Tuesday, July 30.
We got up to get going early or so we thought. I moved my rented Ducati and put my foot down in low spot in the parking lot. Oops! only broke the right handguard. Later I would find out it was $58.00 not too bad. John Holland was having more problems with this BMW. His rear-wheel kept locking up on the uneven parking lot. Several calls to BMW to find out it was the optional hill-hold feature on the bike he rented. Over an hour late but we were on our way. Saying goodbye to St Moritz.
Julie packing the snacks for the day.
Henry just waiting for everyone else to get ready.
This was a morning without rain as we headed for Stelvio Pass. Stelvio is a bucket list pass for many riders. Even if you have not heard of Stelvio you have seen pictures, hairpin turns followed by more hairpin turns. Alfa Romeo cars and Moto Guzzi motorcycles have been named after this pass.
We saw a lot of bicycles and cars on the road headed for Stelvio. We turned on a small road and headed up and over Umbrialpass. We continued through a high valley and then climbed up toward Italy and the top of Stelvio. All the pictures below were taken by Julie Holland as we rode on.
At the top of Stelvio it looked like a motorcycle, bicycle and car convention there were hundreds if not thousands of people at the top of the pass. The view was unbelievable on a clear day. At 9,045 feet this was our highest pass.
We did get our souvenir shopping in at the top
We headed down the pass. One section of switchbacks followed by another section. Very slow going because of the traffic. We did not see it but John and Julie Holland said a bicycle rider passed them going down the hill at speed and hit a car coming from the other direction. They said the bicycle rider was mad at the car for being in her way.
Following are pictures of our trip down Stelvio. One car stopped at the apex of every turn. This caused me to stop off-camber and only able to get my left foot down. After the first time, we gave the driver lots of room to stop without causing us to be stopped off-camber. No need to hurry on this road. These pictures were from Becky Harvey.
Glad I did Stelvio Pass, bucket list item checked off. But do not need to do again. Way too much traffic and we were there on a Tuesday, the weekend must be really bad.
Having lunch at the bottom of the Stelvio Pass.
Our restaurant for lunch. Not much English in this part of Italy. But we got feed.
After lunch, we suited up and headed towards Austria.
Many small towns and construction as we make our way from Italy to Austria.
Lots of agriculture in northern Italy.
Corn, first I have seen in Europe.
Farms right up to the clifts.
More towns with main roads right through the middle of town. Parking only on the sidewalks.
Clouds building, we did get just a little rain on the way.
Flowerboxes on almost every building.
We reach the Austria border.
Had to stop at the first gas station to purchase a Vignette for Austria's roads. Only 5 Euros for a week. In Switzerland need to buy years pass $$.
We did travel through many tunnels on our route. It does get hot inside the tunnels. Several were 10 miles long.
After a very long day, we arrived at Seefeld Austria. This will be a two-night stay and the weatherman calls for rain.
Arrived at Krumers Hotel in Seefeld Austria. The two senior riders got parking by the front door.
In Part Five we explore a German town on a rainy day.
Back to Part Three Part Five
