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.