Lake Garda

[Deleted account Cooperman]

I've discovered an itch that is going to take some scratching

This trip allowed us a day at the north of the Lake in Riva del Garda, but it has given me a real appetite to spend some more time around the Italian Lakes. Next year

As Brothers we had negotiated the Bank Holiday week for a quick European sortie.

The plan was:

Rotterdam to Baden Baden

The first stop was Spa Francorchamps which was in preparation for the F1 the following weekend.

We confirmed we would be able to get day tickets for the qualifying and so the return trip plan was sorted

We just needed to knobble Alonso's car before we left

A great route south is to follow the Mosel river forming the border between Luxembourg and Germany making sure you get Lux's cheap fuel (Yorkshire Lad's.....)

Hello Baden Baden.

We had a good night with these guys.

 

[franco]

Aww come on, I was just settling in to enjoy that It's Friday, and I'm not planning tooooo much work today
Quite fancy the Italian lakes off season meself. Last trip there was to Riva del Garda with me in-laws which didn't work out too well

 

[Davy F]

The first picture make me want to go.

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Black Forest to Bavaria

We were ready to attack the B500 and the weather looked good. It lasted 30 minutes before the rain moved in and the temperature dropped to 10 degrees

Eventually things brightened up.

Refuelling

This place was a first - a drive through ice cream parlour.

The locals were happy enough

Our destination in Bad Oberdorf.

Not a bad garage

The weather remained volatile

But we were happy enough

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Bavaria to Garda

The route plan was to avoid motorways and take in the Timmelsjoch pass.

First a quick stop in Solden to recharge the batteries

At the foot of the pass we encountered temporary traffic lights. Not wanting to get stuck going up we skipped to the front where we discovered there wasn't really enough room for 2 bikes. Does anybody know how to straighten aluminium panniers

Timmelsjoch

Hats off to the cyclists

The weather got hotter and the route seemed to get longer, but in terms of bike riding it was awesome. We rolled into Garda after 7 and could have easily jumped into this.

Time to fire up the BBQ

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Riva Del Garda

This is a very nice part of the world. Yes it's touristy, but to say we were in August it felt comfortable.

The Lake

We tried to stay on another day to hire a sail boat but no availability

The old town.

The road heading down the West side looked awesome. Definitely a place I need to explore more of.

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Back to Bavaria

As we had decided to invest in calling into the F1 at Spa, and our attempt to stay on in Riva had been thwarted, we decided to go back to Bad Oberdorf and spend some time in an area we normally see covered in snow.

Exiting Italy we took the Autostrada north which turned out to be one of the more twisty and scenic stretched of motorway I have been on. €12 toll and €8 for the Brenner Pass we passed into Austria where we took a gamble and lost

We didn't stop for a €5 vignette and got stopped at a police block as we exited for Garmish. €65 fine

Next the Garmish Motorrad site which is also the base for the cable car up the Zugspitze mountain/glacier.

And back to the Hirsch

Time for some exercise - to go 400m in elevation up the Oberjoch pass with 2 pedals instead of 2 cylinders.

Success Coming down was better for some reason

 

[(RIP) andrewgsadv]

Hello Cooperman,

Thanks for posting and reminding me what a lovely place Lake Garda is.
I have some routes planned around Lake Garda (from last Dolomites trip). Never had time to do them. Must go at some point with 4 or 5 days to explore. I`d better get saving .

 

[franco]

We didn't stop for a €5 vignette and got stopped at a police block as we exited for Garmish. €65 fine

Ouch, unlucky. Great report and pics all the same

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Hello Cooperman,

Thanks for posting and reminding me what a lovely place Lake Garda is.
I have some routes planned around Lake Garda (from last Dolomites trip). Never had time to do them. Must go at some point with 4 or 5 days to explore. I`d better get saving .

Agreed. Can you set up a GSer savings plan

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Ouch, unlucky. Great report and pics all the same

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

F1 Spa Francorchamps

So, time to go home.

We asked our German hosts to find some accommodation within an hour or so of the race circuit. Lesson learned - never trust a German

We were staying in Mehring on the side of the Mosel not too far away from Trier.

The hotel looked to have some good spa facilities

We wandered into reception to be greeted with a lady with one very raised eyebrow

'Are you the two bikers'

(The gear and the helmets gave her a clue).

'Yes we are'

'Do you know you have booked the waterbed?'

WATERBED

She looked at us as though we were as straight as a nine bob notes



I have given up trying to embed this from photobucket so you are going to have to click the image

We slunk away to the local butchers/restaurant.

The next day we arrived at Spa for the Saturday qualifying. Lots of traffic but for once the rozzers were on our side moving cars out of the way to let us get through

We parked as close as you can get, and it cost us nowt.

The cheapest bronze day ticket €75 gives limited views without walking right into the circuit, which wasn't going to happen with the bike gear on.

Eau Rouge

A bit of Porsche porn from the support race.

A quick 3 hour run later and we were back on the ferry in Rotterdam, and best of all we were still talking

 

[B4ndit]

Good post mate. I Tried to get to Spa in May on a day trip from Verdun but rain and cold weather put paid to that.

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Take 2 with the water bed

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TYzmk2zjiVc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Coops18]

He looks like fun to spend time with!!