The Almabtrieb, as it happens.

We leave the Alter Posthof after a solid breakfast and head north on the B327 to pick up the A61  at exit 41. Yesterday’s transit stage has worn us out a bit, but we are looking forward to some fun in the Eifel, the driving and riding playground of Germany’s Rheinland-Pfalz, and home to the famous Nürburgring. I’ve planned a 75km loop north of there that I’ve stolen from the Eifeldiplom Classic route – the upper section of the popular day tour.

We detour from the straight route to the start of the loop on the to grab some extra curves, exiting on the B412 and riding to Kempenich where we pick up the L83 and L85. A favorite farm road of mine is now closed to traffic, and we have to continue north to Bad Neuenahr on L84. We see many wine festivals and pilgrimages on the way, but are focused on the home stretch, so no stopping for pictures. It’s the Eifel, we’ve seen it a hundred times before anyway. We backtrack from Bad Neuenahr on the B257, follwing signs for the Nürburgring until we get to Dümpelfeld. We turn onto the L73 and follow it to our destination, the Haus Waldfrieden, a popular biker stop with a large parking area, hot tea, and good food. After a quick snack, we head back out. Photos from prior visits.

The loop begins on the L73 and picks up the L74. That is, the real L74. I identify a bug in my Garmin nüvi – it wants to cut the route short by cutting subloops off. We backtrack and get going in the right direction. The ride cards would have been easier here, but I do not have them along. We turn off on the K11, following it to the K13, and turing north on the L165. Turning off on the K55, we pick up the L165 again in Esch, where we tank up – I remembered a fuel station, but expected it earlier. We add 267.2kms to the clock, for a total of 24. . A short distance on Römerstrasse lands us on the K50 which turns into the K25. A right turn puts us back onto the L73. In Schuld, we turn onto the K16 to begin the third and final subloop.

The final stretch includes several Kehren descending into Fuchshofen on the K17. We take the L73 back to Haus Waldfrieden and relax with lunch prior to heading home.

Going home is getting to the Autobahn:  we retrace our steps on the L73 and B257 to the A61 north, A1 north, A57 north, and A46 east. This brings us into the city of Düsseldorf, where we hit the Rheintunnel and then pick up the B8 back to the house. The final count on the odometer is 159,7km, for a total of 2573,7km. Somehow, the trip odometer readings and the main odometer readings are off on both bikes, we assume some BMW magic is at work here. The final main odometer talley is 2599km on my bike. We strip and clean the bikes in the drive, and take a look at the stickers collected. After that, it is time to eat dinner and sleep, work calls in the morning.

Adventure complete. At least, for now.

We fish the bikes out of the carport they are in, but dawdle in Sontfhofen to shop. We’ve found a trachtenmode shop and it opens at 0930. As we are in the heart of Tirol and close to Bayern, it seems we should be able to get some deals. I score with some short black ladies’ Lederhosen with edelweiss embroidery and a pink dirndle. My riding partner picks up a new leather wallet. I have my goods shipped and we head out.

First stop is fuel. This adds 289.8kms for a total of 1799.0. Much to our dismay, a valve stem on my riding partner’s bike disintegrates as she checks her tyre pressure. Quite a bit of phone calling ensues, along with a wait. In the absence of rain, this is not so bad. Eventually, it’s Euromasters to the rescue. They pick up the bike with their TireTruck – with a full wheel shop inside – and we head over to the workshop where it is a bit easier to work on bike tyres. The tech and I banter about the superiority of shaft drive while he works. He has a new stem in and the wheel balanced very quickly, and at 1300 we are finally on the road.

We head north on the B19 and join the A7 north to points Stuttgart. It’s a day of a lot of distance, and not much real excitement. We’ve finished the passes in unexpectedly short time, completing all of our “long” loops and extensions aside from the closed Faschinajoch and the inaccessible-due-to-said-closure Hochtannenberg Pass. Having previously discussed the possibility of some Eifel riding, we head north and west, picking up the A8 east,the A5 north, and the A61 north. The A61 is the backbone of the Rheinland and is the scenic alternative to the east A3 route. We stop for fuel at Dannstadt, tacking 347.8kms on, for a total of 2146,8kms so far.

Exiting the A61 at 43, we take the L215 and L214 to the B327, which we follow while looking for a place to stay. We land in Ehr, slightly south of Boppard, at the Landgasthaus Alter Post. We are directed to the guest house across the street with the instructions that it can be used as a double room or two singles as we see fit, all for 35€ per person. It’s lovely, and we are very happy with the quiet. The bikes are stowed in a private parking area near a large barn, and we unpack. Dinner in the main house is very pleasant with a nice wine and spirits selection. We recommend Alter Post if you are travelling and want to get off the main road. You won’t be disappointed.

It’s raining again as we pack up and leave the Wilder Mann. I find a Golf plastered with the worst of America’s VW scene offerings – impolite stickers. I want to scrape the rear window, but there are passes to ride…. We head back to the same Shell station and this adds 293.1kms, for a total of 1509.2km traveled. Retracing our steps to Landeck, this time we head north and pick up the 171 through Imst. We turn off onto the 186 to Öztal and then onto the L237, the route over the Kühtaisattel.

The ascent does not disappoint at all. Küh is German for cow. There are… more cows. When we arrive at the top, the sun peeks through for a few precious moments. Clearly a ski resort only town, Kühtai is mostly closed. We are able to get stickers and postcards, but find nowhere to warm up or grab a hot tea. On the way down, we spy a longhorn, watching us patiently. The descent along the L13 includes a 1.2km stretch of 16% grade, the steepest we have seen in Austria.

We connect to the 171 with the L11. From the 171, we pick up the 189  and cross the Holzleitensattel. Then, onto the 179, steadily proceeding northwest. Traffic increases, but not significantly at first.

The Fernpass nearly does us in. Packed with holiday and commercial traffic, it is slow and miserable. The rain is increasing steadily and we are getting very wet. My experience with GoreTex leads to a few tricks that keep me somewhat drier than my partner, but either way, we stop at top of the Fernpass to warm up and eat up.

After a bit of rest, we soldier on through the heavy rain. I leave about fifteen minutes before my partner as I am starting to get stiff and want to avoid a repeat of Stelvio. The avalanche galleries in Lermoos offer some respite, and on exiting, even a bit of sun. I pick up the 198 in Reutte and the 199 in Weißenbach. There are no markers for the Engpass, and the Gaichtpass has only a sign for the nearby bar. I do find one of the many warning signs to remind riders to slow down – this one says “give your guardian angel a chance”. The 199 becomes the B308 in Germany and leads to Oberjoch. At Oberjoch, the pass is drawfed by the ski town nearby. After a mixup sending me up the B310 and A7 to Kempten, we meet as planned in Sonthofen and find refuge at the Gasthof zum Löwen.

Breakfast at the Gasthof Wilder Mann is the deciding factor, we choose to leave our side cases and return later in the evening for a second night. This day’s ride is the first of two “escape” loops planned into the trip to allow us to expand or contract the distance as needed. The ride begins with an airy sense of lightness – with no luggage, the bikes are each about 25kg lighter. We stop for fuel a few kms north in Prutz, adding 229,8kms for a total of 1216,1km. We continue north on 180 to L76, and pick up 171 in Landeck. Following the advice of the two guidebooks we have read, we turn south on 188 toward the Silvaretta Hochalpenstraße.

The ascent includes an 11€ toll for motorcyclists. The long, winding approach to the pass is easy, with a view of moss-covered rockfaces and small streams. At the top of the Silvaretta is a large retention lake, the Bielerhöhe, and the Piz Buin hotel. Piz Buin is a well-known European sunscreen brand, but we find no sun. We are deep into the first of two very rainy days that will challenge our gear more than ourselves.

Coming down the west side of the Silvaretta Hochalpenstraße, we find tree trimmers. The road is littered with tree branches and leaves, making the riding more interesting on this side. The scenery is a mix of deciduous trees and pines, with nearly all of the road edges forested. We agree that aside from the trees, the descent was far more fun and interesting than the ascent.

From Silvaretta, we follow the 188 to Bludenz and find the L82 that will take us to the Brandertal. The Brandertal is a dead end ascent that ends at the Lunarsee gondola lift. The ascent is technical and fun, until we encounter a cattle transporter that nearly forces us off the road. We keep our eyes up and ride it out, with 10cm of road to the right and maybe 20cm of space to the left. This becomes the new discussion topic. We stop at the top to admire the mountain and scratch around in the dirt. Shout out to the ADV crowd! On the way down, we stop at the Schattenlagenhütte for a light lunch. Conveniently, they have a lovely ceramic stove that serves as a helmet and glove dryer.

We return to Bludenz without encountering any more cattle transporters, and find the 913, as we hope to make our way to the Faschinajoch and …. Unfortunately, we find a sign indicating closure of the road from Blons to Sonntag, which means we will have to skip these two passes. We are disappointed, but not completely, the weather is cold and unforgiving, so we return to Bludenz to pick up the shortened version of the loop.

Following the L97, we proceed east. My partner chooses to return to the Wilder Mann, and has an adventure with the Autobahn. We have not purchased vignettes – the small toll stickers required in every country other than Germany – and have carefully planned to avoid all Autobahns. The only quick way back to the Gasthof is the Autobahn, and she sweet-talks her way out of the toll plaza at the end of the (very warm) Arlberg Tunnel and avoids the fine and vignette cost. I proceed on the L97 after my own Autobahn detour due to construction and pick up the 197, turning north on the 198 to Lech in pursuit of the Flexenpass. The ride up is beautiful even in the rain, with long rock-hewn avalanche galleries that are being renovated. Traffic delays of up to fifteen minutes are expected, but no more than five minutes for me. I ride into the gallery with a group of Swiss riders while we wait for the Touran behind us to flash us forward. Returning from the pass, I wait no more than a few minutes to descend through the tunnels again. I regain the 197 and stop at the Arlberg Passhohe to collect stickers and postcards.

We rejoin at the Wilder Mann for a second delicious dinner and sleep away the cold rain of the day.

From the cozy Hotel Therme, we head south for about 20km to warm up. The route, the Strada Statale dello Stelvio (SS38), takes us through a series of long avalanche tunnels that protected not only our bikes, but our eyes. To return, we try the road running along side of the Flume Adda, the river that brings water down the mountain through Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio. This is far brighter and we get to see the small towns that dot the riverside. Once back through Bormio, the ascent begins. The big day is officially upon us. I’ve planned a shorter stretch so that we have maximum time to soak up the whole Stelvio experience.

The southwest ramp of Passo dello Stelvio is unjustifiably overlooked. While it is nowhere near the technical challenge that the northeast ramp is, it is still a beautiful, curvy road with plenty of visual interest and technical offering in the form of 39 tornante and beautiful avalanche galleries cut into the rock of the mountain. Near the top is a long flat run featuring uninhabited buildings and livestock. It is surprising to see the livestock at that height, but there are small grazing herds of more very curious cows.

We crest Stelvio and find the circus that is the top of the pass – several hotels, gift shops, and restaurants cater to the visitors braving the ascent. Surprisingly, the hotels charge only 45€ per night, both of us expected much higher prices due to location, and are slightly disappointed that we did not choose to stay up here. We do, however, spend nearly that on stickers and postcards.

After orienting myself at the top, I identify that Umbrail Pass is only 1.5km and ten tornante away – I split off and ride back to find the pass marker. I’m also disappointed to find that the descent is closed. The gravel stretch of the pass is quite famous, but not accessible, thanks to the closure for road work.

As we prepare to descend, we find two brand new F800GSs next to my bike, and two attending freshly-geared riders. Twittering away in German, we attempt to find out where they are from, as the bikes are clearly rentals. After a few minutes, we give up, and I switch to English. The two guys are from Grand Rapids, MI, and are quite familiar with my employer, having done work at both of our Michigan plants. Such a small world.

The first step of the descent is looking down.

A movie crew is filiming on Stelvio, and there are periodic closures. We are not affected, as we begin our descent prior to the most favorable light. After a rather unsettling miss with a lane-intruding Audi above the tree line, I decide to pull off and relax at the 46th tornant, forgetting there are only two more to go. I’m tense and unhappy with my riding, but in a good mood as I am still in one piece and so is the bike. My riding partner joins me a bit later and we decide to spend a bit of time in the attached park for lunch. We meet several Opel engineers doing engine testing, and ask one to take a photo of us with the sign for the tornant.

Once we are finally down the pass safely, we make our way over to SS40 and up to the Reschenpass in Austria. The approach to the pass is beautiful, wide open, sweeping Kehren, but the pass itself is a certified “meh” after Stelvio. Prior to arriving at the actual pass sign, we stop at Lake Rescia to photograph the tower of a submerged church.

We proceed north, finding this lovely stone arch, and continue on to Tönsens, a small, quaint town, where we find the Gasthof Wilder Mann. Wondering aloud why there is never a Gasthof Wilde Frau…. With dinner, we spend 54€ for the night.

Sunrise on the Flüela Pass is just as eerie as on Pordoi. We kit the bikes after a nice breakfast and set off on the 28 again towards Davos Dorf. Dörfli, actually. Davos is convinced it is not a famoous or exciting place. From Davos, we follow the Landwasserstrasse to Tiefencastle, where we join the 3 and begin the ascent to the Julierpass. We stop on the way up at the Marmorerasee, a retention lake that controls water flow down the assorted mountains and is filled with stunningly clear blue water.

From the Marmorereasee, we continue to the Julier Pass. The ascent to Julier is beautiful with rolling scenery and gentle curves that lend a sense of fulfillment to the viewer. We arrive at the top and find a bicyclist willing to take our picture together. We join the 27 at Silvaplana and the 29 at Pontresina, then it is on to the Passo del Bernina, where I work hard to get the perfect shot. The mountains surrounding the Berninapass are very photogenic.

Just past Baracon, we turn off onto the Forcola di Livigno, and proceed to the pass. We collect some cheese for later lunching from a tax-free shop at the pass, and while walking back up the hill, snap a postcard shot of why we ride GSs. Following the pass road, we make our way to the town of Livigno, where we tank up again and add a further 235.9km, for a total of 986,3km. We pick up SS301 southbound for the next planned pass: Passo di Foscagno.

On the was to Passo di Foscagno, we are surprised by a small sign for Passo d’Eira. Not famous, not loved, but still counts!

From Passo d’Eire, we continue to Passo di Foscagno, and on to Bormio. We want to be fully rested and ready to attack Stelvio in the morning, hoping to beat the tourist traffic. Bormio has a spa and appears to have nice restaurants. We find many medieval buildings and small grottos as we search for food. Alas, Bormio has the day off on Tuesday, and we end up at the only open restaurant in town, the Bar Nuovo. The staff are quite helpful and happy to have customers. We spend the night at Hotel Therme, where there is time to relax, but, alas, no spa. It’s also closed. For Tuesday.

The  landscape around the Hotel Savoia (which we highly recommend) is positively lunar as the sun rises. We are greeted by fog burning off outside, and a surprise guest inside – a fully-dressed Harley has joined us in the garage overnight. The garage functions as a ski rack in the winter time, when the mountains are covered with white stuff and skiers descend on them like flies on pigs. The openness to motorcycle tourism came about as the thousands of small guesthouses in the Alps discovered that the “off season” can also be profitable – riders flock to the passes as long as they are open, and with open wallets. Breakfast at the Savoia is well-covered, and we can’t say enough about this overnight, it will define accomodations for us for the remainder of the trip.

We head out on SR48 and rejoin SS242 to go back over Passo Sella, this time with less traffic. The mountain views are breathtaking and we spend plenty of time checking out the peaks that bring so much fame to Sella.

From Sella, we stay on the SS242 west to Ponte Gardena, where we pick up SS12 heading south to Bolzano. We join SS22 and find the three guys from the train and cows – some honking and waving and total shock that we actually did meet up go on. West of Bolzano, we pick up SS42 to Passo Mendola.  The approach to Passo Mendola is one of the most striking stretches we ride, with a stunning view of the valley below. For a long stretch, the narrow road clings to the side of the rockface and the mood is entirely surreal. The final group of tornante bring us to the town of Roen at the top of the pass, where we stop for coffee and to admire the views.

In Fondo, we tank up (250.3kms, 750,4km total) and are berated by a Bavarian Ducatisto who wants us to know that there is no passing in Italy. Perhaps he should have told the Italians? We ask him to speak German as his dialect is so thick. We pick up SS238 north to Merano crossing the Passo Palade. I expect more from Merano, the spa no connisseur of spas can miss, but it is quickly past and we are into a transit stage that will take us up and west on SS38 to Prato. We have been riding parts of the Italian Wine Road since Bolzano, admiring the fruit orchards that line the road to within two meters of the fog line. We stop for a quick lunch, then ride on  with SS40 and SS41 (becomes 28) to the Ofenpass, where it is actually too warm to remain fully dressed.

We finish the day at the top of the Flüelapass, where we discover Swiss prices. The Flüela Hospiz is as old as the pass and offers timely accomodations. This is a euphemism for out-of-date – we get a room with “washing possibility” – a sink – for 87€ each, including breakfast. Aside from the price and the warning to fully unpack the bikes and bring everything inside for the night, it is uneventful. Dinner is a welcome mix of traditional swiss Röstis and salad.

I suppose it would be pointful to review the equipment.

Bike: one fully-factory-farkled 2004 BMW F650GS, 66K kms on the frame, ~25K on the 2006 GS engine purchased from ebay and installed a month earlier

Luggage: One Held tank bag with rain cover, three small Streetline drybags, and two BMW Vario boxes, one extended

Clothes: Three sets of functional liners – one warm polypro (Anzoni), one light polypro (Maier, star of the trip!), and one nylon running set with no leg zips (Nike/Alex). Six pair assorted socks, nine pair nylon underwear, six tshirts, one pair jeans, two fleeces, one pair shorts, one pair Nike Free original, one pair pyjama bottoms, one neoprene vest

Gear: Hein Gericke Grace GoreTex jacket and pants, HG City gloves, Louis silk glove liners, Polo Road warm gloves, Oxford hi-vis vest, Dainese GoreTex ladies boots, HJC RPHA-Max helmet

Electronics: Garmin nüvi 1435 navigation unit, GoPro Hero3 Silver camera, BlackBerry Torch smartphone, Nikon CoolPix S3000 camera, Midland BTNext commset, Hexcode GS911 interface, LG phablet thingy, assorted USB cables and chargers

Comments: The bike was great, only issue was a siezed centerstand pivot that caused a tipover and resulted in a seat tear. The luggage was just right. Too many socks, should have gone for fewer pairs but all synthetic. The Falke ski socks were perfect, three pair would have done it. More lighter-weight tshirts would have been better – the skinny hipster cap sleeve ts were the best ones. I could have gone without the heavy polypros, a second pair of the Maier set is being sought out now. Very light weight meant very washable and dry within hours. This alone could cut the space required quite a bit. The jeans were a must-have. Not having to wash underwear was nice.

The GoreTex outer gear worked perfectly. Absolutely the best decision of the planning phase was to go with textile over leather. Flexibility was fantastic thanks to the easily removeable liners. The (old) City gloves paired with the silk liners made the normal cold-weather gloves unnecessary. Even in heavy rain.

The Garmin nüvi unit worked (and continues to work) well, even for motorbiking. The routes were developed in BaseCamp and uploaded to a microSD card in the device, then installed as needed. One issue was identified with routes having multiple loops from a single point, the unit would attempt to shorten the route by cutting out loops. This should be minded by users. The GoPro (helmet-mounted) produced good, if not publishable, videos, due to the rider talking too much in her helmet. Thankfully, the GS911 and little LG phablet were not required, but took up so little space that it would be silly not to bring them. The BlackBerry had connectivity in nearly every place we went, allowing at a minimum email and BlackBerry Messenger communication. The little Nikon produced characteristically good pictures in all light levels. The BTNext unit was unused.

Overall comment would be to refine the clothing packing and the tool packing. I made a custom tool roll to pack only the tools I felt would be useful, but even this was likely too much. In a less redneck bike (see swapped motor above), I would be much more comfortable traveling with fewer tools. More GoPro locations will be explored.

If I’d guessed that I would end up sleeping on top of the Alps at one point, I would have never believed myself.

The sunrise in Linz is beautiful. Tucked into a mountain valley, we watch the sun fall over the farmyard prior to taking off from our feathery nest. We head west on the 100 toward San Candido, and in the process beginning a day that would end with nine passes surmounted. We cross into Italy, and on the Stata Stradale 52 (SS52),  meet the first pass of the day – the Kreuzberg Pass. For the most part, a basic pass that is surmounted without event. Turning off onto Strada Provinciale 532 (SP532), we ride over the Passo San Antonio and, on Strada Regionale 48 (SR48), the Passo Tre Croci without stopping – nothing to stop for, as the signs are almost invisible and there are no souvenier huts to buy stickers at. Yes, we collect stickers for every pass we can get them for. The fun really starts further along SR48 with the Passo di Falzarego, where we photobomb a bunch of Swiss guys  trying to take a group shot at the pass sign.

From Falzarego, we head west on the north side of the Marmolade Group, to better see the peaks. Stunning from the road, for sure. We have our first experience with Italian fuel stations, which are not open normal hours and require use of an automat. 252,3kms for a total of 500,1kms. Figuring that out is so exhausting that we have to sit down and eat lunch. We turn south on SR203, then onto SP641. Next up is Passo Fedaia, with a beautiful view of a Stausee (retention lake) high up in the middle of the group. From Fedaia, we briefly rejoin SR48 and enter the venerable Sella Group on SR242, and meet the first real traffic of the trip.

The Sella Group offers some of the most profound scenery of the entire trip. The terrain varies from gently rolling meadows to Martian landscapes. The first ascent is to Passo di Sella (Sellajoch), and is miserable with tourist busses. The traffic is very heavy and very unfun. When we halt at the top, we wait for a gap in busses before beginning the descent. We ride the rest of the Sella circuit clockwise, turning onto SS243 to ride through the Grödner Joch (Passo di Gardena), where we encounter a group of elderly tourists with an endless parade of questions, starting with “Why do your motorcycles have BMW stickers on them?”, “Are those real BMWs?”, “Did you ride those here all by yourselves?” and continuing on. After a few more, I inform the small crowd that all info on the bikes is available at their local BMW dealer.

We ride on to SP244 over the Passo Campolongo (nothing to stop for), and finish the day on SR48 on top of Passo Pordoi after a quick 33 tornante ascent that counts as one of the highlights of the trip due to the absence of traffic, the road character, and the unusually curious cows penned at the roadside. We hole up in the Hotel Savoia for 50€ a head including breakfast, garage, and a four-course dinner. We highly recommend this hotel. Excellent service, food, and accessibility.