High Alps at the beginning of fall
After the tour guides painted such a vivid picture of the tour during yesterday’s welcome briefing, we were all eager and full of anticipation for the first day of riding. Markus gave us another rundown of today’s route and its highlights, and finally, we were able to fire up our engines and roll out of the garage. A brief stop in Wasserburg am Inn and a slightly longer one at Lake Chiemsee broke up our ride toward the Alps. From midday onwards, the scenery changed rapidly; what initially looked like low mountain ranges quickly gave way to towering, massive peaks. After refueling with lunch, it wasn't long before we tackled the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. The road winds its way—curve after curve—up to an altitude of over 2,500 meters, including the ascent to Edelweissspitze. We couldn't see the Grossglockner itself, even from the Franz-Josefs-Höhe, as the summit was hidden in the clouds. Finally, just before reaching Lienz, we encountered a heavy rain shower, capped off by a colorful rainbow.
We started out the same way we came in yesterday, just drier and took a scenic route to the ltalian border. First stop: WWl cemetery in Nasswald, an impressive and neatly kept memorial on the side of the road, slightly hidden behind some trees. 20min later we hit Lake Misurina for coffee and a scenic view. since the weather turned out to be better than expected an aditional stop at Passo Falzarego with a cable car ride up to Lagazuoi got squeezed in before Tourguide Markus surprised us with a lovely and well put together picnic. Filled up with delicious italian deli the trip to Passo Gardena couldn’t have been better, a frw clouds on the sky gave us shelter from the heat of the sun. When we later on pulled in to Castelrotto, respectively Völs/Schlern for our second coffee break the clouds were gone all gone. Another 45min of scenic riding through vineyards and we finally hit our hotel for the next two days in Collalbo.
The day of choices! Either going for a ride or hanging out at the hotel or exploring nearby Bozen / Bolzano. Bill and Brent decided to explore the nearby town with Markus. Just to travel there was an adventure. First we had to take a narrow-gauge train for twenty minutes to a cablecar, that descended to the 900 meters lower city. Medivial houses framing the narrow alleys, a lively fruitmarket and pedastians floating through - that would be ashort description. But beside that we found a nice restaurant with homebrew beer and when we visited the gothic church we witnessed somebody playing the mighty organ. Finally we travelled back to the hotel to take a rest from our tour. As a smaller riding group we took the loop through Bolzano up Passo della Mendola and up Mt. Penegal. What a view from up there! Freshly recaffeinated at the top of the mountain we went back down and continued our ride to St. Pankraz for our lunch stop - a small neat village with apparently amazing food from a family owned restaurant with alpine culinary specialties. Since traffic wasn’t too bad we still had time left to go explore Bolzano too, some went to see the lce Man, others just took a stroll around the city center. Back on the bikes we took the northern route to the hotel, the tunnels cooled us off before sending us off to one of the funnest riding segments of our trip so far.
The Stelvio Pass—the queen of mountain passes—beckons today! After a long ride through the Vinschgau Valley, we enjoy a cappuccino in Glurns. Everyone mentally prepares for the ascent to the tour's highest pass, and then we’re off. We have 49 hairpin bends to conquer, with one of Bruno’s famous bratwursts awaiting us as a reward. But the Stelvio isn't the end of the journey; other passes lie ahead. The Gavia Pass impresses with incomparable scenery and a very narrow, winding road—at times, there is barely enough room for two motorcycles to pass each other. Finally, there is the Bernina Pass. You could call it the icing on the cake: a beautiful, well-maintained road that takes us into Switzerland to Pontresina, where we will spend the night.
We woke up on a crisp late summer morning, not a single clouud on the sky, though - perfect riding conditions. We’re headed up to Albula Pass as a warm up for a sweet photo stop and continue futher down to road to our coffee stop at Cafe Aurora in Lenzerheide. Awesome nut cake and delicious coffee has been had before continueing to our lunch break at Heididorf in Mainfeld. You may call it touristy, but is for good reason. The scenery and the food were amazing. After a brief stop in Vaduz for a photo of the castle we continued straight through Feldkirch and Rankweil to get up to Furkajoch as soon an possible. The ride up and down as well as the view from the top are just breathtaking - our tourguide Walter’s favourite. All the way until today’s hotel, Jägeralpe in Warth, the landscape hasn’t quite changed a whole lot. ln midst of green meadows, purling brooks, pine trees and mighty rocks in the background, tour guide Markus welcomed us all with a generous serve of boot beer and peanuts. Furthermore, today’s dinner was not only filling but one of the most delicious and well balanced ones we’ve had on this trip.
The week flew by, and it seemed as though the sky was shedding a few tears too, given that it was our final day of riding. Beneath a sky heavy with grey clouds, we left Warth and rode through the Lech Valley towards Reutte. After crossing the border into Germany, we arrived at Neuschwanstein. We admired King Ludwig’s magnificent castle only from a distance, though we enjoyed the apple strudel and coffee all the more for it. As we headed towards Munich, the clouds thickened, and by the time we reached Lake Starnberg, it was pouring rain. Afterwards, the clouds cleared, and we enjoyed the ride through the rolling Bavarian hills to our destination in Erding. Over dinner, we reminisced about an incredible week filled with adventures and stories, bringing both the evening and the tour to a close with a few glasses of beer.
Well, gentlemen, it was a pleasure and fun to be with you on tour. We are happy and proud at the same time, that you let us present our backyard to you and that we could creat memories that may last for a long time. We hope to see you again one day, have safe travels home. All the best, kind regards, Walter and Markus