Day 7 - crossing the Alps

[Francois_Dumas]

Unfortunately due to technical problems (heat, failing e-mail, slow connections) I am not yet able to upload pictures...... We made some 700 so far, hopefully I'll be able to post a few once we get back to the Alps (we're still in Italy now with 100+ F trying to kill my notebook..... and me).

 

The Ride East

 

Last night the clouds lowered and our beloved mountain (the Dent de Burgin) disappeared for the first time since we arrived. This didn't bode well for the next day. All around us the clouds sank to around 1500 meters (our home is at 1140), and the blue skies of the past days had gone. Weather forecast spoke of a low pressure area that would pass from south to north overnight, with parts remaining the next day.

And we had to cross the high Saint Bernard pass the next morning

 

The alarm went off at 6 a.m.; Nina got out and returned 30 seconds later. "We're in the clouds!" she said.

I had expected as much. We stayed in bed for another 10 minutes. It didn't rain.

"Let's try and see how the weather is in Bourg St. Maurice" I said.

 

The cases were all packed, our clothes at the ready, coffee made in 60 seconds.

Packing the bike was more work though. Our cases must weigh at least double what the factory advises. I dragged them down into the parking garage down the road. It was HOT inside. I pulled the bike up to the nearest door first, then started putting the cases on. Of course I dropped my windbreaker in the dust on the floor ... damn!

Nina brought our 'tie-on' bag and I went up to get the top case.

 

When all was attached I 'repacked' the tank bag and then we dressed up. It took almost an hour to get ready after all. We are simply NOT fast starters.

I put on my windbreaker over my mesh jacket.... Nina wore her regular BMW gear. The fog was all around us.

 

The road down the mountain was chilly, but dry and with good visibility below 1000 meters. The cloud base was at 1000-1200 apparently.

The ride to Bourg St. Maurice and Seez was okay. The extra clothes did their job. Seez is the town at the bottom of the St. Bernard Pass. Altitude some 600 meters I think.

Just above the last houses the thick grey clouds cast their shadows already.

 

We did the first few large switchbacks, taking us through the meadows just above the town.

When we left the last houses behind us we also entered the clouds.

And these were THICK this time. I could hardly see 50-60 yards ahead at times and we had to slow down.

 

Although I have 'done' most passes various times one can impossibly remember all the bends. Sometimes the lay of the country would announce a bend or switchback, but sometimes they would just pop up out of the fog. BRAKE, SHIFT to first gear, LOOK, TURN.... Bend after bend after bend.

 

About 3 quarters up the pass and already well above the tree line the fog appeared to get lighter. And then all of a sudden the SUN peaked through in one place, then two and then the clouds were below us!

 

The little town of La Rosière was just above us and the main street was sunny. Shopkeepers were opening their doors and putting their souvenirs outside, the smell of freshly baked 'baguette' (the long French bread) entered our helmets when we passed a bakery.

 

We stopped to take a picture and looked around for a place to drink coffee, but all was still closed. Nina made a picture of the large Saint Bernard Dog statue, and we decided to press on to the pass and see what lay ahead of us on the Italian side.

 

The road from La Rosière to the pass is not difficult, following the mountain's side. Two final switchbacks took us to the flat part on the top, passing the statue of St. Bernard and the little monastery.

The cafe at the top had its chairs already outside, but there was nobody around. A few mobile homes were parked at the top.

The Mont Blanc was partly visible through some clouds around its imposing summit.

 

We pressed on, passed the old border and commenced the long, narrow and winding descent into the Aosta Valley.

Just when I began to feel my wrists and thighs from braking for the many many bends and switchbacks, we reached the first little town on the Italian side.

 

We had been riding in the sun all the way down, were happy to have escaped the bad weather on the French side and were ready for a coffee.

 

We stopped at 'Angela's Café' and had a wonderful Cappucino, visited the toilet, and packed our wind breakers before riding on to Aosta.

 

The ride to the 'Autostrada' was nice and uneventful. The Aosta freeway has a lot of tunnels (not nice when on a bike; you breath the bad air inside and can't see much of the road surface in most) and a speed limit of 80 to 100 km/hr in most places. But nice scenery left and right going south.

 

After a while the mountains turned into hills and then even these disappeared when entering the immense Po flats. The river Po has carried debris from the Alps towards the Adriatic Sea over many millions of years and filled the valley. The flats stretch from the city of Torino all the way east to the sea.

The area is extremely hot end boring most of the time. And we got lucky. There was a warm wind blowing fiercely, throwing us every which way when passing tunnels, bridges and 18-wheelers (actually, I think the 'trucks' in Europe have 14, must count them some time).

 

It got hotter and hotter, but because of the riding speed it was still bearable. The hours and kilometers passed. Traffic was not too bad, it was Saturday after all.

We stopped regularly and I was doing 120-130 km/hr most of the time, not really in a hurry.

 

I should have been!

 

We found the exit a before reaching Verona at Peschiera. Here we would take a small 'connecting' road to take us to the Brenner Autostrada.... the main connection between northern Europe and Italy/Balkan.

 

By now we were sweating, temperatures had risen to well over 30 C again. The road signs were extremely complex at this point and I almost re-entered the (wrong!) highway again.

I took out my PDA and turned on the GPS, only to get a message from the darn thing that it was OVERHEATING ! Dang !! I want a Zumo !!!!!! Okay, back to the 'old' method, get out the map again.

Fortunately I also had made notes of the route and major road numbers and direction changes. The notes were on my tank bag and eventually got us to the next freeway, leading north to the Brenner Pass and Austria.

 

About there the trouble started. It had been getting hotter and hotter and by now the temperature had reached 40 C. And to our surprise the traffic now had gotten extremely dense..... and then stopped !!

 

I had counted on a busy weekend, but with North-South traffic. Not the other way around! Italian holidays would not start until August 1st surely!?

I passed a few cars (lane sharing).... they were German and Dutch and made room.

But the Italian drivers didn't, so we got stuck.

 

Suddenly a Dutch car I had just passed drew up alongside. I half expected him to scold me for passing them, but he asked if I knew how far it was to the next exit ramp. I thought it would be some 10 km, but as it turned out it was more like 30!

His engine was making a bad noise, his wife had a heavy migraine and he drove his father in laws car, with two or three small kids in the back. He asked if I would accompany them (ride behind him) at least to the next parking or exit. We agreed, but it made our ride pretty hot. Traffic would stop and start rolling every few minutes. Sometimes we would get up to a speed f 30 miles per hour before all stopped again.

The asphalt started getting weak and was radiating incredible heat. So much so that it was at times better (read:less hot) to ride with our visors closed. After some 20 more kilometers a petrol station allowed our fellow countryman with his family to pull off into the shade and call for help. We parted ways after drinking more water.

 

Then bikes started to pass us on the emergency lane on the right. An absolute no-no where I come from !! But apparently somehow 'accepted' in Italy.

We were sweating, I was getting a headache, and we could see traffic stalled for miles and miles ahead snaking over the hills!

I am a stickler for rules, but even I have my limits and I was melting. I decided to wait for a few Italian bikers and followed them. Passing all the cars with some 30 mph for miles on end was at least easing the starting saddle pain a bit.

 

Lesson learned: lane sharing is not an Italian thing, respect for bikes neither..... but apparently passing on a forbidden lane is ! Oh well.

 

Lesson #2 repeated: traveling by bike takes a LOT longer than by car (where I drive for 4 hours on end and only stop to take gas!).

 

Just short of Trento the traffic started moving again and we rode the last 10 kilometers to the exit at St. Michelle with some speed.

We stopped after paying our third highway toll that day (much more expensive than in France, by the way), and I got my PDA and GPS. Nina held the PDA and told me the approximate distances to the next turn each time.

 

It wasn't too difficult to find, but took us another 3 quarter of an hour to reach Unser Liebe Frau im Walde, our destination.

 

When we turned onto the gravel covered parking lot we had been under way for eleven hours. Too much for real comfort, especially in these temperatures.

I'll tell a bit about the hotel in a separate story.

 

More to come.....

 

Day 8 - Dolomites Awe

 

Day 9 - A Meeting

 

Day 10 - Ride to Umbria

 

Day 11 - Our Umbrian 'Albergo'

[Whip]

Post deleted by Whip

[Paul Mihalka]

Excuse me sir........WHERE ARE THE PIX!!!!!!!

 

Did I miss something????

Yes. Just read about his confuser problems and you'll know I'm sure they are worth waiting for...

[Francois_Dumas]

Whip, here they are .............

 

 

Some amazing 'machines'.....

 

 

Even better: this chain of Italian freeway restaurants has a 'Bikers Club', providing special parkings and shelter at some places.

This one was particularly luxuury AND welcome.... right in front of the entrance, provding SHADE in the shimmering heat of the Po Valley on our way from Milano to verona

 

 

 

Of course these guys consumed FOUR places just by the two of them.....

I don't know if I would like 'driving' one of those, but they certainly look impressive!

 

 

 

We did not take many photos that day. Too hot! Too tired! Too sweaty! Too busy !

Here's one I took when getting off the bike... finally... at our destination. Gasthof Zum Hirschen (The Deer Hotel) near Bolzano.

 

 

 

The view from our little balcony, south...

 

 

 

And the RT sitting comfortably and sheltered (on the right), waiting for the Dolomites Ride....