The road out of Bormio and up to Stelvio is pretty twisty, with some very tight hairpin bends but the road was fairly quiet and the surface smoothe, so we made our way up to the top without too many issues. It might have been a bit different if it had been a Saturday. More vehicles would mean it would be difficult to swing onto the opposite side of the road, which is pretty much the only way to get round the tight right hand hairpins.
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| On the way up the Stelvio Pass |
At the top, we pulled over, took a walk around and took some snaps. Grizzly bought a pin badge, to prove he'd been there, whilst I took a look at a war memorial, commemorating those who died up in the mountains, defending not much but rock and snow during WWII.
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| The classic Stelvio view, the way down, East. |
The pass is at 2,760 metres, or if you prefer, 9,055 feet, above sea level. I could feel the air was thinner and my breathing was definitely quickened. Never felt that before.
Grizzly wasn't looking forward to the down part of the pass, he can be a moany old sod sometimes, but he made it down safely nonetheless, unlike one chap who I came upon. He'd tipped the bike over on a right hander and another biker was helping him pick his bike up. I doubt there would have been much damage but any is gutting and embarassing in equal measure.
We made a coffee stop shortly after, then after some superb riding through the Tyrol (the scenery is fantastic), we made another coffee stop. By now the sun was blazing away and it was 26 degrees, so a nice sit in the shade was welcomed.
Whislt at the cafe, there was a bizarre incident. A guy and his wife had come in and had a beer and some chips. Nothing out of the ordinary. We were just chatting away, when the guy comes running out of the cafe, across the road and jumps into his car, like he's nicked something or doing a runner without paying. He spins the car round and toots his wife to come. Meanwhile, the cafe owner comes out and has a conversation with the woman. She gets in the car and it speeds off up the road. When I came to pay, I asked the lady what had happened and she explained the chap wanted a small beer, which in Germany is 200ml. In Austria, it is 300ml and that, apparently, was his problem. As I said, bizarre.
Next on the agenda for us, was the Silvretta High Mountain Pass. It's a toll road of 23km in length and a little over 2,000 metres up. It's quite expensive, €14.50 per bike but it is a day pass, so you could stay as long, or come and go, as much as you please. Clearly we were just passing through. There are a couple of reservoirs and people were fishing in them, so somewhere to stop and admire the views, as well as refreshments.
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| Silvretta Stausee |
The way to the reservoir wasn't to steep or twisty. I guess we were already high up. The descent on the other hand was steep and twisty, and littered with cows and their droppings. I came around one bend to find a cow in the road. It climbed up the bank to get out of my way. At another point they were all congregated on the inside of a hairpin bend, just watching the vehicles go by, almost like you would at a race circuit. Grizzly thought that was worse than Stelvio but again the road was perfectly smoothe.
I have loved riding through the rural areas this tour, You see so many interesting things that you wouldn't see if on a motorway, like 2 people sitting on top of a massive pile of tree trunks, for example, little kids waving at you, strange statues in villages, tiny cobbled streets through villages, all sorts of things, so different to home.
We weren't far from our fuel stop, when we got separated again. I'm not sure how he manages it but he dropped back sufficietly far to not see me make a turn, then Garmin takes over. I went the planned rural route, he on a motorway, which I'd planned to avoid. Upshot, he was waiting at the fuel stop. I knew he would be, as soon as I saw him go sailing past the end of the road I'd just turned into. Anyway, so long as we get there, I guess that's the main thing, I just get so frustrated, because of the amount of effort I put in to matching Tomtom and Gramin routes, for all that to go out of the window. I have no idea why.
Fuel was about a mile from the hotel, which is right by the train station. It's amazing to me, because the station is open to the street. No barriers, no fences, nothing. We walked onto the platform and took some pics of the trains as they pulled in. It's not just Austria either, we've seen this open rail system almost everywhere we've been, so different to back home.
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| A double decker City Shuttle |
We ate just around the corner and as we're in Austria, it had to be schnitzel. Up on the hillside above the restaurant, is the Rankweil Basilika.
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| Basilika Rankweil |
Tomorrow we shall be taking a very short trip through a very small country, Liechtenstein and then into Switzerland, where we'll spend the night. Some of you may recall this tour was originally called the Blink And You'll Miss It Tour, that was because we shall be in Liechtenstein for not more than about 7 miles!
That's it for now, more tomorrow.
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