Virgin Alpine Trip

[Deleted account Cooperman]

This is my report of mine and Mrs C's alpine adventure.

Although I have been to the Alps on numerous occasions both in winter and summer, this was to be the first time on 2 wheels.

Part of this will be a record of what we saw during the trip, part of it will be what we learnt as newbie tourers.

We had no plans other than to include the Black Forest and to stop off in Bavaria at the hotel we go to every year skiing.

Thanks goes to the contributors on this forum for preparing us both in terms of equipment needed and previous experiences of trips.

Basic kit included GSA aluminium panniers, mane event inner bags, Zumo 660, Cardo Scala comms and most importantly Michelin maps. The maps were essential as the green highlighted roads allow you to plan interesting routes

Day 0 - Leeds to Hull

The packing was done on a him and hers basis ie Mrs C got the big box and I got the smaller exhaust side box. Even the small additional bag space over the exhaust was commendered for the hair straightners (not mine ). The remaining gear (bike maintenance, toiletries, electricals etc) were left for the top box - first mistake. This put far too much weight too high and too far back on the bike which felt as though we wheelied all the way to Hull. Even worse it made for a very tricky drive on to the ferry

Lesson one - spread the weight around lower in the side panniers. Light stuff only in the top box.

Another good tip picked up was to take your own ratchet fastening strap. The ferry staff wern't interested and just threw ropes towards you. Not being an expert on rope knots, the strap made securing the bike relatively simple.

In the queue for the ferry were 2 other GSA's It turned out that the start of our trip was coinciding with the official BMW Balkans 2 week tour. They will still be out there now

Day 2 - Zeebrugge to Wissembourg (550km)

The eagles have landed - no rush - one last check of everything before we start.

The aim was to get rid of some km's on the motorways before heading off down the N4 which had the Michelin green highlights. This turned out to be a relatively nice route, scenic undulating dual carriageway.

We had no plans where to stop for lunch and ended up in Bastogne. Reading up afterwards this was the location of the WWII Battle of the Bulge. The Germans counter-attacked after liberation in 1944 and Brigadier General McAuliffe led the initial resistance and with further support the eventual success. The Belgians are still grateful.

Maybe somebody should have checked the English translation before this plaque was made

The Belgians could also teach McDonalds a thing or two about how to quickly put together restaurants. All you need to do is roll in a few railway carriages.......and voila

Next - where to stop for the night?

I had intended to avoid France due to one very average travel experience and also one very ignorant Frenchman I have the misfortune to know. However I had been recommended the Alsace region and so planed and afternoon ride with a finish somehere back over the border in Germany.

How do you know when you've arrived in Luxembourg? Fuel stations everywhere. The cost was at least 30 cents per litre cheaper.

We then moved into France and entered the town of Bitche. So this is where they come from Not only that, there was a Camp Bitche - scared, I accelerated past this

Some views of the Bitche were OK

Another fantastic green road through forests led us to Wissembourg. Sounding German I assumed we had crossed the border but I should have known the diffrerence between 'erg' and 'ourg'. We came into a lovely small town centre with the Tricolore flying from the town hall

Too late, we needed to stop.

However we found a very good central hotel, I had one of the best steaks I can remember and the beer was OK France - all is forgiven

The local church.

Local canal

......and bed for the night

 

[Mr K]

Looking good.

 

[John Armstrong]

Stopped in Wissembourg too this June Nice place isn't it. Some of my piccies here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1989540&postcount=1

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 3 - Wissembourg to Bad Oberdorf (400km)

Breakfast not included!!! We got charged another E7.50 each for effectively a basket of bread and a slab of cheese Bloody French

Today's plan was to attack the Black Forest and depending how things went maybe a skirmish into Switzerland under lake Constance/Bodensee and back up into Bavaria.

The first problem we hit was the road out of France which was being resurfaced with grit. What was probably 5km felt like 50km, doing 10km/hr hearing the grit playing the xylophone on the exhaust

I calmed down going over the Rhine. The Thames has nothing on this river - it's huge.

Initial target Baden Baden to see where Sven and his boys hung out during the world cup. However on aproach we realised this is no small Black Forest town, more like a city. Having been swallowed by a long tunnel we abandoned any ideas of stopping and headed south.

I've read various threads on here about the 500 road but I can honestly say the 500 out of Baden Baden is one of the best motoring roads I have been on. I have a friend from Stuttgart (more later), who uses the Black Forest as his biking playground, who agrees that this road is one of the best.

Soon we had acquired elevation and had great views back over the Rhine plain. The road was relatively quiet and kept flowing I soon forgot about the French and roadworks.

We kept going south, keeping mainly to the 500, passing through villages and towns, descending and ascending, and having a hoot. We could have stopped at various places - Triberg looked good - but we carried on and ended up stopping just outside Titisee in a place called Jostal.

The duck helped me remember the name of the place

Time was now getting on so we abondoned the Switzerland option and took the direct route north of lake Bodensee. Lovely scenery around the lake including vineyards - but the traffic was horrendous. Not the best way to finish a long day.

Having left the lake, things got better as we headed for our destination in Bad Oberdorf which is at the foot of the Oberjoch pass.

We stay in the same hotel every year when skiing and have become friends with the owner Manfred (Manny), his family, staff and hotel regulars. A very good recommendation if you are ever in the area.

http://translate.google.com/transla...&prev=/search?q=alpengasthof+hirsch&hl=en&lr=

Going that often I don't have a photo of the hotel I can post

Day 4 - Day Off in Bad Oberdorf

The forecast was for rain which wasn't a problem as we intended to spend some time with friends. There's no such thing as a 'lie in' in Bavaria as every morning the cows (with loud bells around their necks) are herded by kids out onto the slopes.

Fortunately the bike was sheltering out of harms way.

Manny's nephew Thomas is 17 and a good friend of my son's. He's a biker and is just starting his car driving lessons but in the interim he has acquired another form of transport.

I don't know how this works but he is legally able to drive around in a tractor

We decided to stretch the legs and wandered off into the next town of Bad Hindelang. Our realxing day was abrubtly concluded on our return to the hotel as it was the host to a wedding reception - some wedding reception.

We sat at the bar with my friend from Stuttgart who explained the tradition. Apparantly the bride and guests choose a 'reception' hotel but the groom and best man are kept in the dark. They have to go around the various local hotels in search of the bride. The scene was fantastic with everybody in local traditional attire, but this was in effect one big p*ss up and an excuse for the groom to do a pub crawl.

With the musicians belting out Bavarian brass tunes, the drinking games could commence. The lads sat around the big table and played some game where the result was somebody had to stand up and neck in one a full glass of wine This wasn't going to be pretty

It's not as though the girls we taking it any easier, they were stood playing drinking games with shots making the guys look

Manny commented that he doesn't always like to host these receptions as things obviously get out of hand. He then disappeared to sort out some confrontation which resulted in an 'exclusion' and Manny returned to the bar with a cut forearm.

Things wern't getting any better outside where some of the younger partyers were excluding their stomach contents

By this time the Groom and best man had finished their pub crawl and turned up to the party - his party. The tradition is for the Groom to pay for all this drinks, hence the p*ss up. Not only that he has to take away all the empty bottles The hotel staff set to tying the bottles with string around the Grooms neck. When he was sufficiently loaded he set off back into the party followed by more staff sweeping up the broken glass trail he was leaving behind.

Then.......quiet.

A coach turned up and they all climbed/crawled on board to go to the next village for the evening reception. This was just the warm up

An afternoon never to be forgotton

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 5 - Bad Oberdorf to Zell am See (300km)

Time to move on. I handed the Zumo over to my local hosts to plan an interesting route for the day. They did me proud.

First the ascent of the Oberjoch pass and then in and back out of Austria to go past the Linderhof Palace, another Mad King Ludwig construction (he also built the near by Neuschwanstein castle which Walt Disney used to model his on).



We went past Garmish Partenkirchen and dropped into a nature park area where a E3 toll was required. Not the quickest road but very scenic running along a river.

LIFESAVER

This was the worst moment of the journey. I had been sat behind a car for a while, but in no rush as I was trying to take in the scenery. In the mirrors I saw I had been caught by some bikers and so moved over to let them past before me. A straight appeared and the 2 bikes went past me and the car. The straight was sufficiently long for me to also get round so I started to make the move when Ms C clamped onto my arm. I'd missed the 3rd bike who came around and went. Who'd forgotten his lifesaver

A fortunate reminder with no consequences. I never missed another on for the rest of the trip.

Having settled back down I went back to enjoying the ride, which turned into a series of superb lakes.

We stopped for lunch at lake Achensee in Austria.

Driving into Austria we had been told you do not need a Vignette unless you go on one of the main motorways. Although we had no intention of doing so, two things gave us doubts.

1. Roads can be bottlemouthed to lead you onto the motorways by which time it's too late

2. As we came over the border signs were everywhere suggesting the next stretch of road (not a motorway) needed the pass.

So to be on the safeside for about E5 we bought the minimum 10 day pass. It went on the right hand side of the screen as a reminder which side of the road I should be on.

I then 'safely' overtook a train, and gained some admirers

..... and came into the land of the glaciers

We took in some great passes, another fantastic road going through skiing areas until we came to a toll booth. Another E4 changed hands and then...........WOW Krimmler waterfall.

It's the highest in Europe and the 5th highest in the world.

What a day's riding

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 6 - Day off in Zell am See

On the doorstep of the Grossglockner and we didn't do it!! Maybe some other time.

After yesterday's great ride it was time for some R&R.

The hotel was nice.

Guess which window is ours

We were going to ride the cable car, but as it was a nice warm day why go looking for the cold?

The hotel had free push bikes available but after clarifying the lake is 13 km around not 30km, we elected to walk it.

Work has been done to provide cycle paths separate to walkways. They even think of the dogs

We had a relaxing day strolling, taking in the scenery and the bars.

This was fortunately the closest we came to the Feds

I also started negotations for a new reg plate.

We spent the evening in the Crazy Daisy - great food and a great set by 2 singing acoustic guitarists (Brits). I get the impression that in winter this place will be a centre for some excellent apres-ski. The musicians admitted they change instruments for electric guitars for the skiiers.

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 7 - Zell am See to Stuttgart (Esslingen) 400km

It was time to start heading back home. To pay for our day off we decided to get rid of some distance to allow more time on the last days. Exploring the map we decided on a target of the northern Black Forest and with a bit of internet assistance picked the town of Esslington em Neckar near Stuttgart. The town appeared to have an original centre which had survived the bombings, and the clincher was the main street called Kuferstrasse, or Cooper Street ​

After another scenic ride north out of Austria we dispatched some km's on the autobahns around Munich and up to Stuttgart.​

One good feature of the Zumo is the icon for the road speed limit, however once this vanishes you know you are on a de-ristricted section. I was comfortable at 130 km/hr (80 ish) but had to keep a constant look out when overtaking for the 200km/hr merchants who appear from nowhere. I didn't hang about in the outside lane.​

The temperature hit 35 degrees, warm for riding. With all the jacket vents open and using the bell bottomed sleeves to funnel air through, it was still difficult to keep comfortable.​

Eventually we arrived and went for a wander. A lovely town with some really nice buildings in vineyard surroundings.​

I've seen this somewhere before?​

I've also seen the future​

We managed to fing the Prada bike boots shop ​

This is what the guys in the opposite shop window thought ​

Esslingen also appears to be 'Bunny-ist'​

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Day 8 - Esslingen to Trier (320km)

We spent the morning back in the Black Forest and then headed north towards the Moselle Valley.

Lunch was a great find just outside Kandel.

Another wonderful Michelin green road up to Kaiserslautern before some final autobahn up to Trier.

On our usual wander we came across this.

Coming into the centre we could hear the noise levels rising. Some event was going on

Whatever it was, the leveling of policing was high. 'Pushing' through we discovered Chancellor Merkel giving a speech. I'm not sure what her politics are and I certainly didn't understand what she was saying, but I like her transport

Day 9 - Trier to Zeebrugge (370 km)

We set off in good time to allow us a final scenic route along the valley and keep some time in hand for delays before getting to the ferry.

Roadworks

One constant theme through the trip was the vast amount of roadworks ongoing. This must be why Germany and France are coming out of recession before us

We were travelling along the river road about to come to a bridge crossing we needed when........you guessed - roadworks and a diversion away from the river Then guess what.....roadworks on the diversion , but by this stage we gave up and could do nothing but laugh. Roadworks within the roadworks

With more time we would have stopped at some of the places we were passing including Ettelbruck in Luxembourg. This had JFK street and a museum dedicated to General Patton as well as a Pattton square. Similar to Bastogne where we stopped on the way out.

All was going well until we came to a halt on the motorway outside Brussels. Concious of time we detoured which took us straight through the city centre, 4 lanes of standing traffic which then disappeared into a lengthy tunnel system

The city eventually released us for a final wet and windy ride back to the ferry. We sailed back home in force 8 winds.

Not the best conclusion to what has been an excellent trip, but after a Grolsch or 2 things weren't so bad.

Overall a fantastic experience, and one to be repeated I'm sure.

 

[John Armstrong]

Nice report

Strange how we both stopped at Wissembourg on the way down and Trier on the way back

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Nice report

Strange how we both stopped at Wissembourg on the way down and Trier on the way back

Let me know where we're going next

 

[Martin S]

Thanks for the write-up. I really enjoyed it.

 

[John Armstrong]

Let me know where we're going next

Dubrovnik in September next year is the next long trip. Zeebruuge - Hull again, as it's nice to miss out Birmingham / M25 etc. Looking at stopping in Wurzburg, Lienz and then down the Dalmatian coast with 3 night stops in Split / Dubrovnik and 2 nights in Zadar, then back north via Aquiliea, Fussen and Bacharach.

Been keeping an eye on a Split webcam

http://www.visitsplit.com/webcam.html

and it's been really nice weather this summer, apart from when it went a bit cold in Cortina it was a bit wet and windy in Croatia.

 

[Homer1968]

Excellent writeup Cooperman. Got me thinking of spring/Summer 2010 already.
I liked your route and might copy this next year and abandon my Pyrenees plans
Cheers

 

[the beer hunter]

Great ride report Cooperman.

Looks very much like Homer1968 & I are riding around this area next year. If you have a Mapsource file with any must-see/do locations on it I'd be interested to see it. Although we're planning on camping any locations of accomodation you stayed in would be handy too.

I'll pm you my e-mail address.

 

[BegesRus]

Enjoyed the story - have to say it's easy to see why HITLER liked his VFR on those roads

 

[Aidan1150]

An interesting report there Cooperman. Germany is a great country to tour by bike. Good food, good beer and lots to see and do.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Great ride report Cooperman.

Looks very much like Homer1968 & I are riding around this area next year. If you have a Mapsource file with any must-see/do locations on it I'd be interested to see it. Although we're planning on camping any locations of accomodation you stayed in would be handy too.

I'll pm you my e-mail address.

I've got your PM. Unfortunately I haven't got the Mapsource file but I'll put together some info and get back to you.

Got me thinking about next year's trip already