Last summer's trip round the Alps, the memories & photos
 

Last Summer's Trip round the Alps - 2006

As I'm bored and recovering from Chrimbo thought I'd write up my summer trip with the SV, apologies if it turns into a bit of a novel.

Day -1 Packed up the SV in my underground garage with panniers stuffed with clothes, tools, maps, mars bars, ear plugs and my haynes manual. Whilst pratting about leaning the bike over (can't remember why) the extra weight loaded help the bike take it's own course to the ground with me astride, Doh! Luckily the bulk of the soft luggage, crash bungs and bar ends prevented any damage , although dragging myself out from the loaded SV was amusing. Not an auspicious start.

Day1

Leuven, Belgium - Morez,France via Luxembourg

Well set off on the first day in the drizzle and gloom, heading down the autoroute, through Luxembourg and then on in to France, heading towards Metz. Once in France the rain started to hammer down, and even with my home made fenda extenda the old wet front spark started to kick in, no doubt due to the horrendous spray. So i pulled over into a layby with ****oir to rev the engine and get it to dry out (normal trick). Whilst on the bike and revving it I leant over to check connections as itwas still running rough ato check the connections, where upon it cut out completely. B*ll*c*s I thought, 1st day and stuff is already going wrong. After a quick trip to the old ****oir and very damp I tried frantically to start it , including numerous Bump start attempts (in full leathers with with all in one waterproofs!). Iwas soon pretty sweaty and very damp so dug the haynes manual out, started looking through the trouble shooting guide.

Engine turns but doesn't start - Check kill switch position -Doh, I'd knocked it whilst leant over examing the bike.

She started up sweetly, I was annoyed with myself but pleased with the bike so we headed back on to the autoroute on to Metz then Nancy, heading off for St Die, where the rain started to clear and myself and a Lancia had fun overtaking the slower traffic at about 160 km/h, not racing but companionable high speed cruising. Then it was up and over the Vosges by the Col du Bonhomme, a great road. Stopped off for lunch in Kayserberg, the pretty place below:

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Then on it was down along the bottom of the Vosges, past Colmar and Belfort, before heading into the hills and rain again that start to make up the Doubs and Jura. This would have been great riding country if I could have seen it, but low cloud and mist made it more of an endurance test whilst I slogged it to Morez to the worst and most expensive hotel of the trip.

Day 2

Morez, France - Isola, France via Switzerland, France and Italy

Got up to be greeted by a grey day but dry so got to set off without waterproofs, a bit of a luxury, after all this was the continent at the end of summer. Crossed over the Jura, some twisties that were quite nice, to be greeted by the sight of Lake Geneva with the Alps in the background, below.

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Down to and through Geneva, before heading out towards La Clusaz and on to start the Col Bashing proper.

So the Cols started, Col Des Aravis, Col Des Saisles, Col de Meraillet:

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And on over the Cormet de Roseland down into Bourg St Maurice. In Bourg I had another hiccup after a bit of a premonition as I came into town. Looking down at my map on my tank bag I looked up and the car in fronnt had stopped dead. I hit the brakes but grabbed a bit too much front too quickly, the front locked up and slid out from underneath me and the SV, so we hit the deck for the second time the trip, doing only a couple of mph! Luckily for me (but not my ego) this happened outside a french bar at lunch time, so I was soon surrounded by french workers who manhandled me and the bike back to a vertical position and helped push me over to the side of the road. No damage at all, just a light suff on one of my oxfoed panniers, an overdose of adrenalin and a reminder not to let my guard down in towns. Sure it brightened up the Frogs day. After checking the bikeover I decided to get straight back on and had a good blast up to Val D'Isere, keeping a brit on a black kwak 636 company until I stopped for fuel.

Then it was up over the Col De l'Iseran:

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A little surreal because I'd skied over there a few months previously!

From then it was up the Col du Mt Cenis, dropping down to Italy, bur not literally! Back to France via the Col du Montgenevre to Briancon and on to the Col D'Izoard with a bit of drizzle and some amazing coloured rocks. On to vars and the Col de Vars, before heading for the Col de la Bonette, the highest road in western Europe. The road goes over the top, with an extra loop around the peak to take the height title. Bleak didn't describe the place, the low cloud just scudded over the peaks, the fierce wind blew gravel and rocks over the road, it felt treacherous, with huge drops down to the valleys below. I managed to stop for a photo but feared the little SV could be blown over!

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From then on it was down to Isola, nestling in the Vallee de la Tinee, the evening heat of summer France hitting me after the freshness of the mountains. Spent an amusing night drinking it up with some French electricians who were installing snow cannons. Was still up bright and breezy for the next day though.



Day 3

Isola, France - Lake Como, Italy

Headed off southwards towards the Med, through the pine filled valleys in the soft morning sun to Nice, then along the Cote D'Azur towards Monaco.

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The heat was starting to build by now and I hit monaco, managed a lap of Monte Carlo, taking in some of the GP course, including the tunnel, stopping for a photo in the harbour.

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It was then back up towards the mountains but the heat didn't seem to be abating and I was getting pretty dehydrated. On to Sospel, then through the tunnel Di Tendi to Italy.

After a bit of faffing on some good and some not so good country roads in Italy it was on to the Auto Strada round Turin (mad on a bike!), on up pass kilometres of roadworks to Milan, and past, the Alps a constant reminder to my left rising out of the plains.

Dropped down to lake Como at rush hour and low on fuel, just going with the flow as on a trip like this you can't be bothered to ride at pace the whole time.

After a while along the western shore I manegd to find a bed for the night.

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Day 4

Lake Como, Italy - Lienz Austria

After the bonus of not having had to pay for the previous evening's food and wine (the language barrier meant the owner didn'tundersatned me) I headed on along the lake shore. it was then a bit of a slog up to Bormio, with the roads opening out and the more mountainous feeling increasing the closer we got. I was feeling good heading back to the mountains, it was amazing how quickly withdrawl symptoms set in.

So after some tart in Bormio (of the cake kind) it was up and over the famous Passo dello Stelvio (Stelvio pass).
A great road where the little SV showed up some bigger bikes, even though the altitude effect meant full throttle on all the straightish bits and a greatly reduced top speed!

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It was then a case of heading down.

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And then at the bottom they were still fixing the road!

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So the SV got to do some off roading!

From there it was on past Bolzano to the dolomites and some great passes and chocolate tart. There were loads of great passes that all linked up, a lap could even have been possible. A great plave to visit on a bike and a life time must do.

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From there on to Cortina and in to Austria to Lienz, some great fast flowing roads in the valley bottom.

Day 5

Lienz, Austria - Lech am Arlberg, Austria

Set off in more glorious weather up to the Grosslockner Hoch Alpen Strasse, with a bit of a detour off to look at the Franz Josef Glacier

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The comparison of the Glacier to pictures in the '30s and 40s was amzing, the depth is now about 1/3 of what it used to be. Man inducedClimate Change? Natural variation? It does make you think though, and question the burning of fossil fuels for a holiday jaunt, but didn't stop me enjoying myself.

There were a few of these marmottes up there:

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Fat buggers about the size of a wide cat. A few ran out on me on the way back to join the main pass, lickily they changed their mind when they saw the mighty SV, that fluff would have made a right mess!

On up to the top of the pass for some great views and a bike car park with all manner of machines, back street heroes, BMW tourers, sports bikes, off roaders and one great SV!


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Then it was back down into the valleys on some more great and fast flowing Austrian roads, then heading of to the Gerloss pass, before dropping down to Zillertal.

A bit of highway bashing past Innsbruck before being able to head off past Ischgl and up to the Bielerhohe, and a great view of Puiz Buin and some Apple Strudel.

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Then it was back towards St Anton before heading off to Lech am Arlberg for my final night.

Day 6

Lech, Austria - Leuven, Belgium via Germany and Holland.

I was sad to be leaving the mountains behind me,

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With only the Hochtanbergpass to go before heading into the softer hills that lead down to Germany.

On to Wangen where I joined the Autobahns and began my flog back, sitting at 180 km/h the fuel light would just start to flash as my bum and body would start to cry out. Suprisingly I found a tight tuck more comfortable and distributed my weight better. Past Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Koln, through Holland and back to Belgium in a blur that was finished with a beer.

I had a great time on some great roads, met some interesting people, was amazed by the talents of the SV and my endurance, about 3500 km in 6 days, not a bad average taking intto account the number of mountain passes.

I was left the next day feeling a little empty. Why wasn't I getting on the bike again?

Do it, you know you want to. Don't put it off.

Hope you enjoyed the read.

Tim

I hate you people, :evil: you make me so jealous :(
Fantastic post mate :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I'm planning a trip in the summer....as long as I have the funds :roll:

Very nice. I'm very envious...don't think the wife will let me go. :cry:

Thanks for the thumbs up.

As for costs, it's not horrific, you can find basic hotels in Europe for €40-50/night, around £25-30/night.

Then it's just fuel and food really, and a cheap ferry or tunnel crossing.

Hope your planning come to fruition!

I'm actauly thinking of going to France across the Alps. I'm half way through reading the long way round :lol:
I remember seeing a website about planning trips to the Alps, but can't find it now :roll:

My plan for trips to the Alps are always the same

1) Pack gear
2) Fuel up
3) Drive south

normally manage to find em! The Pyranees are pretty awesome too, never been on a bike, but in a car, roads are brilliant and less busy that the Alps

[quote="DarrenSV650SI'm actauly thinking of going to France across the Alps. I'm half way through reading the long way round :lol:
I remember seeing a website about planning trips to the Alps, but can't find it now :roll:[/quote]

Is this the site you were looking for:

http://www.alpineroads.com/index.php

Useful for giving you a taste of where to look to ride.

Thats the one, cheers :P
Looking at those photo's again, the scenery is just jaw dropping
Especially this one
http://thumb16.webshots.net/t/53/653...6OttXbU_th.jpg
Can you imagine living there and waking up to that every morning? :shock:
Did you do this trip on your own?

Unfortunately I don't think my photos did justice to the scnery, I missed out so much and lack photographic skills, point and shoot when I remember!

Yep Darren, did this trip by myself as I didn't know many other bikers in Belgium.

It was quite nice being on my own, I could go where I want, when I wanted at whatever speed I liked, and found that there were people to chat to most evenings. Although after 500-600 kms after some food, beer and wine I was usually ready to crash out

Doing it again I'd either head off by myself or with may be one or two other like minded bikes any more and I reckon getting the miles done would be a bit of a palava.

Sweeeet. :thumbsup:

Thanks Tim for starting off the day. A good set of miles in 6 days but you got in a heck of a lot of passes. I came through the Stelvio in September - (roadworks complete) awesome looking onto the hairpins. Also the Dolomites and Austrian passes same as you. Had to turn around at the bottom of the Gerlos twice - just to do it again :wink: Was a good read and brought back a hankering for another European trip. They dont market them as crash bungs but I think the pannier companies should add it - they have saved my can on a weekend trip too.

I went also for a trip in the Alpes in 2004 (I just gor my SV for 2 weeks...) and I enoyed it al lot!


here is a nice picture where you can NOT see the Mont Blanc :lol:

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awesome Tim!

Certainly a to do.

Thanks for that Tim - what a great read!!

Takes me back to my childhood when i lived in Switzerland (Geneva) for 9 years. Loved every minute of it - and have visited nearly every place you listed above.

Me and one of my mates are planning a trip to France/Switzerland this summer (may/june time) - i can't wait to get back to the Alps - only on a bike this time!!

I was worried about costs - but you've just reminded me that the scenery and freedom is worth every penny! :D

Tim - on your way to all the Cols did you visit Col Des Mosses?? (i used to go Skiing there every weekend in winter! Was about 2 hrs drive from where i lived & we had a caravan at the bottom of the Ski Piste! :lol: )

Awesome trip, great photos, I really need to do that myself I reckon!

Great pics Tim, have done the "Col Du Aravis" myself, and it's a nice bit of road.

The joys of motorcycle riding cannot really be explained unless you have done a trip like this. There is great scenery and some very good roads in the UK, but riding in Europe is just "better" some how. Less traffic and more respect for bikers are probably what makes it that way, but as Tim says, it doesn't have to be expensive.

Allow about £50 per day for hotel and foodl, and then just it's just fuel (and maybe some re-hydration - you drink lots of water in the Alps in the summer). Allow no more than 300 miles per day if it's twisties all the way, you'll be surprised how much hard work it really is.

Plan your routes thoughtfully - I tend to think of various bits of road I want to cover and then link them together, allowing me to be at my destination by about 4pm, because that means I'll be there by 5 :wink: Make sure you pass through a few towns though, as petrol can be a rare commodity in the Alps, especially on Sundays. Take a decent digital camera, you'll kick yourself otherwise, some of the views are really awesome - The Col du Vars comes to mind....

I've already planned my trip for this summer and I know I'm going to enjoy it.

.

Where ya goin'?

Last summer we went mountain biking in verbier, Switzerland. Would like to do both, but, unfortunately funds and all that so am thinking of biking over to alps and touring for abit .... have to see. Nice pics mate, very inspiring :)

Didn't end up doing much in the way of Switzerland, guess I'll give it a go next time and limk up some of the passes I've still got left to do (there's a fair few!).

As for having a caravan at the bottom of the pistes, hard core, bet getting up in the morning was a chilly experience.

Thanks for the comments everyone else.

Looks great!

Is summer the only time to consider a trip like that? The only time I can get a pass out this year would be the first week in April. I'm not fussed if it is a little cold but was wondering if the higher passes would suffer from snow?

Any advice?

Trouble is, at that time of the year many of the passes are still closed, and those that aren't may still be full of ice. OK if you're on a GS12 though, it's not like you can drop it and make it look any worse is it ? :lol:

.

First week in April is ski season!

There will be loads of snow/ice/slush and only a few of the major passes open with the minor ones shut.

South of France and Provence instead? down Italy? Spain? No idea what they'd be like at that time of year but less snow no doubt (apart from the Pyrenees).

Bum, I wondered if that would be the case. Oh well, I can wait for another year. Or do as suggested and find some flatter twisty bits, got to be better than fitting snow chains! :D

Thanks.

well i`m going April 20th, all the way through the alps, down through old yugoslavia to montenegro, ferry over to Italy, then up through Italy to alps, Monaco, then pyrenees to france.
spoke to some people when I was in Austria in Nov, and they said they had a late spring this year, more snow than usual, so I`m thinking this could be an interesting trip, from snow to fairly hot.
still can`t wait and write ups with photos like this just wet my appetite even more.

Nice 8)

Thanks Tim! - This has got to be perfect post for a dark and windy January day.

Did you make use of everything you packed? Would you take more or less next time?

Well, made the use of most of my underwear as you can get a hell of a sweat on Monaco on a late summers day!

But took a little too much, could have dumped a pair of jeans, never used the cam corder, took more tools than were required, Forgot about most of my mars bars. Kept my waterproofs and winter gloves under the cargo net after the first day as I couldn't be bothered to stuff them back into the panniers.

Also had a top up bottle of oil I never used, WD 40 I never used, and a can of chain lube, I did lube the chain once a day with spray.

Maps and Haynes manual though were invaluable, and because I took michelin maps of a reasonable scale it meant they took up a fair bit of room! The Haynes manual stopped me looking like too much of a pr*%k when I'd hit the kill switch early on. I also took a big chain and disc lock, all of which took up room, may be I was paranoid, but I came back to a bike every morning that hadn't been stolen!

So I'd take less next time, unless I was going further for longer!

When i lived in Switz, we used to ski in May sometimes!! In france and swizterland...does that answer your question?? Then again - some years it was ded hot end of april / beginning of May - so you could get lucky! :D

Wow!

How many hours a day were you riding? Had you done a lot of long stints before?

Most days I'd set off between 8.30 and 9.30 although it was occassionally later, depending on how long it took to eat breakfast, pay for hotel, pack the bike up etc, but by the enfd of the week I was in a nice rhythm.

I'd then ususally ride for a bit until some time mid morning and stop for something to drink, like coffee and possibly some cake etc. Would also stop for lunch and then possibly another stop in the afternoon for coffee/cake. Alongside these were fuel stops, camera stops and pee stops. I usually rode until 4.30-5.30 in the afternoon/early evening to loom for accomodation. I usually had a rough idea of what town to aim for by the end of the day but if I was ahead/behind schedule I'd just stop where I felt like. I tried not too push it just for the distance as I knew I had a spare day at the end of the week if need be.

As for long stints before, most of my ride outs since starting were 3hrs+ as it took about an hour to get to decent roads from where I used to live. I had also done a bank holiday weekend trip to the Vosges, a day trip to the UK and back (including track day), and a round trip from Leuven to Oxford for a BBQ, so had done a few miles before but nothing out of the ordinary.

Bump
 

*Bump*

In the Alps you shouldn't realistically plan for more than about 250 miles/day unless you have to. Riding on those roads in summer is harder work than you think, and what may only be 50 miles on a map can be hard going if it's a 2000m climb and back down again. Obviously, through all the tight bends, your average speed goes down and you need to stop to take on water and just have a break.

If you start at 9:30 and expect to be at your hotel by 5pm you'll be in trouble, it always seems to take longer than expected :roll: So, about 250 twisty'ish miles is about right, more if you're fit and used to it, less if you're a wimp.

I always take too much, but I have got into the habit of changing in the evening and riding in the same top the next day (unless you spill dinner or beer on it) and take some washing liquid. I can get away with 3 tee shirts and 3 sets of undies for 10 days, washing them as soon as I get to the hotel. Chain lube is a must, and if riding in a group, you can spread the essential tools between you so you don't all have huge tool kits (same with security - 1 chain to 2 bikes).

Don't forget you're talc, best thing to put on your skin before a hard day in leathers... It works and it's good...

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