Today we get started for an unforgettable ride through the Austrian and Italian Alps. Famous Passes, beautiful cities and landscapes will be our permanent companion. 6 friends from Canada are looking forward to this tour, and they know why! It is not the first time on an edelweiss-tour.
From Seefeld in Austria we start our tour into the famous dolomites. Bozen the capital of South-Tirol will be our first Stop, followed by Asolo in the charming Region of the Prosecco wine hills. Monte Grappa, Asiago, Sette Communi and some unknown passes we will ride through. A rest day in the city of Verona will give us an Idea of Italian urban culture, antique till now. So stay tuned and follow our blog. I am Franz your tour guide :-)
After an enjoyable reunion with our guests from Canada and good breakfast in the morning we got started under perfect conditions. Our first stop on the Timmelsjoch pass with the famous motorcycle-museum gave us memories onto our first bikes. Down in the Passeier-valley we visited the Sandhof, the home of Anreas Hofer, the local hero of the Napoleon period. By the way with a fantastic first lunch on tour. Jaufenpass and Penserjoch were the highlights for the afternoon and so we were on time in Bozen for an award-winning Pizza ;-))
Right after Breakfast we had the first highlight ,the lake Carrer. The Coulors of this landmark are fascinating and the pictures we took are unreal. Leaving the touristic mainroads we turned to the west to Passo di Lavaze for the warmup.
Passo Manghen (2047m) was our technical highlight on this day, narrow hairpins and 15% gradient! After lunch in a restaurant full of locals (yummy) two almost unknown passes brought us into the mood for the famous Monte Grappa. As it was a battlefield in WWI today its road are used for bikers ........the best you can do! The challenging descent on south-east ramp brought us near to our hotel in Asolo. The restaurant let us feel like dinner with friends, just great!
We decided to do a detour through the vineyards of the Prosecco region. Look at the pictures just amazing! You can feel the spirit and the taste of this special part of Italy. The city of Marostica welcomed us with a local market and the are preparing for the annual music festival. The Coffefreak under the old arcades in the shade was the refresh we needed to keep on. Climbing up to the Altopiano Asiago we came into the region were an old germanic language was spoken for almost 800 years. The Signs of the city limits are still in two languages written. After lunch and further fantastic views we decided to take the shortcut to Verona and we did right, it got hotter than expected and we were happy when we stopped our bikes in front of the hotel after challenging city-traffic.
We call it rest-day, but nobody stays in bed. Everybody got an entrance ticket for the whole city and off we go. We just met for lunch right next to the Ponte Pietra. Arena, Casa die Guilietta, City-Tower, Piazza Erbe, Cathedral, St. Anastasia and so on.......we will meet for a special Aperitivo in front of the Arena and then off to dinner.
Lake Garda, Valvestino-valley, Dominicroce-pass and The famous Gavia-pass. What a day, it should never end. Thecnical riding at the finest, frech air upon the mountains......
Today's highlight was Passo die Stelvio. It is in every bikers bucket list ! We were early and that was good, just a few biker when we got up, and w stayed there for a while and so it got crowded and crowded, yes we enjoyed the show.
Thank you for riding with us, your Tourguide and the Edelweiss-Team!
