The Alps - The Relaxing Way

[the beer hunter]

<object width="600" height="398"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=13863437&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=13863437&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="600" height="398"></embed></object>

Steve & Stu will be along shortly to fill in all the details.

 

[swissrob]

<object width="600" height="398"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=13863437&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=13863437&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="600" height="398"></embed></object>

Steve & Stu will be along shortly to fill in all the details.

looks good, did u go up the dirt track at the top of the susten at the cafe?

isee they have slened all the stickers off the pass signs, but I wouldnt have expected anything less!

 

[the beer hunter]

looks good, did u go up the dirt track at the top of the susten at the cafe?

isee they have slened all the stickers off the pass signs, but I wouldnt have expected anything less!

The only dirt sections we did were the road works! & the shale section of The Umbrail Pass.

Off the top of my head we bagged Fern, Umbrail, Stelvio, Reschen, Silvretta, Gotthard, Furka, Susten & Splugen. We rode the B500 to Baden Baden too which turned out to be a fantastic stretch.

After I've done my washing & cleaned the bike I'll draft together a day by day account with some help from Steve/Stu.

 

[the beer hunter]

Day minus 1

Rolled into Dover & stayed for the night in the No.1 Guesthouse 2 minutes away from the ferry terminal.
£45 a night with secure garage parking.

Steve rolled up a few hours later, he was staying in a seperate room in the same B&B.

No, this isn't Steve!
A brazen gull, noisey as feck.

Day 1 Dover to Nancy
Steve & I woke up bleary eyed, had breakfast & set off for the ferry to meet up with Stu. The kebab I had last night was starting to sting!
Hung around as long as we could at the terminal & on the deck but eventually all 3 musketeers were united onboard.
After docking at Calais a long ride was ahead to Nancy.

The 1st of many tolls

As we arrived a queue of campervans were waiting to get in - we rode to the front & joined the queue to book in.
An age passed as 1 girl was taking forever to get everyone in.

Once we were fed & washed we settled down listening to music.
Fivestar & his missus (Steve & Anna) found us & came over for a chat. He had read our invite & we had given him site info.

Only rained once today for about 30 seconds as we arrived at the site.

Day 2 Nancy to Grainau
The weather still being kind to us for the ride & we passed some questionable place names..

but as we arrived in Grainau the rain started. We quickly set up & went for a walkabout to get some supplies.

 

[the beer hunter]

Day 3 Grainau to Fiss

Rain had pattered the tents all night & in the morning it was wet.
Today we were heading towards Fiss & looking fwd to staying in a hotel.

On the way we bagged a few passes - Fern, Reschen, Umbrail & Stelvio & riding at different altitudes had us passing through various weather conditions.

My hotel for 2 nights

Somewhere to park the bike..

..& dry the tent out.

 

[the beer hunter]

Day 4 Still in Fiss

Met up with Mauro the previous night, a guy from another forum who lives locally & arranged a time to meet up for today's ride.

We did a loop called Silvretta Rundfahrt which took in 6 passes.
I had the ride on my GPS which I had loaded from the hotel's website but Mauro just had a map in his pannier. He led & only stopped to take a look at his map a few times & we followed the route approx 98% to my GPS. Not bad as he told us he'd never ridden that route before.

Perfect weather am.

 

[the beer hunter]

Day 5 Fiss to Como
Time to leave Fiss, Mauro said he was leaving early so we said our goodbyes yesterday in the bar after a meal.
We arranged to leave at 10am but as it was starting to rain Steve & Stu rode to my hotel for 9:30 & hassled me to get a move on.

We'd had some OK weather in Fiss but the rain this morning was to get worse as we rode out.
At St.Moritz it was so bad we stopped for shelter.

As soon as we started our decent into Italy the warmth hit us & our spirits lifted.
We decided to stop in the heat & dry out.

We rode into Como & the sun was finally delivering.

Steve contemplates buying a 1200GS after he checks out what his 800 is worth!

Our base for 2 nights, camped on the West side of Lake Como.

From here we plan to hit the major passes around Andermatt before heading back North, Stu plans to ride further South so I'm looking fwd to a few photos & a report once he returns home.

 

[Stujw70]

Cheers Phil

I came back last night a bit ealrlier than planned, with a early start yestersday with a ride up from Vichy to Calais and then the ride home after crossing the pond. Covered just over 3000miles in the end. Bike 100% and despite being the heaviest and oldest bike managed to not even drop it in the end, unlike some

After leaving you guys at Como it was another ride up towards Lugano and then headed west at Lucarno and heading over some great and sometimes scary roads ended up at a small campsite in Chamonix with a rather stunning view of Mt Blanc and the surrounding mountains.

 

[Stujw70]

Next day i headed first west to avoid the Mount Blanc tunnel and then south on the Route Du grand Alps (Stunning). Passing through Val-d'lsere and various ski resorts, i eventually ending up on a municple campsite called 2 glaciers at le Monetier-les-bains.

Quick ride down to Briancon for some provisions and turned about, heading north west towards Grenoble and then picked up the route Napoleon south which i thought was a bit lame after the route du grand alps, finally ending up in anoth munciple campsite in a small place called Remuzat after riding around the local Gorges . Unfortunately the camping was ruined by a massive thunderstorm that went on for hours. Seemed to be the theme for the trip unfortunately.

Another day saw me riding from all the way up to Vichy via Le Puy-en-Velay and i opted for a night in a cheap hotel and this follwed on with a meandering route up towards Calais with a stop off in Arras, St Omer for a wander and coffee.

 

[Stujw70]

Cheers guys

Left to right

Myself, Phil, Steve and Mauro

 

[rulis]

nice ride, thanks for posting, cheers

 

[the beer hunter]

Glad to hear you arrived home OK Stu.

Some more photos around Andermatt..

Gotthard

Steve loving every minute of the Furka experience

 

[the beer hunter]

Day 7 Como to.. wherever we get to.

Said our goodbyes to Stu today as he was riding south on his own.
Steve & I rolled out of Como in hot weather & heavy traffic.
The roads were jammed until we reached the turn for Slugen Pass.
The road opened up in front of us & air was flowing over the cylinders again.

Breathtaking scenery & we headed towards the B500 to Baden.

We planned to do a full day's riding & then find somewhere to stay.

The B500 was a superb road & one I want to ride again soon.

We rode into Schluchsee & found a campsite but were DENIED!
I did a search on my GPS & we rode a further mile or two & found another site.

The old guy in reception didn't speak English & asked us to wait for his Frau. The old Frau eventually turned up & didn't speak English either.

1 night? she indicated. Yes please

She wasn't happy for some reason.
The old guy led us to a stoney pitch.

Cold beers & superb food on site though.

Drank until it got dark then went to sleep.

 

[the beer hunter]

Cheers guys

Left to right

Myself, Phil, Steve and Mauro

Judas Priest get together for 1 last tour.

 

[the beer hunter]

Day 8 Schluchsee to Reims

Sunday morning, no-one around, reception locked up.

We rang the bell at reception & hung around until 9am. We had to get going so bearing in mind we spent a fair few euros last night on beers & food & the pitch was poor we left without paying. We tried.

Half a day's blast North & we eventually found a municipal site just outside Reims. Not a bad little site with a shop nearby stocking cold beers & food.

We finished off our meals we had brought with us from home, which goes to prove we ate well most nights & washed it down with cold beers.

In the morning we were ready for the final leg.

As our trip was coming to an end you could visibly see Steve getting happier.

Back at Dover, I stayed the night.

 

[santrix]

Sheet... this hurts looking at these... glad you had a fab time fellas....

 

[Micky]

I enjoyed that ...

Thanks for sharing guys

 

[the beer hunter]

A few cropped photos..

& as promised, an avatar for Steve.

 

[Homer1968]

Cheers Phil some excellent photos there mate. Yeah i had a great time and as i said before, the B 500 was the highlight of the trip for me.
just waiting for my kids to come over to sort my avatar out