5th July 2012
We’d asked if the hotel could do an early breakfast for us this morning – 07:00 rather than 07:30. They agreed with - it as to be said - something less than good grace.
We start carrying our gear down to the ground floor around 06:30. I asked the chef (the niece of the receptionist) for the remote control for the underground garage and she made it clear, with much grumbling under her breath, that this was another huge imposition, forced on her by unreasonable guests.
I fear I may never sleep soundly again.
The day has dawned cool and blue – but we have been studying the weather forecast during the evening (in between beer) and we’re pretty sure we’re going to be getting wet later. The time has come – already – for us to start heading home…
We ransack the breakfast buffet, making ham and cheese rolls for lunch and smuggling them wrapped in paper napkins past the grumbling chef. We’re soon packed and off…
For the first time in a few days, I have the vents in my suit done up and the temperature feels just about perfect…
Peter has made it clear that we need to crack some miles today, so we are only going to stop for photos when it is
really necessary…
He didn’t sound convinced when he said it…
…so I take it as a guideline, rather than a rule…
I mean – we’re in the Dolomites, aren’t we?
When will we be here again?
(Well, actually, I’m thinking about next year – what do you reckon?)…
Pretty soon we’re on the climb again…
…the air clear and crisp with virtually no haze…
Onward!
We pass through the occasional small town – with their own – unique – choice of statuary…
…modern…
…and less so…
This striking looking angular building hadn’t attracted a tenant…
Out of town and it’s starting to warm up a little…
…although tunnels are always a constant temperature…
We stop for a coffee (instant – foul) at a bus stop (in Austria, I think – it’s difficult to keep track in this region, as there are rarely any border markings), and then set off again…
Hmm – that doesn’t look so good. In fact it looks like Hell on toast – time to get rigged for foul weather…
I have decided to forego all the Gore-Tex liners etc. Now I just use a good old BMW oversuit…
…and BMW lightweight waterproof gloves. I’m kitted up…
…with the waterproof cover on the tank bag, in under five minutes…
OK weather – do your worst!
We have a fairly sedate push up the Jaufenpass, which tops out at just over 2000m…
Definitely a timely decision to get kitted up. We reflect that this is our first rainy day in four years of riding together in Europe. We always do ten days bracketing the first week of July – we’ve been very lucky (and very good at reading weather forecasts and planning
)
It stops raining as we descend the far side of the pass and the roads dry out remarkably quickly…
The landscape has a brooding beauty to it in bad weather…
We stop for another cuppa and discuss whether to get de-kitted…
And decide against it - Onward!
We continue to press broadly northwest…
We encounter several short rain showers - we have made a good decision to remain kitted for wet running…
Actually, it’s no great hardship…
The wet weather has brought out the vivid greens in the landscape…
…and despite our ‘agreement’…
…I find myself finding time to stop for the occasional snap…
…and I have a sneaking suspicion that Peter may be doing likewise…
We eventually stop for another breather…
…by some very odd looking concrete structures…
…which have the feel of someone in the EU using up surplus budget at the end of a financial year…
They are viewing platforms. Allowing you to see a view that would be there if they hadn’t built a platform…
I’m probably missing something obvious here – it wouldn’t be the first time…
There are several cairns at the site – I like to think that they have been built by people of different nationalities – the one above would be Swiss…
German…
Italian…
British…
We keep climbing and get above the treeline…
The hiker in the pic above must have been in his mid seventies and looked as fit as a flea…
Blue sky!
We cross the top of the Timmelsjoch pass, home to another weird viewing device…
…and, as we descend the other side, I’m reminded of Glencoe, in the Western Highlands…
We decide this will be a good place to have lunch – we also decide to rig for dry running…
We eat our (slightly flattened) cheese & ham rolls and watch the world go by…
We are soon joined by Judy and Michael, from Stuttgart. They are just completing a three-week trip by motorcycle, camping in southern Italy. Judy is obviously high on the whole experience of touring (it’s her first tour) and I tell Michael she’s probably a keeper…
After a while we get kitted up and say our farewells…
The weather is holding off and the temperature is just right…
We continue along the Timmelsjoch…
…which is unique amongst the passes we are riding this trip…
…as it has a toll booth…
…and another of the strange viewing platforms, although this one at least seems to have a purpose - it gets you a better view…
It also has one of these wood carved faces…
…which is concave, but appears to stand out (convexly) no matter how hard you try to get your mind to see it as it is…
It’s dished – see?
It’s giving me a headache
– time to move on…
We descend to the valley floor, passing through the delightfully named Obergurgl…
…pass through some avalanche galleries…
…and meet plenty of riders heading the way we’ve come from..
The river is high and fast flowing – with the look of melt-water…
You have to admire the Austrians for their brevity in naming towns…
I know there was a helicopter somewhere in this pic when I took it…
…great views all along the valley…
But those clouds…
…aren’t as innocent as they look. There’s also been a slight, but noticeable, temperature drop…
We haven’t seen the last of bad weather today.
What we
do see are BMWs – lots of them. It gradually dawns on us that it must be the annual BMW Garmisch-Partenkirchen rally this weekend – so we’d better head away from that area if we want to find accommodation…
We find…
…a café to stop for a coffee and plot up.
The disinterested waitress delivers exactly what I told her I didn’t want…
Onward!
The weather starts closing in and it becomes apparent we either need to stop, or get kitted up again.
I don’t want to get kitted up.
As if by magic, the Hotel Lowen at Oberjoch…
…appears at the same time as the first fat, cold drops of rain. Peter and I park the bikes, grab the tank bags and run into the hotel as the heavens open…
The fat Fraulein at reception spoke no English and clearly thought her purpose in life was to make things difficult for others. Eventually we get to talk to the very helpful Dagmar, who has been working at the hotel for 50yrs
and who speaks pretty good English.
There is obviously some sort of power play going on here, as the Fraulein (who’s name I was never interested enough to ask) made a big pantomime of trying to find us two rooms, each with a double bed. Dagmar takes us up – my room is great…
…but Peter’s has a single bed. Never mind, says Dagmar, and disappears in the direction of Reception. Two minutes later, Peter is installed in the biggest room in the hotel (it may be bigger than my entire house)…
The rain has abated, so we get our kit inside, then park the bikes in the hotel’s garage. The room rate is reasonable and we can book dinner in the restaurant tonight.
I bring my laptop down as I am unable to get Internet connection in my room and am wandering in the direction of the bar, when the Fraulein spots me and directs a tirade of German at me. Once she has finished, I explain in English that I don’t speak German. This causes another long address. I assure her I haven’t picked up the rudiments of the language in the last ten seconds and I wander off to find Dagmar.
Dagmar explains that the Fraulein was telling me that it was forbidden to take my laptop into the dining room. I explained that I had no such plans, and Dagmar installs me in the lounge area and brings me a beer.
I start uploading the pictures on the (very fast) connection. Peter joins me, I put the laptop behind the check-in desk to continue uploading and we go into dinner.
It all started going a bit wrong then. Hearing two Brits struggling with the local language, Ulrich and his charming wife Gisela come to our aid…
Ulrich is a retired business owner and worked for a long time in Altringham, Cheshire. They are a great couple and they help us through the menu – we choose the buffet, which meant we felt obliged to try some of everything, which looks like this in print…
…and like this on the plate…
So – not in the least stodgy then?
Ulrich & Gisela join us in the bar, where many beers, and many rounds of a special local schnapps – Enziam…
…are consumed. Dagmar joins us for a couple of drinks and the evening rapidly deteriorates. God knows what time I got to bed, but I woke at 04:00 with all the lights on…
A good day
, i cant wait to get back out that way some day
). 
