2006 - Central Alps
There & back again, Wednesday, 14th June & Monday 19th June 2006
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There...
Following the success of last year’s weekend in the Lake District and surrounding area, we were very much hooked on the idea of a longer and more adventurous tour and explored routes into Europe. As you can read elsewhere, this is when the idea of a Passport Tour was born! Chris spent a huge amount of time planning routes and looking at different options; Nick was so glad he did as he was happy just to be riding. That said, we did have a basic TomTom One car sat nav with us albeit with no power or mounting bracket and sitting in the top of Nick's tank bag propped up with a pair of socks! – the battery managed about an hour of nav time before needing charging so it was always a case of switch on, see where we are/needed to go, switch off. Not the best model for trouble free touring…
The basic plan was to cross into France via the Eurotunnel train and then ride as far as possible before stopping for the night. Chris was convinced that we’d find somewhere to spend the night, all Nick hoped was that it had a roof over our heads and a comfortable bed! We travelled in June which meant the football World Cup in Germany was in mid competition, for Nick, an ideal opportunity to catch a few games whilst enjoying a cold one or two in the evenings ahead, less so for Chris with little interest in football, still at least he wouldn’t have to put up with Nick's stimulating conversation!
We met at Maidstone services on the M20 heading towards Folkestone on the Wednesday evening and after an uneventful crossing, headed south from Calais along the A26. The broad plan was to get to or slightly beyond Reims stopping only to fill one tank and empty another! As always in Nick's experience in France, especially the north, the roads are of great quality and largely empty, especially on a Sunday evening. When fuel was required, we pulled into an all night truck stop/service station that literally had everything you could ever wish for whilst on the road, except perhaps for a decent cup of coffee – the drinks in the vending machines could not be wholeheartedly recommended…
On to Rheims and on arrival, it seemed that the whole place was shut, perhaps not surprising given that it was 03:00 on Thursday morning.
No rooms anywhere. At this point Nick started to detect a slight concern that our footloose and fancy-free approach to accommodation might not have been such a good idea. In the centre of Reims and whilst
trying a couple of likely looking hotel candidates, we happened upon a large man that looked like a cross between Rick Wakeman and an Albeno Monk at the Ibis! As we went to leave he came up to us to explain his life history and was joined by a drunken gang of French youths with bottles in their hands. Time for us to exit and head on further!
We continued south and eventually happened upon the town of Troyes having battled through lightening, thunder and rain. We arrived at 04:00 and sought advice from Tom on likely hotel rooms – Nick was not convinced! Much to his amazement however, the second venue we tried had what looked like a basic bank ATM outside and after inserting a credit card out popped a key! Even better, it was actually for one of the rooms in the building. There’s no doubt that on this occasion, Tom was a life saver as we would never have found a room in Troyes without it, especially at that time of the night (morning!).
The first thing we did was to unplug all the lights and appliances in order to charge up the phones, BlackBerrys and the all important TomTom — the French grid took a pounding but we were able to rest assured our technology was charging! Although almost light by now, a great start to the tour and a real taste of the adventure to come.
Back again...
A short night, again, to be awoken by the vehicles on the main road north. Soon on our way and a fast exit from Luxembourg, albeit with lots of rush hour traffic. Good weather and roads all the way to Calais, certainly much drier than the night before. We arrived at about 11:30 but had to wait over an hour for the next available train as it was very busy. From the array of exotic machinery in the Eurotunnel car park, it was clear that we had arrived at the end of the Le Mans weekend! The number of Porsches, Lamborghinis, Jaguars and Aston Martins etc was incredible.
Whilst queuing to check in we met a couple of guys, father and son, both Triumph riders, father on a new Tiger 955i and son on the new Daytona 675. In fact they turned out to be the new owners of Triumph dealer Pure Triumph in Wellingborough. Good to talk to them and we tentatively planned to visit their dealership in the autumn.
Once back in Britain, a good run for Chris, albeit congested roads. Nick unfortunately had a very badly blocked M25 but then on a Monday afternoon, that's always likely!
A week that can only be described as fabulous. Such a huge step up in term of both scope and scale from our weekend Lake District adventure. Amazing scenery and roads and such a massive area to explore! This week has surely whet our appetites for further European travel having only really scratched the surface of what's on offer. We will definitely be back!
Following the success of last year’s weekend in the Lake District and surrounding area, we were very much hooked on the idea of a longer and more adventurous tour and explored routes into Europe. As you can read elsewhere, this is when the idea of a Passport Tour was born! Chris spent a huge amount of time planning routes and looking at different options; Nick was so glad he did as he was happy just to be riding. That said, we did have a basic TomTom One car sat nav with us albeit with no power or mounting bracket and sitting in the top of Nick's tank bag propped up with a pair of socks! – the battery managed about an hour of nav time before needing charging so it was always a case of switch on, see where we are/needed to go, switch off. Not the best model for trouble free touring…
The basic plan was to cross into France via the Eurotunnel train and then ride as far as possible before stopping for the night. Chris was convinced that we’d find somewhere to spend the night, all Nick hoped was that it had a roof over our heads and a comfortable bed! We travelled in June which meant the football World Cup in Germany was in mid competition, for Nick, an ideal opportunity to catch a few games whilst enjoying a cold one or two in the evenings ahead, less so for Chris with little interest in football, still at least he wouldn’t have to put up with Nick's stimulating conversation!
We met at Maidstone services on the M20 heading towards Folkestone on the Wednesday evening and after an uneventful crossing, headed south from Calais along the A26. The broad plan was to get to or slightly beyond Reims stopping only to fill one tank and empty another! As always in Nick's experience in France, especially the north, the roads are of great quality and largely empty, especially on a Sunday evening. When fuel was required, we pulled into an all night truck stop/service station that literally had everything you could ever wish for whilst on the road, except perhaps for a decent cup of coffee – the drinks in the vending machines could not be wholeheartedly recommended…
On to Rheims and on arrival, it seemed that the whole place was shut, perhaps not surprising given that it was 03:00 on Thursday morning.
No rooms anywhere. At this point Nick started to detect a slight concern that our footloose and fancy-free approach to accommodation might not have been such a good idea. In the centre of Reims and whilst
trying a couple of likely looking hotel candidates, we happened upon a large man that looked like a cross between Rick Wakeman and an Albeno Monk at the Ibis! As we went to leave he came up to us to explain his life history and was joined by a drunken gang of French youths with bottles in their hands. Time for us to exit and head on further!
We continued south and eventually happened upon the town of Troyes having battled through lightening, thunder and rain. We arrived at 04:00 and sought advice from Tom on likely hotel rooms – Nick was not convinced! Much to his amazement however, the second venue we tried had what looked like a basic bank ATM outside and after inserting a credit card out popped a key! Even better, it was actually for one of the rooms in the building. There’s no doubt that on this occasion, Tom was a life saver as we would never have found a room in Troyes without it, especially at that time of the night (morning!).
The first thing we did was to unplug all the lights and appliances in order to charge up the phones, BlackBerrys and the all important TomTom — the French grid took a pounding but we were able to rest assured our technology was charging! Although almost light by now, a great start to the tour and a real taste of the adventure to come.
Back again...
A short night, again, to be awoken by the vehicles on the main road north. Soon on our way and a fast exit from Luxembourg, albeit with lots of rush hour traffic. Good weather and roads all the way to Calais, certainly much drier than the night before. We arrived at about 11:30 but had to wait over an hour for the next available train as it was very busy. From the array of exotic machinery in the Eurotunnel car park, it was clear that we had arrived at the end of the Le Mans weekend! The number of Porsches, Lamborghinis, Jaguars and Aston Martins etc was incredible.
Whilst queuing to check in we met a couple of guys, father and son, both Triumph riders, father on a new Tiger 955i and son on the new Daytona 675. In fact they turned out to be the new owners of Triumph dealer Pure Triumph in Wellingborough. Good to talk to them and we tentatively planned to visit their dealership in the autumn.
Once back in Britain, a good run for Chris, albeit congested roads. Nick unfortunately had a very badly blocked M25 but then on a Monday afternoon, that's always likely!
A week that can only be described as fabulous. Such a huge step up in term of both scope and scale from our weekend Lake District adventure. Amazing scenery and roads and such a massive area to explore! This week has surely whet our appetites for further European travel having only really scratched the surface of what's on offer. We will definitely be back!
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Statistics
Depart 1930hrs Arrive 0430hrs Troyes Distance out 339 miles Passes 0 Distance home 350 miles Tour passes 14 Tour distance 2,026 miles |
Countries
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Passes
None |
Day one, Thursday 15th June 2006
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Despite such a late night/morning, we were up bright and early, excited by the prospect of mountains today for the first time. A quick and very reasonable breakfast in the petrol station opposite the ‘hotel’ of pan au chocolat and cappuccino like substance (the French have no idea how to serve cappuccino) and we were on our way. Following Tom's heroics of a few hours previously in finding us a decent and available hotel, he led us astray at first and we learnt the importance of knowing the route and applying common sense rather than blindly following the sat nav! A rule that will no doubt serve us well throughout this and future tours. No real drama on the road south, at one point we encountered roadworks and a refreshing lack of vast quantities of cones and closed lanes (as you'd find in health and safety conscious obsessed Britain). The French use a plastic man waving a flag to warn and slow the traffic, odd and seemingly effective!
Lovely trip around the walled town of Langres (albeit Nick failed to notice this at all - too busy stressing trying to prop up the errant car based sat nav with a pair of socks in his tank bag!). We stopped for a late lunch in the border town of Belfort, enjoying a sandwich and Coke by the river. After Belfort, the N19 was really slow and town ridden. Tom also took us on a massive diversion to reach the A36 via the N57 and arrival at the Swiss/France border. The queue was long although moving and afforded a moment to reflect on how different this route would have been 60 odd years ago for those trying to escape occupied France for the relative safety of Switzerland...
Our relative safety came at a price! Entrance to Switzerland requires the purchase of a vignette, effectively a road tax for the year for the privilege of using Switzerland's roads. As we would discover, they're not bad, even high up in the mountains, although 40 Swiss francs is a bit rich, and they only take cash! Still, you do get a nice sticker to apply to your bike as a memento of your visit. A better option might be to find a minor road and enter Switzerland that way (we would discover a number of these in the mountains) where the lack of border staff might mean lack of vignette purchase... After the border guard had relieved us of our cash, he told Nick he had an identical Triumph Tiger!
Once over the border, we were in Basel, famous for bank monetary and capital control regulations and watch shows, although by the looks of it, not pleasant architecture! We stopped briefly by the "Welcome to Basel" road sign for a photo stop for the Basel 2 team back in London and carried on to Luzern where we collapsed on the grass at a service station for a break. The views were already starting to improve significantly, with snow capped mountains way down south (with apologies to The Beatles and Back in the USSR) and all around in fact. From here and onto Interlaken along beautiful roads, perhaps the vignette wasn't such a rip off after all! Along the way, Chris stopped for a photo opportunity on our very first Alpine pass (The Brunig Pass), Nick was not impressed, this was not in the plan and he wanted to get to the overnight stop! There's a key lesson here, which Nick failed to learn later in the tour, and that is to chill and relax! The beauty of touring is the freedom and whilst a broad plan is advisable, stopping for pictures is not really such a massive deviation from it!
Interlaken is very much a gateway to the Alps and as such is full of hotels, hostels and the like. Once again, Tom saved the day by navigating us straight to the Happy Inn Lodge where we were greeted by an English receptionist with a broad Yorkshire accent and appropriately attired in an England football shirt! She advised us that England had won their World Cup game with Tobago 2:0 and then found us a perfect room for the night! The restaurant attached to the hotel, Brasserie 17 was one of the few places still open at 21:00 in Interlaken and it was there that we had a good meal outside watching the Sweden vs Paraguay game and thinking about the fun ahead for tomorrow!
Lovely trip around the walled town of Langres (albeit Nick failed to notice this at all - too busy stressing trying to prop up the errant car based sat nav with a pair of socks in his tank bag!). We stopped for a late lunch in the border town of Belfort, enjoying a sandwich and Coke by the river. After Belfort, the N19 was really slow and town ridden. Tom also took us on a massive diversion to reach the A36 via the N57 and arrival at the Swiss/France border. The queue was long although moving and afforded a moment to reflect on how different this route would have been 60 odd years ago for those trying to escape occupied France for the relative safety of Switzerland...
Our relative safety came at a price! Entrance to Switzerland requires the purchase of a vignette, effectively a road tax for the year for the privilege of using Switzerland's roads. As we would discover, they're not bad, even high up in the mountains, although 40 Swiss francs is a bit rich, and they only take cash! Still, you do get a nice sticker to apply to your bike as a memento of your visit. A better option might be to find a minor road and enter Switzerland that way (we would discover a number of these in the mountains) where the lack of border staff might mean lack of vignette purchase... After the border guard had relieved us of our cash, he told Nick he had an identical Triumph Tiger!
Once over the border, we were in Basel, famous for bank monetary and capital control regulations and watch shows, although by the looks of it, not pleasant architecture! We stopped briefly by the "Welcome to Basel" road sign for a photo stop for the Basel 2 team back in London and carried on to Luzern where we collapsed on the grass at a service station for a break. The views were already starting to improve significantly, with snow capped mountains way down south (with apologies to The Beatles and Back in the USSR) and all around in fact. From here and onto Interlaken along beautiful roads, perhaps the vignette wasn't such a rip off after all! Along the way, Chris stopped for a photo opportunity on our very first Alpine pass (The Brunig Pass), Nick was not impressed, this was not in the plan and he wanted to get to the overnight stop! There's a key lesson here, which Nick failed to learn later in the tour, and that is to chill and relax! The beauty of touring is the freedom and whilst a broad plan is advisable, stopping for pictures is not really such a massive deviation from it!
Interlaken is very much a gateway to the Alps and as such is full of hotels, hostels and the like. Once again, Tom saved the day by navigating us straight to the Happy Inn Lodge where we were greeted by an English receptionist with a broad Yorkshire accent and appropriately attired in an England football shirt! She advised us that England had won their World Cup game with Tobago 2:0 and then found us a perfect room for the night! The restaurant attached to the hotel, Brasserie 17 was one of the few places still open at 21:00 in Interlaken and it was there that we had a good meal outside watching the Sweden vs Paraguay game and thinking about the fun ahead for tomorrow!
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Statistics
Depart 1100hrs Arrive 2015hrs Interlaken Distance 334 miles Time in Saddle 6:01hrs MPH 55 MPG 48 Passes 1 Tour passes 1 Tour distance 673 miles |
Countries
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Passes
Brunig Pass 1,008m |
Day two, Friday 16th June 2006
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We swapped bikes initially for the start of our first full day playing. Chris enjoyed being back on a Tiger, although now much prefers the riding position and positive response from the Sprint. Nick was impressed with the Sprint ST and wasn't so keen to give it back! A lovely day and the scenery and countryside was just stunning, this is what we came for and it was amazing to think of the freedom and that just being there afforded us. We stopped in Zweisimmen for a coffee at a beautiful Swiss chalet cafe surrounded by classic Swiss chocolate box countryside with great views of the Jungfrau. We then headed off to to Gstaad and into the higher mountain passes where we saw the first snow on the Col du Croix.
After enjoying some great mountain roads, we stopped for lunch in Villars ski resort where Chris saw a fantastic plate of meats on a table next to us. Slightly embarrassingly he could not order in German and had to point at the man's plate on table next to us to order. The waiter then spoke to us in perfect English!
From Villars, we, traveled up the Col du Grand St. Bernard; wow! This is definitely what we came for, fantastic fast sweeping bends at the bottom and then up to small broken high roads with no barriers up top. Just amazing scenery with snow and ice all around, even in June, and in some places, 8 or 9 feet deep! At the top of the pass, we crossed into Italy, after admiring all of the other bikers that had stopped for a break. Down the other side in Italy and into Aosta, which was too large and hot with traffic everywhere. It is amazing to experience the extremes in temperature in such short distances.
In the outskirts of Aosta, we spotted an encouragingly named cafe, ‘Welcome Bikers Bar’. The reality sadly was not so good, a poor location with T-shirts on the walls and lots of posters of scantily clad/naked women. We stopped only for a brief refreshment before heading on and over the Colle San Carlo where loads of writing on the road reflected the positions of the riders in one or many cycle races.
From here we arrived at the amazing 7 mile long Mt Blanc tunnel, scene of the great tragedy in March 1999 where 39 people died in a fire inside the tunnel that burnt for over 52 hours. There are many stories about the heroism of an Italian biker, Pierlucio Tinazzi, who worked in the tunnel and is credited with saving the lives of 10 of the 12 survivors by leading them to safety when the thick, black smoke had already forced the emergency services back. When the heat and smoke got too much, he found refuge in one of the bunkers by the tunnel and waited for the fire to burn out. Tragically, he never made it out alive and his BMW K75 motorcycle was found melted into the road. There is a shrine in his memory outside the Italian entrance to the tunnel. Following the tragedy the tunnel, or at least the road in it, was completely redesigned with a strictly enforced speed limit and gap between the traffic. Being underground for such a long period of time is very odd and disorientating, not to mention very warm; the horror of the fire can only be imagined. Finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel, literally, was a huge relief and breathing fresh, clean air, even more so!
Inside the tunnel, the road re-enters France and from the tunnel exit, down to Chamonix where we decided to spend the night. Tom had another disaster, directing us to a non existent Novotel and then to one which was due to open in 2007! We tried the Hotel Dome but were turned out by the patron, an uninviting looking old French women. Business must be really good!
Turning to our own instinct we found the invitingly looking Hotel Verte. Chris went in to practice his stunning French speaking skills. After a brave attempt one of the girls behind the reception announced she had been at University in Durham and spoke to Chris, another Durham graduate, in fluent English! The room and hotel was perfect and we enjoyed a lovely meal, sitting outside in the shadow of the seriously imposing Mont Blanc!
After enjoying some great mountain roads, we stopped for lunch in Villars ski resort where Chris saw a fantastic plate of meats on a table next to us. Slightly embarrassingly he could not order in German and had to point at the man's plate on table next to us to order. The waiter then spoke to us in perfect English!
From Villars, we, traveled up the Col du Grand St. Bernard; wow! This is definitely what we came for, fantastic fast sweeping bends at the bottom and then up to small broken high roads with no barriers up top. Just amazing scenery with snow and ice all around, even in June, and in some places, 8 or 9 feet deep! At the top of the pass, we crossed into Italy, after admiring all of the other bikers that had stopped for a break. Down the other side in Italy and into Aosta, which was too large and hot with traffic everywhere. It is amazing to experience the extremes in temperature in such short distances.
In the outskirts of Aosta, we spotted an encouragingly named cafe, ‘Welcome Bikers Bar’. The reality sadly was not so good, a poor location with T-shirts on the walls and lots of posters of scantily clad/naked women. We stopped only for a brief refreshment before heading on and over the Colle San Carlo where loads of writing on the road reflected the positions of the riders in one or many cycle races.
From here we arrived at the amazing 7 mile long Mt Blanc tunnel, scene of the great tragedy in March 1999 where 39 people died in a fire inside the tunnel that burnt for over 52 hours. There are many stories about the heroism of an Italian biker, Pierlucio Tinazzi, who worked in the tunnel and is credited with saving the lives of 10 of the 12 survivors by leading them to safety when the thick, black smoke had already forced the emergency services back. When the heat and smoke got too much, he found refuge in one of the bunkers by the tunnel and waited for the fire to burn out. Tragically, he never made it out alive and his BMW K75 motorcycle was found melted into the road. There is a shrine in his memory outside the Italian entrance to the tunnel. Following the tragedy the tunnel, or at least the road in it, was completely redesigned with a strictly enforced speed limit and gap between the traffic. Being underground for such a long period of time is very odd and disorientating, not to mention very warm; the horror of the fire can only be imagined. Finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel, literally, was a huge relief and breathing fresh, clean air, even more so!
Inside the tunnel, the road re-enters France and from the tunnel exit, down to Chamonix where we decided to spend the night. Tom had another disaster, directing us to a non existent Novotel and then to one which was due to open in 2007! We tried the Hotel Dome but were turned out by the patron, an uninviting looking old French women. Business must be really good!
Turning to our own instinct we found the invitingly looking Hotel Verte. Chris went in to practice his stunning French speaking skills. After a brave attempt one of the girls behind the reception announced she had been at University in Durham and spoke to Chris, another Durham graduate, in fluent English! The room and hotel was perfect and we enjoyed a lovely meal, sitting outside in the shadow of the seriously imposing Mont Blanc!
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Statistics
Depart 1010hrs Arrive 2000hrs Chamonix Distance 194 miles Time in Saddle 6:08hrs MPH 31 MPG 47 Passes 5 Tour passes 6 Tour distance 867 miles |
Countries
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Passes
Saanenmöaer Pass Col du Pillon Col de a Croix Co du Grand St. Bernard Colle San Carlo |
Day three, Saturday 17th June 2006
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A quick breakfast in the hotel before heading off for what would be one of the best days so far! Initially a difficult route to Flumet. Tom was misbehaving and with the sunlight and the position of the sat nav in the tank bag, propped up with a pair of socks, it was more of less impossible for Nick to navigate. From Flumet the passes began and we quickly rose up out of the heat of the valleys and into the mountains to find the completely deserted Ski village of Saisies. Chris had a scary moment on the way down Col du Pre as a mad biker tried to overtake a coach on a blind S bend as Chris came around the corner. Amazingly he managed to squeeze between the coach and Chris, particularly as the only escape would have been over the edge of the pass – not much fun!
We stopped for a coffee at a beautiful café on the side of the lake at Cormet de Roseland and listened to the cow bells. As we were sitting outside admiring the view, we were passed by a great swarm of Honda Goldwings which we expected to see crashed off the side of the pass later on – but no they obviously knew what they were doing. Quite a majestic site to see such large bikes, in most cases with pillions, really going for it around the tight passes!
From our coffee stop, it was a good fast stretch up into the mountains from Bourg St Maurice to Val d’Isere where we had lunch in Le Tropic restaurant. Heading out of Val d'Isere on the D902 begins the second highest pass in the Alps, the barren, snow ridden, slightly scary and totally awesome Col de L’Iseran! The scenery is awe inspiring and the road even better, a mixture of tight hairpins with long switchbacks enabling ridiculous speed. The top of the Col has a fantastic signpost and resting area where all conquerors of the pass, whether on foot (yes, amazingly), pedal cycle or motorbike were waiting their turn to take photographic evidence of their achievements by the large road sign. On the other side of the mountain, the road is just as good and once in the valley, arrow straight enabling even more ridiculous speeds, and totally deserted. Fabulous!
From here, we went on to Lanslebourg and then back to Italy over Col du Mt Cenis. Col du Mt Cenis leads down Susa and was particularly scary as the rain started and the Italian roads have much sharper hairpin bends, more traffic and unpredictable road surfaces! Once out of Susa we picked up the motorway to Como via Torino and Milano, first stopping for fuel at a service station. Waiting to pay, Nick noticed a small bar and ordered 2 cappuccinos, theseturned out to be the finest on the trip, and in Nick's opinion, possibly the finest he'd ever had! A most unlikely location for such quality!
The motorway was mad! A total of over 50 miles of road works should have slowed us but thanks to the Italian motoring community's complete disregard for authority and rules they all bombed along at virtually 100mph, and only slowed marginally through the contra flows! The official speed limit through the roadworks was 90 km/h... Awful Italian road signs and ridiculous sharp exits from the motorways provided for a few challenges but we got to Como by 20:00.
Tom let us down again taking us round in circles when asked to find a hotel! Again we had to resort to instinct and were lucky to find Marco’s, a nicely appointed and very central hotel. We did very well and had a great lakeside room and a lovely Italian meal at the Funicolore Ristorante Pizzeria on the shore of Lake Como. The tables for the restaurant were actually in the road, "protected" by some small barriers. It did make for an interesting meal as dangerous lakeside exhibitionists tore by the ristorante in their posh cars and fast bikes at break neck speed in what is almost a pedestrian area! We enjoyed great food and atmosphere though, the Italy game was on a big screen which kept all the locals occupied. We were able to keep an eye on the whilst planning our route for the last full day tomorrow.
We stopped for a coffee at a beautiful café on the side of the lake at Cormet de Roseland and listened to the cow bells. As we were sitting outside admiring the view, we were passed by a great swarm of Honda Goldwings which we expected to see crashed off the side of the pass later on – but no they obviously knew what they were doing. Quite a majestic site to see such large bikes, in most cases with pillions, really going for it around the tight passes!
From our coffee stop, it was a good fast stretch up into the mountains from Bourg St Maurice to Val d’Isere where we had lunch in Le Tropic restaurant. Heading out of Val d'Isere on the D902 begins the second highest pass in the Alps, the barren, snow ridden, slightly scary and totally awesome Col de L’Iseran! The scenery is awe inspiring and the road even better, a mixture of tight hairpins with long switchbacks enabling ridiculous speed. The top of the Col has a fantastic signpost and resting area where all conquerors of the pass, whether on foot (yes, amazingly), pedal cycle or motorbike were waiting their turn to take photographic evidence of their achievements by the large road sign. On the other side of the mountain, the road is just as good and once in the valley, arrow straight enabling even more ridiculous speeds, and totally deserted. Fabulous!
From here, we went on to Lanslebourg and then back to Italy over Col du Mt Cenis. Col du Mt Cenis leads down Susa and was particularly scary as the rain started and the Italian roads have much sharper hairpin bends, more traffic and unpredictable road surfaces! Once out of Susa we picked up the motorway to Como via Torino and Milano, first stopping for fuel at a service station. Waiting to pay, Nick noticed a small bar and ordered 2 cappuccinos, theseturned out to be the finest on the trip, and in Nick's opinion, possibly the finest he'd ever had! A most unlikely location for such quality!
The motorway was mad! A total of over 50 miles of road works should have slowed us but thanks to the Italian motoring community's complete disregard for authority and rules they all bombed along at virtually 100mph, and only slowed marginally through the contra flows! The official speed limit through the roadworks was 90 km/h... Awful Italian road signs and ridiculous sharp exits from the motorways provided for a few challenges but we got to Como by 20:00.
Tom let us down again taking us round in circles when asked to find a hotel! Again we had to resort to instinct and were lucky to find Marco’s, a nicely appointed and very central hotel. We did very well and had a great lakeside room and a lovely Italian meal at the Funicolore Ristorante Pizzeria on the shore of Lake Como. The tables for the restaurant were actually in the road, "protected" by some small barriers. It did make for an interesting meal as dangerous lakeside exhibitionists tore by the ristorante in their posh cars and fast bikes at break neck speed in what is almost a pedestrian area! We enjoyed great food and atmosphere though, the Italy game was on a big screen which kept all the locals occupied. We were able to keep an eye on the whilst planning our route for the last full day tomorrow.
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Statistics
Depart 0915hrs Arrive 2015hrs Como Distance 289 miles Time in Saddle 7:22hrs MPH 39 MPG 46 Passes 5 Tour passes 11 Tour distance 1,157 miles |
Countries
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Passes
Col des Saisies Col du Pré Cormet de Roseland Col de l'Iseran Col du Mont Cenis |
Day four, Sunday 18th June 2006
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An early start due to us forgetting to shut the blinds and the bright light of a Como morning pouring in through the windows. Also a fair amount of noise, through the night, from the revelling Italians. We started with a brisk walk along lake Como to try and exercise our limbs. Breakfast outside on the balcony of the hotel and then a quick pack and off. Unfortunately Tom failed to pick up a GPS to signal for a while and when we come to the first junction, looking to go around the left side of the lake we take a left turn hoping it’s correct.
Unfortunately it isn’t and we twist through villages on the right side of the lake. The roads are narrow and twisty and filled with cyclists and mad Italian bikers! The sun is out and the temperature is rising. Eventually Tom finds a GPS signal and armed with the knowledge that we are heading to Menaggio on the west coast of the lake, all seems good when the arrival time and distance is reassuringly short...until Tom eventually brings us to a ferry terminal on the east side of the lake! Nick has a complete sense of humour failure but recovers as the ferry arrives within minutes and the crossing is quick and beautiful. The drive alongside of Como has stunning scenery and the weather is sunny and hot. However, there are lots of Sunday drivers and the traffic is frustratingly heavy.
The Swiss border eventually comes and what a relief. The roads change from narrow and twisty with a poor surface to wide and sweeping with a perfect finish! We enjoy and start to push forward much faster, however, half of Italy’s biking population have also sussed this and follow. Amazingly we sweep passed them on the straights but then as we hit the hairpin bends and as we try and negotiate the Sunday car drivers the Italian stallions get down on their knees and fly by with girlfriends clinging on as pillions for dear life. Madness!
We have a great run up the Maloja Pass, with a long overdue water stop at the top. From there along the St. Moritz road offering a great ride through the mountains with stunning scenery and fast driving. We eventually arrived at Kloisters, the ski resort of choice for the Royal family, or at least some of them, for lunch, the town was surprisingly low and not as posh as we had expected. Sitting in a roadside cafe, we enjoyed huge steak salads whilst watching the world race by!
And from here, it was time to face the the long run home. Firstly into Liechtenstein (blink and you miss it) then Austria, next Germany and finally Luxembourg. Tom tried to have a final joke by circling us around 3 motorways in search of a hotel at Luxembourg in the pouring rain and darkness. Luckily we saw an Ibis on the route and abandoned Tom and used our own skills! The Ibis was functional but clean and warm.
Unfortunately it isn’t and we twist through villages on the right side of the lake. The roads are narrow and twisty and filled with cyclists and mad Italian bikers! The sun is out and the temperature is rising. Eventually Tom finds a GPS signal and armed with the knowledge that we are heading to Menaggio on the west coast of the lake, all seems good when the arrival time and distance is reassuringly short...until Tom eventually brings us to a ferry terminal on the east side of the lake! Nick has a complete sense of humour failure but recovers as the ferry arrives within minutes and the crossing is quick and beautiful. The drive alongside of Como has stunning scenery and the weather is sunny and hot. However, there are lots of Sunday drivers and the traffic is frustratingly heavy.
The Swiss border eventually comes and what a relief. The roads change from narrow and twisty with a poor surface to wide and sweeping with a perfect finish! We enjoy and start to push forward much faster, however, half of Italy’s biking population have also sussed this and follow. Amazingly we sweep passed them on the straights but then as we hit the hairpin bends and as we try and negotiate the Sunday car drivers the Italian stallions get down on their knees and fly by with girlfriends clinging on as pillions for dear life. Madness!
We have a great run up the Maloja Pass, with a long overdue water stop at the top. From there along the St. Moritz road offering a great ride through the mountains with stunning scenery and fast driving. We eventually arrived at Kloisters, the ski resort of choice for the Royal family, or at least some of them, for lunch, the town was surprisingly low and not as posh as we had expected. Sitting in a roadside cafe, we enjoyed huge steak salads whilst watching the world race by!
And from here, it was time to face the the long run home. Firstly into Liechtenstein (blink and you miss it) then Austria, next Germany and finally Luxembourg. Tom tried to have a final joke by circling us around 3 motorways in search of a hotel at Luxembourg in the pouring rain and darkness. Luckily we saw an Ibis on the route and abandoned Tom and used our own skills! The Ibis was functional but clean and warm.
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Statistics
Depart 0815hrs Arrive 0055hrs Luxembourg Distance 519 miles Time in Saddle 10:26hrs MPH 49 MPG 48 Passes 3 Tour passes 14 Tour distance 1,675 miles |
Countries
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Passes
Maloja pass Flüela pass Wolfgang pass |
