BMW Motorrad Days - High Alps Clockwise (SPT24042)
The Hotel slowly started to fill with our group members and a buzz of excitement was in the air. The welcome briefing was held in English and Vietnamese translated by Chrissy the groups own tour organizer. We finished the evening of with a comfy dinner in the hotel restaurant, where we had a chance to celebrate 3 birthdays amongst the riders. Happy Birthday once more!
Early in the morning the sun and the fresh air promised us a beautiful day. We started with entering the Pustertal and the area shows us how nice the landscape and the mountains fits in an perfect picture. The spectacular scenic view on the dolomites gave us an impression what we could expect during the day. Curves and passes mountains and a landscape you never will forget. One highlight follows the other the Sella-Group, Grödner Valley etc. After a long ride with outstanding impressions we arrived in our Hotel in Bozen and enjoyed a nice dinner together in town.
Sadly we had to leave the beautiful city of Bolzano behind us this morning. It would have been nice to explore it a little further and to enjoy more of it's culinary delights on offer. However, we were ready for a new adventure and the high Alps were calling us! We got our first little taster over the Penser Joch with it's swooping long bends and wide open alpine meadows. From here we made our way to Jaufen Pass another fantastic accent with plenty of hairpin corners. But the star of the day was with no doubt the mighty Timmelsjoch. A High alpine pass at nearly 2500m. Besides the sunny conditions all day the mountains here greeted us with a little gloom and low hanging clouds. But that was all forgotten when we left the tunnel on the Austrian side and bright sunshine welcomed us. We had to stop at the Top Mountain Motorcycle museum and marvel at their vast exhibition. From here it was only a short ride to Seefeld were Peter and Conrad waited already for us with a ice cold boot beer. What a cracking day it was!
We took the organised bus to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and joined the crowds with full of expectation and excitement. The venue was already full with people and many attractions demanded some attention. There was a wall of death, some custom bike builders, many of the BMW accessory partners and of course the travel tent, where Edelweiss among other providers showed their presence. The highlight of the day was of course the get together in the VIP area of the beer tent. We had different groups from Argentina, Vietnam, Korea, Philippines, Thailand and China. What fun it was!
Today the alps showed that even in summer the weather can turn. Seefeld was steeped in clouds this morning and pouring rain. Nevertheless, we made our way towards Livigno hoping for the weather to improve. The clouds were hanging low and the mountains were hiding behind. When Franzi's group stopped at the Reschensee to warm up with a hot coffee, they decided to give the mighty Stelvio pass a miss due to the very poor weather conditions. Instead they went via Switzerland and the Ofenpass into Livigno. Which meant some riders could head into town for some duty free shopping! The second group with Joe face some bike issues earlier in the day and therefore were running behind, however with a little luck the weather cleared a little and they decided to get up to the Stelvio pass, as they wouldn't want to miss the chance to have conquer it. What an eventful day we had, but that is all part of the fun!
What an epic day we had today! 6 stunning Passes in the heart of the Alps! We started our day in Livigno, where the sun struggled to cut through the clouds. From here we made our way into Switzerland over the Forcola di Livigno (2315m). We were greeted with lush green colors in a beautiful alpine setting. The next Pass on our list was the Bernina Pass (2328m), the train makes it's way all the way up and you can see the Morteratsch Glacier. My personal favorite was the Maloja pass which is winding it's way down like a snake. Lots of fantastic hairpin corners with quick change overs in between. After this excitement we all needed a little rest and a well deserved coffee. WSe found a lovely little cafe with a terrace above the raging mountain river and a view of the beautiful Acquafraggia waterfalls. With new found strength we made our way to the Passo dello Spluga, a real stunner at 2115m. The village is nestled at the shores of a big water reservoir and again we got lucky and got a spot on the terrace of the local Pizzeria facing the lakefront. As an extra bonus we enjoyed a bright sunny sky. We still had a long way to go and our next stop was the picturesque Passo di San Bernadino (2067m). From here we made our way slowly to the valley, were the road was closed due to a huge landslide, but we could make up some time on a short diversion. Now we went up the mountains again, which brought some well received cooler temperatures and last but not least be tackled the Gotthard Pass on it's old transit road made of cobblestones. What a fun this was! A long and amazing day does finally come to an end in the lovely mountain resort of Andermatt.
The beautiful weather weaks us up and recharged our batteries for another exciting day. Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Austria is our plan for today. Our first stop was Altdorf the hometown of Wilhelm Tell. The hightlight of the day was the Klausenpass the narrow roads were unexpected from the one or the other biker. Vaduz was also a nice stopp at least to say we had a coffee in Lichtenstein. Back to Austria the Furkajoch was outstanding and the view and an icecream let us forget the high temperature down in the valley
The morning sarted with a nice ride out of the Lech valley and was continued following the lake Plansee. A breathtaking stop at the lake was very much appreciated for everybody and taking the feet into the cristal clear water. Crossing the German Border we arrived at the Linderhof Castle and followed by the monastery of Ettal. After lunch we had a nice ride on the German Autobahn without speedlimit towards munich. What a nice final of this trip with unforgetable impressions.
Everyone was so excited to ride a BMW in Bavaria. Our first ride to the BMW Museum was a challenge for all of us e.g. traffic lights, crossings and a lot of traffic in town. The group managed this perfectly and proved the experience riding a motorcycle. The highlight today was the museum and BMW World where everybody could feel the spirit and close relationship to the motorcycle manaufacturer. After lunch we had a nice opportunity to enter into the Bavarian landscape with a nice photostop in Wasserburg and we finally arrived at the hotel in Reit im Winkl.
Fully motivated to conquer the curves and the different altitudes we started the day with high expectations. Our first stop was at the Piller Lake. The daylight immersed the landscape in a colorful view and the nature showed us its beauty. A lunch stop in Fusch right before entering the Großglockner High Alpin road was very welcome. This Alpine road was spectacular but the view on the top not so much as it was very cloudy. This is not unusual in the high mountains. The ride to Lienz was smooth which we enjoyed and arrived at our hotel with a lot of impressions of "bella Austria."