella the western ramp of the Passo di Pordoi is well surfaced and like the Gardena it's worthy of comment. In fact whether you're travelling west-to-east or vice versa the road is well surfaced and is lovely to ride, if a bit more challanging. Unfortunately it forms part of a heavily used tourist circuit and is quite crowded. Unlike the Sella though there's plenty of space to park at the top.

 

Opposite the car park is the ticket office for the cable car that can take you up to the Sass Pordoi (2,950m). Constructed in 1962, it was completely remodernised in the mid nineties and a return ticket for the 10 minute trip to the top costs Euro 18.

 

 

Bobby, Pete, Taj and Gaz had stopped for lunch at the top of the Pordoi and it was here that Kyle and Mark caught up with them. From the top it's a straight - make that very twisty - run down the pass into Arabba. The eastern ramp of the Pordoi, and it's 33 hairpins, is a lovely run down to Arabba, although for maximum enjoyment it's a road best ridden when it's quite.

 

The real entertainment of the day didn't start until we got back to the hotel though. In an act of curiosity Bobby was checking his tyres to see how far he'd had his bike lent over when he discovered that his front wheel was on the wrong way round! The tyre was correctly placed on the rim, but the wheel was on back to front.

 

 

So for the second time this trip the tools came out for Bobby's bike. This time Pete led the spannering and he started by cleverly constructiing a stand out of a few house bricks and a plank of wood. In what seemed like no time he'd dropped the front wheel out and put it back on the correct way round. After some initial teething problems - front pads rubbing - it was job done. Pete left to get changed looking very pleased with himself - quite right too - while Bobby left shaking his head and muttering, "Why me again?".

 

Still, nothing a few beers couldn't cure.

 

 

 

Day 7: Fri 12th June 2009

 

Ride: 18 Passes in a Day - 236 miles

 

Since we started motorcycling in Europe in 2006, Phil has used John Hermann’s excellent motorcycle touring book Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps & Beyond as a valuable resource in planning trips, and Kyle has since joined the Hermann fan club. Trip 52 (in the fourth edition) is entitled “I Dare You; 17 Passes in One Day".

 

As soon as we'd decided that in 2009 we would tour the Dolomites, Kyle and Phil set trip 52 as a personal goal and Phil got to work planning it. He worked out that the ride as described by John Hermann would actually cover 18 passes - John hadn’t included a pass called Pramadiccio which sits just south of the Lavaze pass. According to Garmin's MapSource mapping software the ride would cover about 230 miles. Although this doesn’t sound a lot the truth is your moving average on Alpine roads is about 30mph - quite realistic in our experience - and therefore it would take at least 8 hours to complete, without taking in to account rest and photo stops.

 

In order to get maximum enjoyment and minimum discomfort from the ride Kyle and Phil had spent a lot of time getting bike fit. As soon as Kyle’s GSX-R1000 and Phil’s HP2 Sport arrived in March they went out regularly for long rides of 250 miles plus. We'd also realised during the planning process that attempting this route whilst trying to keep 8 riders together wasn't going to work so we split in two groups - we decided on food and non-food groups.

 

Why the strange designation? Well, stopping for food invariably takes 45 minutes to an hour and it also tends to make you lose concentration and momentum. Kyle and Phil had done their UK ride outs with just liquid stops - tea, coffee or water - and planned just a couple of coffee stops for this ride. The issue was who else would be able to survive without regular stops for carbohydrate loading. After some debate Bobby, Pete and Gaz decided they needed regular fodder so the food group was formed and the rest of us made up the non-food group.

 

 

We met for breakfast at 7.00am with the aim of being on the road by 8.00am. Over coffee and scrambled eggs we agreed that the food group would travel in the reverse direction to the non-food group - with any luck we'd all meet up for a coffee at the half way point. Amazingly we were all away at 8.00am and all went well, for about 20 minutes.

 

 

The non-food group set off over the Passo di Campolongo and through Corvara to La Villa and onto the Passo di Valparola, before turning right up the Passo di Falzarego, a nice pass. At the summit of the Valparola Kyle and Phil stopped to photo the pass sign before dropping the half mile or so to the bottom where the road joins the Falzarego, with a left turn to Cortina or a right turn back to Arabba.

 

As they approached the Falzarego pass junction Phil was a bit teed off to see Cat, Taj and Mark in the car park with their helmets off - waiting to take photos of Kyle and Phil coming down off the Valparola. However, because it had been agreed that the group would ride for at least an hour before stopping Phil sailed past them and turned left towards Cortina, closely followed by Kyle.

 

 

 

They trickled down the Falzarego assuming that the others would follow but of course they didn't appear. After waiting for 5 minutes ½ mile or so down the road they realised something was a miss so Kyle rode back to the pass summit to see if he could find them. Another 5 minutes passed and Phil decided to join Kyle. A further 5 minutes passed at which point it became clear that Cat, Taj and Mark had gone right, back to Arabba, rather than left to Cortina! So then there were three groups. After a short discussion Kyle and Phil decided to continue in the hope that the others would realise their mistake and turn around.

 

It was here that Kyle experienced his motorcycling epiphany and joined the ranks of the riding gods as he sped off down the Falzarego at a speed which caught Phil by surprise - and which was to last the entire day. At the turn to Passo di Giau Phil caught up with Kyle, who promptly sped off again up the northern ramp. In Phil’s defence he was experiencing the same slipping tyre syndrome as he had on the way up the Falzarego the day before, so was exercising probably undue care. The run up the Giau is superb and the view from the summit is stunning - probably one of the best all round Alpine panoramas this side of the Galibier.

 

 

The one confusing thing was that the pass was signposted Colle Santa Lucia when in fact that pass is a few miles further on. There was no doubt however that this was the Giau, and so 4 down, 14 to go.

 

 

Meanwhile Cat, Taj and Mark had realised their mistake and stopped to consult their map and figure out a new route that would salvage something from the day. Needless to say lessons were learnt from this episode. Phil should have waited at the junction, Kyle should have ignored Phil and waited regardless, Cat, Taj and Mark shouldn’t have stopped and taken their helmets off in the first place, and finally they should also have paid some attention to the map when the route was being discussed - an intercom system would also have been useful.

 

 

By now this was all water under the bridge so after a short stop at the top of the Giau Kyle and Phil decided to continue with the planned route and rode on, passing the right turn to the correct Colle Santa Lucia on the way down. After a quick splash 'n dash fuel stop at the bottom they kept on for the Forcella Staulanza. This was a nice road but it rose gradually and if it wasn’t for the refugio at the summit you wouldn’t have known that you had crossed a pass.

 

 

From the Staulanza they dropped down to Dont and took the right turn, signposted Passo Duran. There's a refugio at the summit of the Duran and the plan was to make this their first coffee stop of the day. Kyle liked this pass but Phil couldn’t see anything of merit in it - although John Hermann does rate it as one of his "special little roads". A poor road surface, largely single track and plenty of blind bends weren’t to Phil’s liking though.

 

 

After a short coffee break it was back on the bikes and a run down to Agordo where they picked up the SP347 for the Forcella Aurine and the Passo di Cereda. Both the next two passes were nice rides and the lowest two covered that day. Both stayed below the tree line but neither was much to write home about.

 

 

From the Cereda it was a short run down into Fiera di Primiero and a right turn towards Passo di Rolle. There are a lot of busy little towns with narrow roads and side turnings on the lower reaches of the pass. It was here that Kyle encountered a women emerging from a side street who didn't seem to paying any attention to what she was doing. Unfortunately for Phil she proved she wasn't when she pulled out in front of him less than a minute later, oblivious that he was even there.

 

The road from Fiera di Primiero was well surfaced and there's a gentle climb until you reach San Martina di Castrozza where the pass proper starts. Same good road surface but this was a major north/south road so a fair bit of traffic, not all of which appeared to recognise that in Italy you drive on the right. Riding through San Martina di Castrozza Phil came round one corner to find two bikes heading for him on his side of the road - it wasn’t the last time that day either and Kyle had similar experiences.

 

You really need to keep your wits about you riding these pass roads and this was emphasised when they came round a hairpin near the summit to find 30 or more bikes parked up, an ambulance in the middle of the road, and bikers waving them to slow down through the throng. They could see a couple of concerned looking bikers peering into the ambulance so could only hope that the biker was still breathing. They couldn’t see his or her bike and have no idea what happened.

 

 

Up to the summit and this marked the halfway point, not in mileage but in passes completed. A quick breather and comfort break, then it was straight on and a right turn onto Passo di Valles. This minor road, which takes you to Falcade Alto, was a delight. Not long but the first few miles of the ascent take you alongside an Alpine stream running down in the opposite direction, on a nice fairly open well surfaced albeit narrow road. They then dropped down and at the bottom and rather than turn right into Falcade, kept on the road which would take them over the Passo di San Pellegrino.

 

The lower reaches of the San Pellegrino are tree lined and the road is fairly twisty but never tight. However, about 2 miles from the summit it opens out into a really fast road. Well worth the ride. The rest of the group also rode these two passes, the other way round, and everyone agreed that whichever way round they were ridden they were good roads. At the summit there were a few ski resorts and as was common we found that the road up to the resort was wide and reasonably straight - to allow the coaches to get up quickly.

 

 

At the bottom they turned left on the SS48 past Predazzo to Tesera where the turn up to the Passo di Pramadiccio was. As it turned out only the Passo di Lavaze was signposted in the town, but this took them up over (if you could call it that) the Pramadiccio to the T junction where they turned right for the Lavaze. A really nice flowing road all the way up to the summit of, and over, the Lavaze. Likewise on the way down through the forest the road flowed nicely until they reached Ponta Nova where they turned right on the SS241 towards the Costalunga.

 

By this point they were both potentially low on fuel so stopped at 2.25pm to fill up. The only person to be seen at the petrol station was a scooter rider who explained that the garage was shut until 2.30pm for lunch. On being asked about the hordes of scooters we'd all seen the previous day he explained that there was a major scooter convention in Salzburg. He was just doing his own thing though and it turned out that with his 125cc 2 stroke engine he had been over just about every major European pass including the Stelvio - it just took him a little more time than the average motorbike.

 

 

Once refuelled they continued up the Passo di Costalunga - or Karerpass - past the Karersee, a very beautiful lake, and up towards the summit. Just before the summit they parked up for their second and final coffee stop of the day. Phil’s BMW HP2 Sport is a relatively rare bike and as such sometimes attracts a bit of attention. On this occasion a German biker was having a good look, then came over and asked where Kyle and Phil were from. On being told Bewdley, England he asked, "...what about the BMW?". Phil's bike has a plate with a “CYM” designation on it for Cymru or Wales and this seemed to confuse just about everyone that looked at it. The guess this time was the Cayman Islands! Most original yet.

 

Last coffee stop done and they were 13 down, with 5 to go.

 

 

The road down from the Costalunga towards Canazei was very busy and they became aware of the huge volume of traffic on a Friday afternoon. When planning this ride the thought was to avoid doing it on a Saturday or Sunday because it would be too busy. As it transpired the weekend traffic was no worse, if not better, than the traffic this afternoon. So after dodging coaches, campervans and other riders who couldn’t keep to their side of the road, Kyle and Phil were through Canazei and on the road up to the Passo di Fedaia - or Marmolada.

 

 

If you like open roads with fast flowing bends you'll enjoy this pass, there are only a few bends that tighten up on you. When you get to the top the views are spectacular and we stopped to admire the view across the lake (in fact a reservoir). There's a museum here dedicated to the WWI conflict between Italy and Austria. The valley itself was the scene of some very fierce fighting. And to the south is the Marmolada massif, the highest point in the Dolomites at 3,343m.

 

 

Remounting they ran past the lake and then down towards Cortina before taking a left just after Rocca Pietore and rejoining the Arabba/Cortina road near Livinallongo. Turning left they ran through Arabba, past the hotel, where they caught a glimpse of Gaz sitting outside nursing a beer - the food group clearly hadn’t made all 18 passes! - and then off up the Passo di Pordoi to start the final stretch that forms a loop around the Sella Massif.

 

 

Dropping down the Pordoi, and then up and over the Passo di Sella they came up behind two Harley riders. The first was on a relatively conventional H-D but the second had “apehanger” bars. How on earth he managed to get round corners was beyond Kyle and Phil but they were quickly past them - until Kyle’s sophisticated sonar system played up and he missed the right hand turn off the Sella that takes you up and over the Gardena.

 

 

So with 17 down and only Passo di Gardena - or Grodner Joch - remaining they began their final climb of the day and headed for the final reaches of the pass and the summit - after retaking the two Harley riders for a second time. Again, this is a pass that carries a lot of ski traffic so the road, unsurprisingly, is relatively wide and open. There’s a lovely long run up the side of the mountain before the final stretch up to the summit. In fact whichever way you choose to ride this road you'll enjoy it, and the landscape is spectacular.

 

 

From the top of the Gardena it was just a gentle descent down to Corvara, a right turn over the Campolongo - for a second time - and back into Arabba and Hotel Evaldo. Actually 19 passes in all but 18 in truth. An absolutely fantastic day’s riding.

 

 

 

 

Day 6: Thur 11th June 2009

 

Ride: Grossglockner Hoch Tor - 226 miles

 

As soon as we woke up this morning it looked like we'd struck gold with the weather. By all accounts the previous weeks weather in the Dolomites had been dreadful, cold and lashing it down with rain, but today it was blue skies and sunny, and the forecast was for more of the same. Pete, Gaz and Mark had ridden in torrential rain pretty much all the way through England, France and Switzerland so no one was more relieved than them.

 

The plan today was to tick off another of the 10 highest passes in Europe from our bagging list by riding out towards the medieval town of Lienz in Austria, up and over the Iselsberg towards Winklern, and then up the Grossglockner - the 8th highest pass road in Europe. After a bite to eat we would then head back to Arabba, pretty much retracing the route we rode out.

 

Today was also the first time this tour that the whole group would ride together and after finding a fuel station a couple of miles down the road from the hotel we were ready for the off.

 

 

Pete had stuck to his vow not to drink too much the previous evening and the result was there for everyone to see when he led the group over the first pass, Passo di Falzarego, at a more than respectable pace. At the top was the obligatory photo break and the views were spectacular, well worth the effort of getting to the Dolomites.

 

 

One thing that was noticeable to a number of us on road up the Falzarego was that the lighter grey tarmac, which looked good, wasn't that grippy. Phil, Taj, Gaz and Mark all had rear and front wheel slips at moderate lean angles on the bends, even when the tyres had warmed up. The others didn't seem to have any problems but Gaz reckoned that was because they weren't trying hard enough. The road down however, had a surface like shell grip which was good even if the road surface itself was often deformed.

 

 

Off down the Falzarego we passed the right turn to Passo di Giau at Pocol before dropping down to Cortina. The route Phil had planned to Lienz intended that we ride the Passo Tre Croce but he couldn’t find any sign to it so we continued up the SS51 to Dobbiaco.

 

Whilst on the SS51, just before the turn off to the Tre Croce, we rode up and over Passo Cimabanche, although it didn't register with us that this was a pass as it was just a nice gently undulating sweeping road without any noticeable summit, or signpost that anyone spotted. In fact it wasn't until we were looking at our maps later that evening that we realised we'd been over it. Still, another pass had been climbed.

 

The SS51 was a very nice road even allowing for a few places where the road surface was a bit broken up, but quite frankly you just have to accept the fact that any region which suffers such extremes of heat and cold is going to have some deformed road surfaces. Just be aware and look out for them, particularly on corners.

 

At Dobbiaco we turned right on the SS49 to Lienz. We stopped at Sillian for a coffee where we were aware of several loud explosions going off around us. A local explained that it was a national holiday but we couldn't determine which one. A short distance out of Sillian and we were stopped and had to wait while a church service ended and some sort of celebration passed by. Although all the locals were in a variety of military regalia Pete observed that they couldn’t be celebrating winning a war! An internet search when we got back revealed that they were celebrating Corpus Christi.

 

 

Approaching Lienz the Grossglockner is well signposted and a couple of miles outside Lienz we took the second left off a roundabout, and then headed towards Winklern and over the Iselsberg Pass. From here all the way through to Heiligenblut the road is open and fast and we were able to crack on. At Heiligenblut the pass road starts properly but nothing too tight and only a couple of miles above Heiligenblut we reached the toll booth.

 

 

The Grossglockner Hoch Tor, or Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse - meaning high Alpine road - is a toll road and costs Euro 18. For that you get an information pack, a sticker and the pleasure of riding the pass as many times as you like that day. Construction started in 1930 and it opened on 3rd August 1935. At that time it was the only transalpine road between the Brenner Pass and Kattschberg - a 100 mile range. Today it's less of a transit route, more of a tourist route, and is a private road with public right of way. It's closed during the winter months when snow depths of up to 21 metres have been recorded, and is open between the months of May and October. In addition, it's only open during daylight hours opening around 6.00am and closing around 9.00pm - times vary so check actual Grossglockner opening times before going.

 

 

Looking up the mountain we could see that it was raining and the toll booth attendant warned us that the road might be icy, and that the road was closed temporarily but would be open in 15 minutes. Sure enough, 15 minutes later, the sun reappeared and the road was open again.

 

We all set off from the toll booth at intervals and a few miles up the pass we were faced with a roundabout, signposted left Grossglockner. As we'd all set off at different times, so we arrived at the roundabout individually and each made their own decision - left or right. Phil, Cat and Taj turned right while the rest of the group turned left - left was logical considering the sign.

 

 

Turning left at the roundabout actually takes you up to the Kaiser Franz Josefs Hohe Visitor Centre - a dead end - where you can view the longest glacier in the Eastern Alps, the Pasterze. There are also a number of exhibitions to see at the centre showing you everything that is interesting about Austria's highest mountain. If you want further information about the visitor centre or the pass road visit the Grossglockner official website.

 

 

All very interesting but eventually it clicked with Bobby, Pete, Kyle, Gaz and Mark, they'd taken the wrong turning. And so after some collusion they decided that it was always their intention to turn left because they all wanted to see the Pasterze Glacier before riding to the top of the pass.

 

 

Meanwhile, realising that the pass road was to the right, Phil, Cat and Taj set off that way. Cat and Taj rode on while Phil waited for the others - to take some photos of them riding up the pass. After 5 minutes he realised that they must have gone the wrong way, so continued upwards taking photos along the way.

 

 

A fine well surfaced road was his reward until he reached a bank of very cold cloud. It's incredible how quickly conditions can change in the mountains.

 

 

Phil continued up through the cloud until he reached the monument that marked the summit, and where visibility was down to 20 metres. Even if you miss the monument you'll know that you're at the top because you'll see the entrance to the tunnel.

 

 

At the top there was no sign of either Cat or Taj so Phil rode through the tunnel. When he emerged at the other end visibility had dropped even further, it was now less than 20 metres. After waiting another 5 minutes he decided to retrace his steps and ride back down to the roundabout. Here he took the first exit, signposted Grossglockner, and headed up to the visitor centre where he figured he'd bump into the others.

 

Sure enough about half way up Phil met the others coming down and after some discussion everyone agreed to meet at the roundabout in 20 minutes. While Phil continued up to see the glacier - although far smaller than it was 1,000 years ago it's still an impressive sight - the others headed up the real Grossglockner. Unfortunately the weather was now deteriorating quite quickly and the cloud cover dropping rapidly. By the time they reached the tunnel the monument that marked the summit was nowhere to be seen. Not realising that the tunnel marked the top Pete, Kyle and Gaz rode through it and continued up the pass, while Bobby and Mark turned round and headed back down to meet Phil.

 

Pete, Kyle and Gaz weren't the only ones to have ridden past the summit and continued up the pass. Cat and Taj had done exactly the same thing and they'd carried on riding until they reached a point they believed was the top.

 

 

In actual fact what they'd done was ride up to the Edelweiss Spitze - meaning peak - and "Bikers Nest" viewing area - even though you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Inevitably the two groups bumped into each other as Pete, Kyle and Gaz made their way up and Cat and Taj made their way down. After a bit of chat Cat and Taj managed to convince the other three that they hadn't yet made it to the top and promptly led the way to the "summit", for a second time.

 

In the meantime Bobby and Mark met up with Phil at the roundabout as agreed. The intention was to wait until the rest made it back down but this all changed when it started to rain. Phil decided that the sensible thing to do would be to retreat down the mountain and keep ahead of the rain, and to find a cafe or restaurant for a coffee or lunch.

 

 

Riding up to the "Bikers Nest" the weather was awful and getting worse by the minute but Taj seemed to love the conditions. The final run up to the viewing area gets quite steep and twisty, with the last section being a cobbled surface. No one was sure what planet Taj was on but he clearly enjoyed the ride up and even claimed that the final cobbled section was grippy!

 

 

By time they started to make their way down off the Grossglockner the rain had turned to sleet so there was no hanging about. They simply wanted to lose as much altitude as quickly as they could, in the hope that the weather would be better further down the pass. The more they descended the better the weather got but it didn't stop raining until they got into Heiligenblut. Kyle then phoned Phil to find out where the other three were. They were having lunch a few miles down the road but not without incident.

 

 

Unfortunately Bobby had parked his Fireblade on what looked like solid ground but 5 minutes after parking up there was a crashing sound. His bike had toppled over and fallen onto a Ducati Multistrada, that in turn toppled too. The Italian owner was, as you would expect, none too pleased about this development, especially since his screen had been signed by various racing dignitaries.

 

Despite all Phil’s protestations that this was what insurance was for, Bobby ran around like a headless chicken letting his food grow cold before finally recovering his sang-froid enough to exchange the necessary particulars with the hapless Ducati owner and get back to lunch. At which point Pete, Kyle. Cat Taj and Gaz arrived for their break.

 

 

Kyle, having decided that he didn’t need to eat, left Pete, Cat, Taj and Gaz to get on with their lunchs, and joined Bobby, Phil and Mark who had decided to get on back to base. Over the Iselsberg Pass and down to Lienz it was agreed to carry on past Dobbiaco and bypass Brunico before turning left on the SS244 to San Martino and Corvara and then onto Arabba.

 

The run down to Brunico on the SS49 was fast despite the heavy traffic and then it was left up a narrowish road towards Corvara. Despite the attentions of a black Merc which seemed determined to make as close as acquaintance with Bob’s rear tyre as was possible, they all made it without further incident to Corvara where it was deemed time for a beer. A couple of beers later and it was over Passo di Campolongo to Arabba and Hotel Evaldo.

 

 

The rest of the group took the same way back to the hotel, and all in all, despite Bobby’s tribulations this ride out was regarded as a good day out. A decent night out on the beer followed but it was pretty restrained given the next days task - to ride 18 passes in a day!

 

 

 

Day 5: Wed 10th June 2009

 

Ride: Brescia (Montechiari) to Arabba - 197 miles

 

This years motorcycle touring holiday saw us heading to Italy and the Eastern Alps to tour the Italian Dolomites. We've wanted to do this trip for some time but hadn't, mainly because it’s 1,000 miles to get there - of which 950 miles is motorway - and also the cost of transporting or hiring bikes has always seemed expensive. However Phil came across a guy named Chas Mortimer who specialises in motorcycle transportation to Europe and his costs seemed reasonable.

 

In 2007 when we motorcycled around the Pyrenees we had two start dates and we've opted to do the same again in 2009 with some of us flying out to Italy and some of us riding out there.

 

The "Ride-out" group would start on Saturday 6th June and initially make their way to Hotel Sonne in Andermatt, stopping off at Hotel Le Clos du Montvinage in Etreaupont and Hotel Grand Hotel du Tonneau d'Or in Belfort on the way. The "Fly-out" group would start on Wednesday 10th June, flying out from Stansted to Brescia (Montechiari), with the two groups meeting up in the Dolomites on Wednesday evening.

 

As we were flying to Brescia to meet up with the bikes we decided to drive down and use Long Term Parking for the week, as the cheapest and most convenient option. Taj volunteered to drive as his Saab could carry 5 in reasonable comfort.

 

At the allotted hour - 7.00am - Phil was still waiting for Taj and a phone call elicited that he “was on my way and I’ll be there in a minute”. 15 minutes later he arrived. No surprises there.

 

After picking up Cat, Kyle and Bob we were on our way via the M6, A14 and M11. Despite back ups caused by a couple of accidents on the opposite carriageway we arrived at Stansted in good time. After checking in some - Bob, Cat and Taj - aka the food element - opted for the full English, whilst Kyle and Phil - aka the non food element - opted for a cup of coffee.

 

After joining the scrum that passes for boarding a Ryanair flight, we were on the plane and looking forward to take-off. Then the Captain came on air to apologise for the usual case of people who had checked their luggage in, headed for the bar and hadn’t arrived at the gate to board the flight. So there was a 30 minute delay while their bags were located and offloaded. Thank you, you tossers, whoever you were!

 

 

 

An uneventful flight was followed by a crap landing from the Russian pilot - he probably thought he was still flying a Mig 22!

 

Through passport control and we were faced with a man bearing a card with “5 bikers” on it. Clearly he was our contact - no copy of the Times and a red rose in his left buttonhole for him!

 

Ken, as was his name, took us over to the car park where 4 bikes, Bob’s,Cat’s, Kyle’s and Phil’s, waited for us. Taj’s was at the depot, some 20 minutes away, so after changing in the van - all out kit had been transported with the bikes - we followed Ken back to the depot.

 

 

Bob was complaining about a strange noise from the rear of his bike. A ride around the car park at the depot confirmed that when he had his bike serviced the previous week they had tightened the chain far too much and the noise was the wheel bearing, Luckily he had only ridden 15 miles so the tools were found and the chain slackened off.

 

 

The flight delay, having to ride back to the depot and dealing with Bob’s chain meant that we were at least an hour behind schedule, so it was time to crack on. Phil lead, as he had the route programmed into his Garmin, but only a few minutes into the journey Taj gestured to him to slow and stop. Pulling into a filling station, the reason was revealed - Bob’s tailpack was on the point of falling off! “Bloody tour novices” Phil was thinking, but after a bit more strapping provided by Cat, we were on our way.

 

After skirting the southern shore of Lake Garda we picked up the signs to the Brenner Pass and joined the A22 toll road - at least all 5 of us entered the Autostrada but only 4 of us picked up a toll ticket, Cat deeming it beneath him to pay for his trip.

 

After stopping for fuel near Trento we rejoined the Autostrada for the final run up to the exit near Chiusa where we would take the SS242 past Ortisei, and over the Sella and Pordoi passes to Arabba.

 

At the exit toll booth Phil became aware of shouting to his left. Cat had shot through without paying and the attendant was having none of it. On the attendant’s side was (a) the fact that he had Kyle trapped behind the barrier and (b) more importantly he was holding Kyle’s credit card. He was also refusing to buy Kyle’s story that the biker on the big Yamaha was nothing to do with him.

 

Net result a 10 minute delay while Cat had to ride back behind the barrier and cough up. Luckily he only had to pay the 10 Euro we had paid. We wondered if the toll started in Sicily so the aggregate fee would be about a 1,000 Euro!

 

At last we were on the last leg, running along the Gardena Valley, past Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva to the start of the Passo di Sella.

 

This was our first sight of the Dolomites, and it was breathtaking. As John Hermann puts it in his exellent book Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps and Beyond:

 

“No matter how many mountains you’ve seen, no matter how many times you may have seen the Dolomites, that first glimpse - maybe as you emerge from a tunnel , or maybe as you accelerate out of a hairpin - will be an almost religious experience.”

 

Riding up the Sella was a pleasure and the view from the top great with the sun highlighting the mountains on either side so we stopped for the obligatory first pass animation, then it was down the Sella and up the Passo di Pordoi.

 

 

The ride up the Pordoi was good but at the top we were faced with a bank of cloud stretching down the valley to Arabba. We dropped below or at least out of the cloud layer as we descended the 32 hairpins to the bottom and a couple of minutes later - just before 9.00 pm - were at the Hotel Evaldo, our base for the first 4 nights.

 

We were met by Gaz, Mark and Pete who had ridden over from Andermatt that day. We parked the bikes in their spacious and secure garage, then it was a quick change and down to a lovely dinner and a few beers. After a discussion we agreed that the next day we would all head off for the Grossglockner.

 

As for the Hotel Evaldo the consensus was that this was the best hotel we had stayed in during all our tours. Lovely rooms with a good breakfast included for about 70 Euros a night. A 4 course dinner with proper home cooking was yours for an extra 15 Euros a night. All in all a great bit of research by Kyle.

Ride: Andermatt to Arabba - 244 miles

 

Fluela Pass & Ofen Pass & Passo Nigra

 

The group now were ready to make the final leg for the BBOT meet up in Arabba. Tuesday had been quite miserable, with intermittent showers, low cloud and feeling quite cold. By contrast waking up on Wednesday it was a sunny and fresh morning, setting good spirit for the ride ahead.

 

With a reasonable set off time following a good breakfast, good pace was made during the day. Apart from repeat of the above and the great scenery and roads the only point of note during the day came when the three were looking for a coffee stop, passing several building that could have been “bars”, they finally came to a stop at a building where there was a covered terrace with around 5-6 people sitting around, smoking with bikes parked up outside. Helmets off and up the steps, they looked around and returning the European “nod” - meaning “good morning whatever your language” the found a spare table.

 

The terrace was little scruffy for a commercial operation, but having seen worse, they sat, lit up, and waited for the service. 5 minutes later, a man came over to the table and asked us what they wanted.

 

“Three coffee’s please.”

 

“Three coffee’s…..”, came the response

 

“Yes please”

 

“But you are not in a café…”

 

[dumb looks all round]

 

“….you're in our holiday home” the man continued!”

 

Fits of laughter ensued, and once it died down, it became apparent that the “terrace” was in fact the terrace of a holiday let and that five or so couples had rented the house for their holidays.

 

The unknown group were very nice and offered coffee, and even pulled out maps to compare routes. Coffee drunk, hands shaken, payment offered and refused, Gaz, Mark and Pete headed off to meet the BBOT’ers at Arabba.

 

Of note are differences in road conditions, where French roads are generally good, with well marked roadwork’s and hazards, Switzerland as good as France the Italian mountain roads can be sometime quite treacherous, with gravel on bends and in some cases complete sections of tarmac missing exposing the roads sub structure - normally sand / gravel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4: Tue 9th June 2009

 

Ride: Swiss Alpine Passes - 252 miles

 

After yesterday’s ride from Belfort to Andermatt we thought that we deserved a rest today, especially as we had ridden a good deal of it in rain. Looking out from breakfast at more rain and low cloud it didn’t seem weak to not want to ride!

 

So a leisurely breakfast ensued, followed by a stroll around Andermatt, taking shelter in shop doorways when the rain fell particularly hard. Being restless at the best of times my contentment at a relaxed day off lasted the best part of half an hour by which time I was bored and my ever present fear of missing out on something had re-emerged from wherever it resides. “I’m going for a ride, lads.......fancy it?”

 

They didn’t (probably wisely) so I headed back to the hotel, loosely formulating a plan to link a few valleys and passes that I would otherwise miss(!), and geared up ready for a wet day.

 

And was it wet! I might as well have been tail ending a fire engine and been hosed down by it for the first 3 hours. Nevertheless, only my hands got wet (Goretex gloves lasted 1.5 hours.....the only time they have let me down before and since.....water down the cuff I think as they are short and most of my normal riding is at motorway speeds which keeps the water moving away down the arm).

 

The rest of me, clad in cheapo waterproofs over leathers, remained perfectly dry as had been the case during periods of heavy rain in the preceeding 3 days!

 

The route.

 

I headed SW out of Andermatt towards Hospental then turned south up and over the St. Gotthard Pass; a fairly fast straight climb followed by a more typically twisty descent down into Airolo. Heading SE and avoiding the motorway I followed the steep sided valley, and its torrent of a river swelled by the rain, in the direction of Locarno and its lake. 25m short of Locarno, at Biasca, I turned left to climb the Lukmanier Pass, dropped down into Disentis on the far side and up and over the Oberalp Pass and down into Andermatt to complete a nice loop.

 

By now the rain seemed to have abated, even giving way to a little bit of optimistic sunshine, so I headed N out of Andermatt, through the steepest rocky sided valley, hemming in picture perfect hairpins, and continued downwards to Wassen. The old picture perfect wooden hotel Sonne sits at the crossroads in the middle of Wassen marking the left turn to climb and cross the Sustenpass. That was the theory, but I had heard that the pass was still not open after the winter, and sure enough, after a brisk ride up a road lying in a round bottomed valley with green fields rising gently to rocky hillsides reminiscent of some in Wales, I came to the closure 2 miles short of the pass itself.

 

Backtracking to Andermatt, in strengthening sunshine, I was now on a roll and continued straight through the village and up and over the Furka Pass, which we had crossed the previous evening on our final desecent into Andermatt from Belfort, pausing briefly to photograph the might Rhone Glacier, and up to the Grimsel Pass to take the photo which I had been too lazy to take the previous day in the mist and rain.

 

There was no point in continuing over the Grimsel at this stage in the day, so yet another “about turn” and back down to Gletsch, at the foot of the pass. At 5pm I now had the choice of back to Andermatt over the Furka (anavoidable whatever practical option I chose from here) or an 80 mile “out and return” to the Simplon Pass via Brig-Glis lying SW down a near arrow straight valley of villages and small towns. Of course not to do this would mean missing something so SW I headed!

 

Two roads climb the Simplon from the Swiss side, to its strange Salmon pink hospice, built in the 1800’s; a twisty country lane which I ascended and a busy main road serving the traffic passing over it between Italy and Switzerland, which I descended. It was certainly the busiest of the day. However, despite the volume of motorised traffic, it was the cycling teams that had been dropped at the top by van to practice their high speed mountain descents back down to Brig that were certainly the most difficult other road users to overtake!

 

By now, basking in glorious sunshine back in Brig I was thoroughly “passed” out, so with 40 miles back to the hotel, and yet another crossing of the Furka (which I think should be renamed the gateway to Andermatt!) I made my way towards food, drink, rest, Gary and Pete.....3 of which had been sorely missed throughout the day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Mon 8th June 2009

 

Ride: Belfort to Andermatt - 207 miles

 

Loading up in the morning, the weather in Belfort was good. Our riders had a reasonably early night, and save some late night watching of the hotel “art” movies, every one was refreshed and ready to go, although Gaz’s throttle wrist looked a little worse for wear!

 

The route again took some superb roads with Gaz filming our progress down some spectacular tree shaded roads, gently winding down and finally crossing over into Switzerland south of Belfort and taking in the north of lake Neuchatel, a café at the foot of the north face of the Eiger (where the coffee was good) onto Andermat. The rooms where already booked and the accommodation, food, location for ride outs and views are highly recommended.