• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Last Ride- Eastern Europe

F

franze

Guest
I don't know how many times you know that it's the last time you'll ride a motorcycle that you really love. This is the story of my last ride on my 1998 R1100RT. I knew from the day I bought it that I'd never be able to bring it back to the US. Everything I've read and heard discouraged that frame of mind. I'd been out of motorcycling for 15 years and how I got back in to it began two years before my RT rolled off the production line.

In March of 1996, I found myself in bed, with my wife Jill, and between us lay our first child, our newborn son Nick who recently co-starred, with the RT, in my post where he took his first tour, his choice, to Normandy. Chances are you may be reading this on June 6, if so, it is D-Day so if you want to take a moment to review what those places are like:

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=26085

So, I know a few of the people that I'm "cyber-acquaintences" with, are expecting children. When you do, you'll understand the following scene. My wife and I are in bed, between us is this precious new baby boy. Our capacity for love has just jumped 3 fold. She's laying there and softly coos, " What do you think you'd be doing right now if we'd never met".

Without hesitation I replied, " Riding a big BMW road bike".

"I'll buy you one someday" , she replied.

Well that day came about 5 years later. My wife called me and told me to come up to her work, she had something to show me. What she had was a high tech engineer that was selling his R100RS. Absolutely beautiful, perfectly maintained, my dream bike.

I couldn't believe it, this could be mine, it was a fair price, and a bike I would love to own. But a strange thing happens once you're a Dad, without spending too much time trying to pick a clever analogy, I'll just say, "you evolve". I told the engineer I"d like to think about it, but even then, I knew I couldn't have it. 18 months after our first son was born, we were blessed with another. I quit my corporate job and became a full time stay home Dad. Greatest job ever if you're cut out for it.

Flash forward to 2004, a third child joined our family, a daughter. Things got crazier and crazier. I knew it was time to start doing something for myself. I"d put everything into supporting my kids and wife. One night I told her that I was ready to get the BMW, on my 50th birthday, 2006. In 2005 we moved to Switzerland for her work and after about 2 months I knew I HAD TO HAVE THAT BIKE!

So, this report is about my last ride on that bike. I know some people read for the "goo" like the above paragraphs, some like the pictures, and others, want numbers and stats, prices, etc. Everything opposite of "goo". I will do my best to balance these three.

My sig line is an Eisenhower quote" Plans are meaningless, planning is everything" This report will show you why. Originally, the title of this would have been, " Last Ride- Spain". It turns out that my last ride would be come, by the good grace of my wife who was going to double up and do her job, and my job, if " I got everything done to move home" This means a lot when you are moving internationally. There's 6 piles. Stuff going in the ocean container (6-8 week deliverry) stuff going in the air freight ( two weeks) stuff going on the airplane with you, stuff you are selling, stuff you are giving away, and stuff you are throwing away. For me, this wasn't so bad as I spent 25 years in the moving business and I had contracted quite a few international relocations so I had a good background on what I needed to do to get some riding time. It all turned out that I had a week window to ride and that window coincided with when the AZBeemers were going to be riding the Pyrenees. That was my goal, meet my first forum member at a hotel bar in the Pyrenees. Unfortunately, mother nature rained on that parade. The weather for that week, in Spain, looked horrible. The day I left, I took all my Spain maps out of the tank bag and put in my Alpine Countries map.

When I pulled out of the drive way last Friday, my goal was to hit as many countries as I could. It was 10:45 am.

307021098_2CZEa-L.jpg


I live in the eastern end of Switzerland, near Geneva in a small village called Grens, very close to the French border.

Enter France at La Cure, 19.7 km, 11:03

307021122_F5B9Q-L.jpg


A nice ride along the north side of the Jura mountains and then it's back into CH

Enter CH 31.8 km, 11:16

11:16
307021133_NKJLH-L.jpg


Back into France at 63.2 km, 11:54

307021139_7ehDH-L.jpg


Ok, believe me, it gets better. I'm sure anyone that reads this entire report, will remember it for a few years, it does get better.
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

This is the back side of Pontarlier, Fr. These fortresses are shown from the other side of the valley in my Utah Beach, The Bulge report. I'd been on this road, this direction, many times and had never looked up and seen this sight.

307026806_ZWHos-L.jpg


A few miles later I pulled over at this beautiful stream.

307026816_B9LnF-L.jpg


Walking 20 feet from the bike, through the bushes, was this incredible swimmin' hole.

307026820_sZQVS-L.jpg


Europeans have a "love/hate" relationship with America, but mostly, they love us :heart

307026827_SwqLG-L.jpg


View with my back to the "Cowboys and Indiens" sign.

307026833_9wR47-L.jpg


Entering Germany at Basel 293 km, 15:14.

307030724_Bfeca-L.jpg


Another thing I was going to try to do in my first 24 hours was ride 1500 km which is the metric number for a thousand miles. So, I was at 5 hours and rode about 200 miles. Didn't look like I am cut out for that stuff, at least here in Europe..

My plan was to ride along the Swiss/German border and then head back into CH near Zurich and then to Lichtenstein. Well, I ended up re-entering CH and kept going. Near Lichtenstein, I saw a sign for Glarus. I knew a few forum members descend on New Glarus in the winter, so I decided to take a detour to record some pix for them.

307036789_UHdEJ-L.jpg


307030740_piLmG-L.jpg


307030747_z3CL5-L.jpg


The Swiss are flag happy. Here you have the country flag, the canton flag ( the Friar Tuck dude) and the town flag ( the incredibly buffed mountain goat)

307036774_UjoWD-L.jpg


307036783_sSG5H-L.jpg




They even have a Dennis Rodman flag

307744694_9Qd4k-L.jpg


This park was across from the train station

307036797_ByTyY-L.jpg


There are very few pick up trucks in Europe.

307036802_szwPP-L.jpg


I'd be willing to bet it wouldn't take long to find someone in New Glarus that can explain that Wisconsin license plate.

307039571_zFRFx-L.jpg
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

I don't know when or where I entered Lichtenstein, but I guess it was around 501 km at 18:00. Here's some pix from there.

307039583_mjdaR-L.jpg


307039574_jezmy-L.jpg


307039591_h6DRQ-L.jpg


307039595_7bvAN-L.jpg


307042831_cdK8P-L.jpg


Entered Austria 557km, 19:26

307042856_6VgZ9-L.jpg


307042862_5F65A-L.jpg


How about this pad........" Ah, son, could you go down to the wine cellar and bring me up a 1988 LandRover"

307054887_sFyK2-L.jpg


Finally called it quits on day one 680km 21:30. Stayed in Lander, Austria. Went to the hotel restaurant and pointed to something on the menu that had "schwein in it. Those are crinkly sweet onions and beneath them, in that gravy, is a pork steak. Kinda like the cut of a chicken fried steak, not cured like just about all pork products in the US. Any vegetable wrapped in bacon is OK with me!

307054892_rbfCx-L.jpg


307054901_5ad6n-L.jpg
 
Last edited:
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

:lurk

Continuez SVP.

Oui, oui, monsieur, avec plaisir... hey, where's the emoticon smilie of the guy with a beret and a bagel:dunno

So, the next day I was on my way around 9:15. I had charged my meal to my room and my bill was 31 euros. This had to have been a mistake but all I can say in German is " one large beer please" and the obligatory "please" and "thankyou" so off I went. My only plan was to ride dry roads, head east, and have fun. Everything from Switzerland west was rain, eastern Europe was supposed to be pleasant. Here's heading east.

307054908_opRo5-L.jpg


307054913_qRrvF-L.jpg


307057748_aQQZJ-L.jpg


307057754_3gdqU-L.jpg


307057760_DLjoe-L.jpg


307060929_rzHAA-L.jpg


I was riding somewhat aimlessly. I went through Kitzbuhl, where my daughter learned to ski and I learned that their Hamnekammer ( or something like that) downhill run is so gnarly that the last time they opened it to the public after a world cup race three guys went to the hospital with major injuries. Lucky for me, the year I was there, the snow wasn't that good so I hung with my kids and enjoyed every minute. I was trying to get to Zell-em-See where my son had played a World Peewee hockey tournament in 2007 and has the historical significance, for Americans, as the place where the Band of Brother soldiers had their R and R post V-E day......but, somehow, I ended up on another road, went through a long tunnel, and then came out here.

307064661_HptnL-L.jpg


I met this Austrian dude on a GS and he told me the best riding in Europe was in the Dolomites, around Cortina d'Ampezzo. I had never been there, asked him if he'd been to some of my favorite spots, surprisingly, he had not. Never the less, I decided to take his advice and head to Cortino d"Ampezzo.

307064672_PoHh2-L.jpg
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

So, as I headed towards the Dolomites, the skies darkened.

307064677_oWnXm-L.jpg


307067360_wiugJ-L.jpg


Entered Italy 984km, 13:49

307067363_mcvvk-L.jpg


Heading into the Dolomites from Austria

307067371_zJvW7-L.jpg


Sometimes you have to just stop to smell the beer.

307088430_BcsPK-L.jpg



307088438_kTSxb-L.jpg


307088451_Y5hwJ-L.jpg


Those of you with "google-fu" powers should open up a google map of this area and check out all the passes. Yowser!!! I did a couple and then headed east. Remember, the title of this thread....

How about this karma shot of a guy riding my model and color RT while I was sizing up the photo. My bike is parked, right on top of his helmet.

307088461_upMHC-L.jpg


If shots like this don't turn you on, don't bother reading the rest of this report.

307088476_PtceK-L.jpg



307109067_JnD2b-L.jpg


307109078_vwNHU-L.jpg


307109088_effco-L.jpg


307109097_L8gpv-M.jpg



307109103_3oxER-L.jpg


307116212_Nsnst-L.jpg


take me to your leader..............

307127560_pssx7-L.jpg


307127570_gq35r-L.jpg
 
Last edited:
franze,

Been enjoying your latest ride post. I will be posting my own shortly. Just got back from a 6-day ride up and down California. I took along the BMWMOA magazine to show to my riding buds (they're not BMW guys, yet) and was telling them about your Switz/Holland/Belgium ride/post. One of the riding buds was telling me about a guy he knows in Switzerland that took a ride just like that. At one point we both realized that we were talkng about the same ride. Yes, my friend (and your firend) Doug McAllister was one of the guys on our ride up to Mt. Lassen/Lake Almanor. For now, all my photos are at home - I will post the ride & photos, likely tomorrow. -Don N.
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

"Red wine is the blood of mountaineers". That is a quote I read in a book on Ski Touring in the Sierra Nevadas. I know the author's son and I am not one to doubt anyone that can ski as good as these folks. Transfusing an ounce.

307127597_ezyh8-L.jpg


307133377_5SYXU-L.jpg


307133388_SyLLr-L.jpg


307133399_GsK7f-L.jpg


So, I finally wised up and put my camera on a lanyard around my neck. I did that on the last day of my first tour two years ago..........but then I rode about 20k km with fumbling around my tank bag, taking the camera out of it's case, taking the pic, putting it all back. Lanyards rock!

I came out of the Dolomites highly impressed, and headed east. Italy flattens out here and I was just heading to blue skies, which for this week, is .........eastern Europe. Last picture of the day is a keeper. Sights from the flat lands.

307133414_wSNvt-L.jpg


It was getting dark, I was getting tired. I tried to head down to the coast near Venice but it was incredibly crowded, it was, after all, Saturday night. I decided not to go along the coast, but on a secondary road which paralleled the coast road and the auto route. OK, for you type "A" guys. I kept meticulous records of every road I was on, so, if you want to know where a certain picture was taken, or what roads I took, towns I went through, etc. I have all that and am happy to share. Nothing makes me happier than when a forum member replies that something he saw in my post made him remember a time or place that he or she had been. Believe me, next year, I will salivating over every RR coming in from Europe. So, I rode along and town after town, no hotels. Finally I came to a town with a hotel. The parking lot was empty, I wasn't sure it was even open for business. The door was open and I went in. A man came from an adjoining room and I asked him if I could have a room for the night. He told me the hotel was booked :dunno so, off I went. Town after town, no room at the inn. Actually, more like, no Inn. There were abondoned houses along the way and each one became more likely a place to stay. Then I came to an orchard. A huge orchard with some type of tree that had a straight trunk, about as tall as a telephone pole, before the branches began. I don't have any idea what they were, but the leaves looked like olive branches, but that's not how olive trees grow. At least, not the ones I've seen. So, I do a fly by and decide it's the perfect place for commando camping. To get to the orchard, I had to ride through a large plot of freshly mowed tall " farm grass". This was a trip in itself. For those of you not familiar with the older RT's, I think mine weighs in at 660 pounds. Add 200 for me geared up, another 50 in the cases and on the trunk and you looking at nearly a half ton of fun riding through the field. No big deal except there was a lot of "maintenance" done on that part of the field, in other words, lots of trees had been taken out of there recently. So, the grass covered the tree "pot holes" and you never knew when the front end would dive down about a foot. Plus I was riding "lights out" so that my entrance gathered no attention. For those of you that have skiied a mogul field with two feet of fresh powder covering the run, you know the feeling. Finally, I made it into the trees, and the riding was a little easier. I rode down about 15 rows and then headed into the grove. No problem until I put down the sidestand and just about lost it, even though I was aware of the soft dirt. Once an RT gets a taste of gravity, it can't stop:doh Finally got it settled, got off the bike, and looked around. You know, instead of seeing what worked, ( which is my dominant personality type) I was looking at what wasn't working. After about 10 minutes of checking out everything, I decided that I wouldn't get any real rest from road noise and if it started raining, which was completely possible, I'd probably never get out of there. So, I decided against staying there, and rode out with the same excitement of not knowing when, if, or how bad I would dump it. I thought about taking a picture but since I rode into the orchard, lights out, taking a flash photo seemed kinda stupid. Once I got onto the highway, I felt that my shifter, or side stand was out of whack. Knowing my limits as a mechanic, I decided to struggle with what it was and just keep going. Karma was with me and the very next town had a hotel, a room, and a great restaurant nearby. I stopped at 1359km, 21:30

The next day was wash day. I had my clothes on the dryer

307140672_8UT8y-L.jpg


and checked out the issue with my shifter/sidestand.

307140689_ZaBBz-L.jpg


Luckily, I was capable of the repair. Bend it back........oops too much, now bend it the other way....... yeah, that's it. OEM, again. Start time 8:22

Entered Slovenia at 1413 km, 9:03

The bottom icon on this sign got me pulled over on Monday.......

307140679_Jsmw4-L.jpg



There are better ways to enter Croatia than this customs gate that gets all the traffic via Trieste.

307140710_um2sm-L.jpg



307183141_WDxq3-L.jpg



One of the first views you'll see heading onto the Pula peninsula. Gorgeous!

307183155_HAYcG-L.jpg


Here is the entrance to a toll booth at a tunnel. On the bottom left you can barely make out that they take Euros, US dollars, or Swiss francs. I had all three with me. I guess I felt pretty good right about then. Could have taken that tunnel a few times, just to spread it around.

307183171_EgYDh-L.jpg



For all you sport bikers. The Pula peninsula in Croatia is IT. Perfect road texture, 4th, 5th, and 6th (if I had it) gear corners, NO RADAR!!!!!!!! Don't be bringin your sports bikin' ass up to Switzerland. You'll have more pictures of your bike than you'd ever want. AND, they will give you a ticket for going one mile over the limit. I drive like a grandpa, my wife does the opposite. We've invested over 2 grand in radar tickets in three years.

So, I headed down to Pula, on the very southern tip of the peninsula. My map showed a campground icon there, and I wanted to check it out. When I got there, I was disappointed to find a security guard with road block. I went around it and it was all big time hotel complexes with hotelers going from tennis court, to pool, to beach, to lunch, etc.

307194163_ePJJE-L.jpg


I rode around and then saw this dirt path from the end of a parking lot.

307194142_dQ6Km-L.jpg


I don't care what you say, this is how to treat your roving motorcycle tourer!

307183183_cvz7D-L.jpg


307194127_KE6Nh-L.jpg


307183195_MUJds-L.jpg


307194112_xfEKs-L.jpg


Ok, more later............
 
Last edited:
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

From the tip of the Pula peninsula, I took a secondary road north towards Rijeka, Croatia.

307194175_LCS9U-L.jpg


307254179_C3DcW-L.jpg


At this pull out, I called home to check on how everything was going, it was Sunday, June 1, about two in the afternoon.

307254198_siAad-L.jpg


I found out that my wife's work was getting crazy and it was getting to be too much to do both jobs. She asked if I would come home Wednesday, instead of Friday. At that moment, I realized that I was on my last couple days of the red RT, " the Pig". I think people that solo ride a lot, develop a bond with their moto. For me, these long rides to foreign soils, really developed that bond and I was pretty emotional when I got back on the saddle and continued north towards Rijeka.

307254229_FeZpL-L.jpg



307254252_qQtQ8-L.jpg



307271947_6RpQK-L.jpg


A great ride for the roads of Croatia!


307271963_DWSH9-L.jpg


Finally, the heat got too me. I had been scoping out the beach towns, looking for the ideal place to take a dip. This is it, moto parking a few steps from the water.

307271978_Y7bNJ-L.jpg


I had been moto-camping in Croatia with my middle son, three weeks earlier and that water was cold!! Today, it was perfect!

307271993_DyRUp-L.jpg


Hey, what's Pops prancing around the beach in.......Euro skivvies???

307272008_LjXfG-L.jpg


or trendy beach trunks...????????

307279538_UfDT4-L.jpg
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

At Rijeka, I took the autoroute east, and then after a few kilometers exited and rode some smaller roads towards the Slovenian border. I filled up with fuel and they wouldn't take euros. I had to use my credit card. This is taken from the Croatian frontier, looking to Slovenia. A picture is worth a thousand turns.

307279557_s5v3z-L.jpg


None of the towns I was passing through were on my map. Finally I found one that was a border crossing. It was 13 km down a road that began like it was someones driveway. Here is part of that road. A tunnel that went under train tracks, no wider than a car.

307279568_DLzz7-L.jpg


I saw some scary looking people which is the case in any rural area, no matter what country you're in. Couldn't help but think about " Deliverance".

307279580_uTStz-L.jpg


307292311_Awo7b-L.jpg


cue the banjo!

307279590_PbMzS-L.jpg


I arrived at the border crossing, and these church bells were ringing.

307292324_b6NLE-L.jpg


The Slovenian border was empty, and the motorcycle cops were happy to pose for a photo with a fellow R1100RT rider. I told them about the CHP using these same bikes and they enjoyed that.

307292339_5wJWx-L.jpg


I asked them to give me at least a 5 minute head start and then come looking for me..........

to be continued.
 
Last edited:
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

OK, I'm going to call out some road numbers and towns for this next section as it was top rated touring, for me. I entered Slovenia from Croatia at Brod na Kupi which is north east of Rijeka. These next pictures are taken along hwy 106 which passes through Kocevje on a northern direction towards Ljubljana. km 1796 16:24

307292355_VHzSX-L.jpg


307292377_Xnt97-L.jpg


307303384_q6EBG-L.jpg


307303404_Qj6SG-L.jpg


Just north of Ljubljana I took hwy 210 west through Brode, Cerkno, and Tomlin


307303422_dfs4y-L.jpg


307303479_EnRBF-L.jpg


So after riding this sweet little section, I'm off the bike taking pictures

307314218_7qcWo-L.jpg


So I can remember exactly where it was, I took a picture of where I was parked.
There was a small restaurant at the top and a guy left his table to come over to talk to me.

307314229_Xdmhk-L.jpg


This was a great moment in this trip. He spoke pretty good English and since I was way, way, off the beaten path, and from California, he was really interested in my trip. Then he told me he also had a BMW.

307314242_T3TeZ-L.jpg


It's a 1954 ???????

307314260_cqo8R-L.jpg


He said he'd owned it for 27 years and rode it every day. When he was younger he told me he rigged up studs on the tires and rode it in the snow. Here's proof to take his claims seriously.

307314252_pVdZP-L.jpg


He said that his family home, which is barely visible at the bottom of the corkscrew, was, during Mussolini's time, the last house on the Italian frontier. He owned the small restaurant at the top of the hill and told me that there is a new through alps hiking trail and it goes right through his property. He will let hikers camp for 5 euros. A National Geographic reporter had stayed there and I don't know it that's a story that's recently been published or is pending. Either way, I could have spent a day or two talking with this guy. Great, great memory!!! But it was getting late in the day and there were more roads to explore.

307324531_vpTVE-L.jpg


307324539_cKXrZ-L.jpg


307324570_Xju6q-XL.jpg


307324589_xo8rt-L.jpg


307338577_uywMe-L.jpg


these were baseball sized loose rocks mixed with golf ball sized gravel. Some rider on a Honda dual sport came up this road towards me at about 25mph. I was putting gingerly in 1st gear. I was impressed.

307338589_bERDK-L.jpg


307338606_w65zj-L.jpg
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

Oh, for this next shot I need to say that every photo in this report is uncropped, filtered, shopped, or without preservatives. This water was a color I'd never seen before.

307338630_KmTKm-L.jpg


307338645_ibvKW-L.jpg


307348434_5BjQr-L.jpg



At Robaid I turned towards the Italian frontier. I drove by this church and then ended up turning around to try to get a closer look. Never did figure out how to get to it but it looked to me like they built the church inside the ruins of a Roman coliseum...but, I"m probably wrong.

307348466_S78hH-L.jpg


Slovenian sunset.

307348455_Lc86K-L.jpg


Enter Italy 2015km, 20:46

I found a room in Udine, Italy. Pretty nice hotel, Hotel President @ 65 euro/night, but I was pretty tired and didn't mind a nice room. Across the street was a pizzeria and I had a nice meal of Salame picante ( which was the cosest to pepperoni that I've had in Europe). My waiter was Albanian and was very interested in our election. And like every other European, was in love with Senator Obama. End of day 2049km, 21:30

When I was checking out I got in a conversation with the desk clerk. He had spent 4 weeks in the southwest, and was very astute on US geography and history. He said his next trip would be to the Dakotas as his passion was the American west. I know that area pretty good and we hit it off pretty good. As I loaded up the Pig, he made me some maps of some local sites. First stop, per his recomendation, was the "impenetrable" city of Palmanova. He told me this mid-evil city was surrounded by a series of walls and moats. Under each moat were secret tunnels that the citizens would use, once wall and moat was breeched, to go under and then attack the invaders from the rear. There were only three entrances into the city. According to the clerk, the city was never conquered as it's defences were designed so that the walls extended far enough so that cannon fire couldn't reach the town. Napolean was unable to conquer the city, but he did lay to to siege for a few months, cutting off supplies until the town finally surrendered.

Entering Palmanova through the Udine gate.

307348480_bFxJU-L.jpg


307348492_P6GT7-L.jpg


I rode around the city for a bit and then found a dirt path, leading up to the ramparts.

This is actually on top of the earthen ramparts of the closest wall to the city.

307586910_hdDQa-L.jpg


You can see the distance of the defense works which extend to the line of trees. You can see part of a wall and some of the moats.

307586895_fA6zr-L.jpg


this is just to the left of the previous view.

307357700_5MAGZ-L.jpg



Exiting the city through the north gate.

307586923_iCgns-L.jpg


Here's where I could've used a panaromic lens. These four shots are taken looking back to the town, and then out towards the front wall.

307588074_GEe2G-L.jpg


307588062_ESht4-L.jpg


307588052_92bZi-L.jpg


307586932_3frDC-L.jpg


next stop, a town built by Julius Caesar, Cividale.
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

For me, seeing the impact of the Roman Empire is one of the best parts about touring in Europe. The city of Cividale isn't all that far from Rome, and was built by Caesar. It is very cool to park your bike against a wall that Caesar himself may have leaned against.

307588084_6Gd4t-L.jpg


307588096_BkMXi-L.jpg


There was a festival in town and the streets were blocked off so I didn't go to the city center, instead, I headed back to Slovenia. These are from the hills on the Italian/Slovenian border. Entered Slovenia 2137 km, 11;57

307598991_52ooo-L.jpg


307599007_9m9Ci-L.jpg


Things were going pretty good until a woman pulled out from a blind spot on a side street and came to a stop 20 feet from me in my lane, luckily I was paying attention and only needed ABS and 17 feet to stop:brow

307599019_AHr7r-L.jpg


I wanted to go back into the hills so I headed back towards Robarid ( not sure if that's spelled right, my map is ripped in that spot).

307599040_9EL4j-L.jpg


I took hwy 203 north towards Bovec.

307606442_JEQXo-L.jpg


307606448_Vpkot-L.jpg


307606455_uAbGf-L.jpg


307606467_A5Ca6-L.jpg


Those of you that participate in the Photo Phorum may remember Bokeh as the term to describe the areas out of focus. This must be a party spot.

307616571_2awq3-L.jpg


But not as much as this place........

307616585_wbyuR-L.jpg


Bovec looks like my kinda town.

307616600_Wg4xF-L.jpg


After Bovec, the road began a long climb towards the Italian/Austrian border.


307616611_reSMn-L.jpg


307616622_o8qYt-L.jpg


307622895_itQpz-L.jpg


307622903_xr6FX-L.jpg


307622909_48pNx-L.jpg


307622918_thx9g-L.jpg
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

307622926_J4Hpo-L.jpg


Entered Italy 2248km 13:57

Just after the border...........the ultimate clubhouse!!!!!

307629149_FxBHF-L.jpg


307629156_iVDDA-L.jpg


307629163_8Et8w-L.jpg


307629169_goKq3-L.jpg


307643558_GNspT-L.jpg


307643569_AXeLE-L.jpg


307643577_oSMgD-L.jpg


307643586_QZQDv-L.jpg


307629145_DgbFf-L.jpg


307643591_2Fegp-L.jpg


The way down the other side of the mountain.

307648333_cZq9J-L.jpg


Unlit tunnels like this are hell with sunglasses.

307648343_GgDqn-L.jpg


307648353_5ts3T-L.jpg



Entered Austria 2288 14:41

Joined a motorcycle gang. My gang name was " Dumbkopf "

307648357_raoMg-L.jpg


307648364_bpPPv-L.jpg


I ended up with the biker guys on a road that went through a bunch of towns. Stop and go. Finally, they pulled off at the Polka Place and I headed into the hills.

307651592_pHkVw-L.jpg


I came close to taking this road, BUT, didn't like the skies. The RT is ok in the dirt, not ok in the mud. Oh, and there's no reverse gear and it needs about 15 feet to turn around. I might have taken this on day 1, but not day 4 on a 6 day tour. The sign next to the open arm gate said " Forest road" in German.

307651588_hUgBn-L.jpg
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

Thirty minutes after deciding not to take my Forest Road adventure.....

307655572_RBhyW-L.jpg


307651598_NrZYW-L.jpg


307655577_BQh9X-L.jpg


The next series is all taken on Austria hwy 111 between Villach and Kartisch, going east to west.

307655579_XjXC5-L.jpg


307655585_PDUvW-L.jpg



307655590_g8TjU-L.jpg


307657931_YyQZa-L.jpg



307657937_cokra-L.jpg


307657942_Gz8JV-L.jpg


I entered a worm hole in the galaxy.............

307060937_kJ38P-L.jpg


and came out at Washington's camp at Valley Forge in 1776!!!!!!!

307657946_qQvtz-L.jpg


307661619_26AyU-L.jpg


Entered Italy 2516km 19:49

Despite the bad weather, I decided to head back to Cortina d'Ampezzo in hopes that I"d get a chance to ride the most talked up pass in Europe, Passo di Stelvio.

I stopped for the night 2560 km 20:30

I stayed at the Hotel Menardi. My bill for dinner and a room was 81 euros. The restaurant in the hotel was getting ready to close, I asked what they still had and they recomended the veal goulash. Sounded great for a cold/wet/tired rider. But what goes with that? Beer? Red Wine? Why risk it???

307661621_cthuD-L.jpg


Before I went to bed, I got a text message from my wife. My middle child was now running a fever of over 102. She was trying to get neighbors to help out as she had meetings she couldn't reschedule.


to be continued.................
 
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

When I had checked into the hotel, I asked the clerk if he had the weather report for Tuesday. He pulled a sheet from his desk, looked at it, grimaced, and then gave me a thumbs down. When I went to bed it was raining. My plan was that if the weather in the Dolomites was bad, I'd either go north, back into Austria or south to the flat plains of central Italy.

Le Jour le plus long

I woke up on the "Longest Day" around 7:15. I had really slept well, I looked out my hotel window and saw the the streets were wet, but it wasn't raining. I went down to breakfast ( which is usually included with your room) and had a bowl of fruit and a cup of coffee. I was on the saddle at 8:00 and decided that as long as it wasn't raining, I"d try to ride as many passes as I could. My goal would be to spend Tuesday night in Davos, Switzerland. I could be home by noon on Wednesday which would make my family happy.

I wanted to at least see the Passo di Stelvio and to do that I had to go up the Passo di Falzarego.

307661627_Ep3Qc-L.jpg


Here I am at the summit. Earlier in the report there was a picture taken here but it wasn't pointed at the signs, it was pointed at the KTM bikes in front of the restaurant at the top. From here I went to the Passo di Pordoi. The sun was out, and there was no traffic. Lots of clouds, but not too many grey ones:clap

307661633_9NHX2-L.jpg


307661640_pEDhB-L.jpg


OK, here's something for you guys and gals coming over here to ride to think about. This is a picture of an inside radius turn. There is half as much asphalt for you to use on the inside turns, which typically, is every other corner. The best technique, IMO, is to pick your line, and right before you get to the corner, take a quick look back over your shoulder up the hill to see what's coming. Now remember this particular corner, it is very typical of most of the Swiss passes and most every one I've been on, except one.

307668127_JLyM5-L.jpg


The first two passes went well, and the weather showed improvement. This is heading down towards Bolzano.


307668132_k3A23-L.jpg



307668142_LjA3R-L.jpg



307668152_reLhM-L.jpg



307672225_iem8T-L.jpg


307672231_XNV5i-L.jpg



A few of you may know where I am from this picture :clap

307672239_Ct2BB-L.jpg


This is the east side of the Passo di Stelvio. I believe the MOA Euro tour will be coming from the other direction, from CH.

Now check out the severity of these switchbacks. Look at the inside lane on the downhill corner. See how the guardrail goes right to the inside of the turn. Look at the change in elevation. You can't see squat on what's coming because the elevation change is so great. I think of the 20 inside radius corners I took, 17 of them were completely awkward. For the first time, the heavily loaded RT was NOT the best bike to have. For me, what I figured out near the end, was that the set up before the turn is critical. You can see the lane prior to the apex of the corner so you need to swing out, if there's room, and then take the corner as tight as you can and then open up if there's no oncoming traffic.

307672248_DJjBb-M.jpg


try not to be distracted by the scenery.

307677753_TDnwH-L.jpg


307696576_3XfJV-L.jpg


Remember there's always somebody doing something more impressive and worthwhile than what you're doing. This is one of about 5 guys, all older than me, riding up the pass.

307696594_XLefu-L.jpg


307696576_3XfJV-L.jpg


These are my lost cousins.......... I hope :heart

307696606_DeSMg-L.jpg



Here's the top half, where it really starts getting tight LOL and there's a lot more road debris from melting snow, rain, etc.

307696610_BfofV-L.jpg
 
Last edited:
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

Le Jour le plus long, part deu

Here's the image from the top, looking back down into the valley.

307702281_4tLQD-L.jpg


307702316_fFjYV-L.jpg


307712432_RHpxk-L.jpg


My turn off into Switzerland, Passo Umbrail.

307712437_XD7VB-L.jpg


307712446_PR37y-L.jpg


307712456_58QRV-L.jpg


307717102_hpHFC-L.jpg


Looking towards Ofenpass

307717110_Rdbvp-L.jpg


307717119_UKDpd-L.jpg


307717129_GA3Cn-L.jpg


307717137_voJ7o-L.jpg
 
Last edited:
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

Le Jour le plus long, part trois

Fluelapass heading towards Davos, Switzerland.

307721440_VFHTA-L.jpg


307721449_oKifh-L.jpg


307721457_NEHSA-L.jpg


Davos, Switzerland. Probably much better pictures to be taken, but I was in a race with the weather.

307721466_YKqXL-L.jpg


I was on a four lane highway when I passed this field of flowers. Just beautiful. I rode 5 minutes and then said, "Screw it, I need to go back and take a picture" Well I took four and can't decide which one I like the best. I love them all! They look like Van Gogh paintings to me.

307726661_o4BAv-L.jpg


307726672_dSDgH-L.jpg


307726682_r4pbG-L.jpg


307726692_J435B-L.jpg


Next up, Oberal Pass which drops you into Andermat.

307730931_NpDZJ-L.jpg


This is fugly weather to be riding passes in the alps.

307730938_Q9jNn-L.jpg


307730948_Yr425-L.jpg


307730954_rZ6xx-L.jpg


Andermat, Switzerland. Cutest damn town ya ever did see. Once again, these pix don't do this town justice. My bad!

307730960_CUoK8-L.jpg


307744668_HnWeS-L.jpg


307744709_J56Lx-L.jpg
 
Last edited:
Last Ride, Eastern Europe

Le Jour le plus long, part quatre
I was feeling pretty good and to my delight, the Furka and Grimsel passes were open. I found out later, they had opened on the weekend. For the first time, I realized that I could do a ride that was somewhat exceptional. From the Dolomites, to my house, all on major passes, all in the same day.

307749874_2gtyB-L.jpg


307744703_sBqVj-L.jpg


bedrock polished by a receding glacier

307749894_dvCsm-L.jpg


307749920_9P2Vd-L.jpg


307749929_aYjff-L.jpg


It started raining pretty hard around Interlaaken, but I wanted to go all the way. It would be the ride of rides. A fitting end to my last ride on the Pig. I hadn't planned on riding this much in the rain, and my jacket was soaked, the original rain insert, doing nothing for the forearms. My last pass of the day.

307754646_QevEE-L.jpg


I'm looking a bit frayed here...........

307754656_R86gy-L.jpg


Backside of the Jaunpass, direction Bulle.

307754667_xoxdj-L.jpg


Coming on to Lake Geneve around Montreux. Still 100km from home.

307754677_WXQSd-L.jpg


So, I have this tradition of ending every ride at the same spot on the Lake in Nyon, the closest lake town to my village. As I was getting off the autoroute in the Nyon exit, I was cramping in my legs. I knew I'd be sorry if I didn't stick to the program, so I went down to the lake to take the last picture of me on my beloved Pig.

307754685_WtBao-L.jpg


So that's it. At least 10 major alps passes, all in the same day. One coke to drink, no food except that bowl of fruit in the morning. Water every now and then. I got home at 20:15, 3354 km. So, now the bike is for sale. I'm not riding it anymore. I could never have a better day on it than the day I had. But if you are ever riding along the Lake route from Geneve to Lausanne, stop in at the small town on the lake called Nyon. Go down to the water, if you see a red R1100RT parked there, look close. I will always be part of that bike, and it will always be part of me.

307758565_HMLfy-L.jpg


307758575_shs3p-L.jpg


307758586_TQAng-L.jpg
 
Last edited:
Fantastic report and photos. Looks like you had a great trip. I imaging you'll miss riding those roads.

Are you coming back to the US and where are you going to land?
 
Back
Top