CUA 240A - Ultimate Alps
Welcome to Seefeld! Everyone arrived and attended the Welcome-Briefing to meet the tour guides and get the first information about the next 9 days. But most important, everybody get his BMW. After that we used the first dinner for more information sharing and question-answer sessions. We are looking forward to tomorrow.
This morning, after a huge breakfast and the daily briefing we headed off for our first riding day together. Started little bit slower to give everybody the chance to get familiar with the bikes, the roads and riding in a group. On our way to the Stelvio Pass we stopped at beautiful places for photos and coffee places with gorgeous views, like the Gacher View. For lunch we stopped a little bit unplanned in a nice little town in a small original restaurant. But the best was the attached ice cream place. Everyone had his first real Gelato. Just great! After that we challenged the Stelvio Pass. On the way up we had to deal with 47 switchbacks, lots of bicycle riders, slow cars and one huge Camper van. But getting there and see the view and all these riders on the world-famous place….it was worthy. We spent quite some time to enjoy together the moment and a coffee, before we headed to our hotel in Ponteresino. We arrived a little bit late but happy and right in time for dinner. Sitting and chatting over dinner and feeling everyone pride closed the first awesome day.
For the second day we had 320 km ahead of us. Therefore, no time wasted and started directly after breakfast, briefing and a prayer. The first 2 hours we rode through a beautiful landscape up to the breathtaking Passo dello Spluga. Again, lots of switchbacks and cars and bicycles. But the riding was just awesome. Our lunch we had at a nice little Pizzeria and spent 2 hours in the shade talking and relaxing. After lunch we headed off to our next coffee stop at the beautiful Oberalp Pass. After that break we had just another one and a half hours to our hotel. Today we had our dinner not in the hotel, we went to a cozy local restaurant and had a good time, great food and even better wine.
Today we could start a little bit later but in time to catch the ferry from Gersau to Beckenried in order to cross the Vierwaldstaettersee. On our way to the prepared lunch picknick we received the message, that in the mountain, where we planned the picknick, heavy rain has started. No problem, picknick canceled, detour planned and at a nice local restaurant stopped. The owner prepared some real local specialties, like Roesti, Eggs and sausages for us. Just one more stop before we reached the garage outside of Zermatt to park the bikes and used the transport to Zermatt. After a first city walk, we met for dinner. The dinner ended with a nice party, with dancing in the restaurant.
The day started foggy and drizzling. Everybody had a late breakfast and decided not to go to the Gornergrat to see the Matterhorn. Weather forecast and live WebCam showed bad weather there. Therefore, it was a day of relaxing, exploring the city and do some shopping. For dinner we choose one of the best restaurants in town and everyone had a good time. Speaking about good times…. we looking forward to get back on the bike and hit the road again tomorrow.
What a great morning in Zermatt. The Matterhorn was illuminated from the sun and everybody could have his photo from the mountain. After one day doing “nothing” we were ready to get back on the bikes. Weather expected to be dry and sunny and the roads and the villages we choose to go, appeared to be great. First coffee stop was planned on top of the Simplon Pass. Because of some technical issues and repairs we were behind our schedule and therefore we had our lunch there. From there we went to the Lago Maggiore to catch the ferry over the lake. The road down to the lake were very narrow and curvy, so anybody enjoyed the ride. Back on shore we had just another 50 km to our hotel in Lugano. After our dinner, nearly everyone took the chance to walk into town to enjoy the mild temperatures and Lugano by night.
After a great stay in Lugano we were looking forward to ride along the shore of the Lake Lugano to reach the famous Lake Como. Right in time for the next ferry we arrived at the port and enjoyed very much the ride and the breathtaking scenery. Back on land our road was closed, so we had to take a huge detour. “Unfortunately,” we had to ride on very narrow and curvy roads up to the Passa Agueglio. From there we had a great view down to Lake Como. The rest of the morning we headed to the Passo Culmine di San Pietro for Lunch. To our next hotel we had another 4 hours in front of us, there we stopped just once for coffee and cake to get there before dark.
And another rainy day! But - for most - a very short one with the optional route, just over 100km. However, two couples wanted to do the normal long route despite the rain and went through with Kurt. This gave the others time to extend the stops a little so as not to arrive at the hotel too early. On the way to Bolzano, the large group stopped for a coffee in the pilgrimage church of San Romedio and later both groups met for lunch on Mount Penegal. After lunch, we drove on for another hour to arrive in the city on time at 3 pm. Everything had been prepared at the hotel so that everyone had a “free” afternoon to explore the city. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
After the rainy day yesterday and a dry but cold forecast for today, the group decided not to rest. Everyone got back on the road for a 250km loop through the dolomites. One hour later than usual, we stated for our 6-hour ride. The first pass of the day, Passo de Lavaze, was covert in snow and showed us what to expect for the day. Only two of the eight passes were snow free. Close to the Passo Cerada we stopped for lunch. Nic and Tillman surprised us with a self-prepared picknick. Everyone appreciated their effort to make this lunch in front of the Dolomites mountains memorable. On our way back to Bolzano we stopped just once, for a coffee at the Lago di Fadaia. This day was really cherry on the icing for everyone!
Last day! The weather forecast showed rain the whole day and in higher areas snow. Therefor we changed the route to a more safer one. Everyone agreed to go to Seefeld as safe and fast as possible. On our way we passed the Penzer Joch and stopped for lunch in Matrei, close to the Brenner. Aftre four hours we reached the Edelweiss-HQ to hand back the bikes and celebrate the tour finish.