Sunday, September 2, 2012

Chris D's European Tour

 
Logo Copyright OzAlps Tours (cliffpopp@ozalps.com)



Europe is a Motorcyclists’ dream (at least in Summer!)
I’ve been planning this for a while (18 months), since a mate of mine from Hash House Harriers told me about this tour group. I opted for the OzAlps 5-country tour (there are 2 other options-Croatia/Dolomites and Mugello GP tour). The 5-countries tour is actually 6, through the European Alps. Starting in Weilheim (south west of Munich/Munchen, Germany), and covering (depending on the group) up to 2350km (we had a 2500km limit on the bike hire), the route over 11 days took us into Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France and Italy, ending up back in Germany. Cliff Popp from OzAlps has been riding these roads for 25 years, his father being German (and married to an Aussie they moved back to Weilheim, Germany). Cliff’s tour is actually 12 nights, with 11 days of riding (night 1 being an introduction night near Weilheim with fellow tour members). Cliff has a maximum of 8 bikes (including himself) in the tours (mine a GTR1400, as my intent is to have a good 11 day test ride before I buy one here; others in the fleet –which are all current model demonstrators with ABS - vary from ER6, Z1000SX ‘Ninja’, Z750, Versys 650 and 1000, two KTM990 SMT’s, a KTM990 Adventure, and a solitary BMW R1200GS). 8 riders make for a compact group. Cliff’s local knowledge found us staying at ‘digs’ that vary from hotels to old traditional villas and B&B’s (one in Valdengo Italy was once a nunnery of sorts on a rural hilltop hideaway). The route took us through awesome European Alps scenery, and weird places such as Tyrrol, the centre of witchcraft in Europe. 

Day 2: Pick up bikes, ‘Other side’ riding (think ‘throttle to the gutter’ and it takes less than a day for the brain to ‘switch sides’), European road riding etiquette and a local run to Bad Tolz, near Austria, and back to Weilheim. A good drill on corner marking was a must, being used on the tour frequently. A good deal of trust had to be built up quickly, as none of us knew the others’ riding habits until now. For passing, left arm held up at 45 degrees with thumb up by leader is indication that it’s OK to come out and pass, and while clear this is passed down the line. It works, but only if used accurately. Trust is smashed pretty quickly if a thumb stays up when it’s no longer clear. A typical wave to a fellow passing motorcyclist is simply an extension of left arm outstretched. 

The first bit of the 'Gold' Molojapass
Day 3: Weilheim to Imst, Austria (German-speaking Tyrrolian mountain valley), via the Hahntenjoch Pass (1904m, ‘Bronze’ pass on alpineroads.com). We took a tour of the spectacular castle (Schloss) Neuschwanstein, and just after this we crossed into Austria. At this point we lost 2 riders-Tony and Toni (husband and wife team). We stopped, change of surface, loose gravel, Toni’s bike fell over and she copped a broken ankle. If you have to go to hospital, Austria is the place to do it! Cliff arranged for the bike pickup, Tony followed the Ambo back to the ‘Krankenhaus’, and we 6 (Cliff, John, Phil, Brad, Kevin and myself) continued on our way. A fantastic meal was had, with the mandatory beer and a ‘Schnapps’ or two. Oh, this is the day I had a ‘moment’. Right-hand hairpins are, well, different. I approached one incorrectly and came out on the wrong side, just as a couple of Ferrari’s were coming into the bend. Missed the first one, just, and then saw the second. What happens when you look at an object? Just as well car #2 saw what was happening, and pulled up to give me the space I need. Bike behind was watching me, and almost had the same moment. I’m pleased to say that’s the only moment I had. At this point, I confessed to Cliff the moment. Perfect timing, Cliff was about to give us a ‘right-hand-hairpin clinic’. Lesson learned! 

Day 4: Imst to Erstfeld (Glarus, Switzerland, home of the fabled William Tell). In order to get there, the route is via the Bielerhohe Pass (2032m) and the Klausenpass (1948m ‘Silver’ rated pass) into Switzerland. What the... a summer thunderstorm near the top of this pass saw us getting drenched (came on too quick to get Wets on) with lightning, thunder, hail and sleet! What an introduction to the Alps! The sun came out and we were dry again by the time we got into Erstfeld. Another great meal and beverages (the schnapps is great). 

On the awesome Sustenpass
Day 5: Erstfeld to Chamonix, France (at the base of Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain at 4810m). The run to Chamonix saw us doing 3 ‘Gold’ passes-Sustenpass at 2224m, Grimselpass at 2165m and part of the Furkapass (2431m). One of our crew decided the Furka needed to be explored a little further, until it became cobblestones and a goat track....
A bit more riding yet (it was a big day!); Some Swiss autostrasse and into France via Col de la Forclaz (1526m) and Col des Montes (1461m), and then a 35km run into Chamonix, where we found that Tony (male) had decided that with Toni in hospital, there is not much for him to do there except to continue his tour, so he picked up the motorways/Autostrasse and met us again in Chamonix. Another great meal, but interesting – we are after all in France, so a taste of frogs’ legs and snails. 

Day 6: Chamonix to Albertville. In the morning we took a cable car up to the first of about 4 levels up Mont Blanc, where we set about doing a tandem paraglide. Spectacular. I held my digital camera in my hand, recording the entire flight, which lasted about 12 minutes. From there we rode to Albertville France (site of a previous Winter Olympics) for 2 nights. Damn it’s getting hot, so the first thing done (after a beer!) is a haircut, before we hit the heat of Italy. Some wonderful day trip riding here, but this is where we found the worst weather of the trip so it afforded us a little rest. Riding, we took in the sights of Lac d’Annecy. We got some washing done, and a bit of exploring of a hilltop medieval city.

Day 8: From Albertville, over Col du petit St Bernard (2188m) and into Italy. You know the St Bernard dog? this is his home, as the statue at the border attests to. Here can be seen concrete tank traps across the hilltops, lest France or Italy decide to invade each other. Once down the bottom, along the (hot!) valley floor and into Valdengo for the night. A Sunday is a good day to be introduced to Italian traffic. At the ‘digs’ again, a fantastic welcome of cold beer and a great meal by the hosts. A few more beers, but now the schnapps has given way to the Italian form, Grappa.

Day 9: Valdengo to Menaggio, about halfway along the western shore of Lake Como. But before this, I got lost. A bit slow in getting out of a petrol station, and with Cliffs’ earpiece playing up, by the time John (running sweep) got the message to Cliff, they’re long gone and I’m a little ‘momentarily displaced’ in Arona!. A few stops to look at the maps Cliff gives us every day (they are good!) and ask some locals, I text Cliff to find that they’ve stopped for coffee (Italian coffee is The Best) and I’m ahead of them, at a campground clearly marked on the map. So I wait. The run along the shoreline is simply spectacular twisty stuff. This area is home to some rich & famous, including George Clooney, and a Bond movie Casino Royale was filmed at a really great location on an outcrop on the eastern side. A swim, another great evening meal, and I’m out like a light. This day also saw Tony make a beeline directly back to Austria over the Stelvio as Toni was being released from hospital.

Day 10: This is the BIG day! From Menaggio to Latsch (‘valley of the witches’), back in the Tyrrolian valleys. Merano and Latsch are seen as the centre of witchcraft in Europe. The day starts off wet (I had a swim in the lake at 6:00AM in the rain, and it’s still raining when we leave). From the north-western tip of Lake Como, the road climbs; firstly over the ‘Silver rated’ Molojapass at 1815m, through the ski resort of St Moritz followed by the ‘Hayabusa pass’ (Bernina Pass, at 2328m) and dropping into a valley which is a little gem of Italy. Here is Lavigno, a duty-free haven. We have lunch, and do some shopping (my SD card for the Go Pro has died, here I got a high speed 32Gb card for 39Euro, and it’s about $120 in Oz!). A 1litre bottle of Jack Daniels is only 13Euro. We buy a couple of bottles for tonight’s ‘Stelvio party’ in Latsch. The climb out of Lavigno signals the start of the famed Stelvio pass (Stilfserjoch), and at 2760m with 85 very tight hairpins on the ascent and descent combined, it is a very technical ride. It has also started a light shower again, so we wonder what it is like at the top. I would not say it is the best pass of the trip; that is still to come... It is however an awesome road, and by the time we get to the top, it is very cloudy, and cold (down to 6 degrees, it was 28 at the bottom!). By the time we finished the mandatory Stelvio merchandise purchase, it was raining, A LOT. And thunder, lightning and sleet. Wait it out for a bit and put the Wets on. 
The 'down'side of the Stevio after the thunderstorm

Miraculously, it starts to clear for the downhill run, just as well as this downhill side is even more technical than the up! The road ‘ladder’ on both sides is spectacular, it just goes on forever and was seen on Top Gear, and I believe, was the setting for the original ‘Italian Job’ movie with Michael Caine (remember the bus teetering over the edge?). We finally make it into Latsch, and have that Stelvio party and an evening out. Cliff warns us to be ‘back in the digs’ by midnight as it is the Valley of the Witches and weird things do happen.

Day 11: Does it get better? We have 2 good roads still to do between Latsch and Innsbruck (the main city of the Tyrrolian region, a hip town made lively by its’ youngsters, being a University town. I like it!). The first of the passes is the Timmelsjoch (2509m). This pass is THE BEST. It has longer transitions between ladder sections (= faster), the surface is better, and more spectacular scenery than Stelvio. This road was built by hand (pick and shovel) and finished in 1959 after 4 years of building (only 17 months of pure building work due to the seasonal conditions). It is awesome. Just after the Austrian border we meet a downhill section to the town in the valley below. The downhill has open radius sweepers, so a bit of an experiment. A downhill roll with engine off in neutral sees us getting up to 120kmh. Its weird looking at the tacho (0) and the speedo (120), and it’s so quiet! After this, we have a run along the river to the town of Oetz. We swing onto Kuthai Road, which is not a pass but a great set of mild ‘up and over’ twisties. Another valley run into Innisbruck, and another great meal in the company of new friends.

Day 12: The last day. It’s not far from Innsbruck back to Weilheim. We stop for morning coffee at the Kochelsee (a large lake, very popular with holiday makers and very picturesque). We wait here for a while, catching the opportunity to swap bikes. Why now you ask, if the Passes are behind us? Here is the Walchansee Road (the expression for it is ‘It’s not a racetrack, it’s better than that!’). This road has long, perfectly radiused bends that just go on ‘for ever’. It’s not uncommon for a couple of thousand bikes to come through here on a given day, so they are ‘verboten’ on the weekend to give car owners a go. After a few laps of this, we head for the Autobahn to clean the carbon off the piston tops. Nice. 245kmh for a quick 30km, before a leisurely ‘B’ road run back to Weilheim for lunch and hand the bikes back. Is the autobahn at those speeds comfortable? No. I had a big screen with the GTR1400, but still, my neck was sore (maybe because I had the Go Pro on the helmet, so I didn’t want to duck down onto the instruments completely behind the screen), feels like clothes are being ripped off, and too much stress. Give me 160-170, that’s OK. The slow lane is 130km limit! 

So how good are European road users?
Better and smarter than us! And it all makes sense. No over-zealous use of speed measures (Germany = limit + 10%, so 60 = 66 and if you are doing 67, you get fined for 1kmh over the limit, not 7). Roadworks? A simple warning triangle and people get on with their repairs (maybe with a barrier or two - especially on the Autobahn). None of this overuse of barriers and signage (particularly when no work is being done at all-which happens so often here). This is another sign of the road users there being much more observant and generally better. Italy? Looks crazy but it isn’t. The Italian government don’t allow people to get a license for a killing machine (car) unless they’ve been riding bikes/scooters for 3-5 years, so they know how to look after bike riders. Sit off their rear left and watch their mirror. They’ll check it every few seconds. They see you, move hard right and it opens the centre of the road up as a passing lane in each direction for bikes. As you go past, waggle your right foot ‘Thanks Mate’. They leave a few metres at the lights for bikes to filter to front and be first off the lights. They know that bikes out-accelerate a car, so why bother trying? Little, if any, road rage anywhere in Europe from what I saw. No accidents, means they are smarter road users. France-not as careful as Italians, and I’ve heard mixed things. Swiss drivers-Watch them, it is their decision when you can pass, not yours. Netherlands drivers (especially in Winnebago’s)-Netherlands is very flat and not much by way of winding roads, so they need to be monitored closely.

Importantly, in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (not so much in Italy and France)-It’s not good etiquette to pull up at lights and leave the engine on. Come to a stop, stay in #1, flick kill switch off and on, and when lights change pull clutch and hit start & away. It becomes second nature very quickly. Of course, their lights do have a legitimate period of ‘amber’ that tells you to start, and they don’t use that as a sign to jump the lights, so unlike here, you are not likely to be punched up the backside. And the road standards just encourage bikes. No wonder they consistently have the best bike riders (and car drivers) in F1 and MotoGP etc.
What about the rest of my trip? The above was only half of my stay away. Read on. I wanted to extend the bike hire, but it was suggested to me that I’ll be better off with a car-half the price and I can move from place to place without having to carry all luggage to and from hotel rooms; and it gives me a break from the bikes after having just done some 2300km. Best advice ever! Car hire for 10 days (a little Opal Zafira station wagon) ended up costing about 800Euro. From pickup in Starnberg (between Weilheim and Munich), it took me for 3 days around Munchen, and then to Berchtesgaden (south east corner of Bavaria), where I took in the magnificent scenery afforded from the top of Mt Kehlstein. This is the famous ‘Eagles Nest’ where the mountaintop getaway was built for Adolf Hitler in 1934-1938. The scenery is breathtaking, and apparently one of the worlds’ best panoramic views. On a clear day (which I did have) you can look across into 5 countries. He rarely visited the facility, as apparently he was afraid of heights!
From Berchtesgaden I drove north-west to Wurzburg, staying there 2 nights and taking in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This is a very beautiful old walled town with cobble-stone streets, which is protected under the national trust to maintain its authenticity. Here can be found all the typical German products and crafts, and I ended up buying a cuckoo clock (sentimental to me as it’s made in the Black Forrest– Schwarzwald-which was my mum’s favourite place in Germany when she was a young child, and my dad brought back a clock when he made his first pilgrimage back to Berlin in 1970 to visit his mother after coming to Australia in 1952). I did not stay at Rothenburg, which is a pity as I have been told that they run tours through the town at night, which is spectacular given the use of oil lamps by the guide-a kind of a pied-piper tour explaining away the history of the place. 

From Wurzburg I made a beeline for Cologne, known locally as Koln (on the River Rhine), where my wifes’ nephew lives. I had a quick tour of the city, the highlight being a walk through the Cathedral (High Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Mary). This building is awesome, and it seems, miraculously survived the heavy bombings on Cologne where almost every other building in the entire city was destroyed. Next day, on the Thursday morning before I flew home, I realised that Cologne is only 40km from my mothers’ birthplace of Duisburg, so I went there. I was having a beer in the Marketzplatz (village square) and on a whim I texted my brother and told him where I was. He said he’d text me back, and rang mum (who is quite elderly and can hardly remember what happened 5 minutes ago). Mum was able to recite house number and name (how does this happen?), which he gave me. I stuck it into the GPS and.... the place exists. So I went there. Took some photos, nobody was home and I was about to leave when a car pulled into the driveway. I made some introductions, was ushered inside where I found that this house was bought as a bomb-damaged site in 1950 and rebuilt in 1953 by the in-laws of the current owner. I was introduced to the lady next door who remembers the previous occupants, which may have been my mum’s family! Awesome.... 
Anyway, when I got home there was an email waiting for me from the home owner saying she is sending me a gift for mum. A book on the village covering the period before and after the war. I can’t wait for this to arrive!
From here, where to? Before I left on the trip, I made contact with our Ulysses compatriot in Germany – Gernot Minmig. Gernot is the President of the Ulysses Club of Germany, and he has been to Australia on 2 previous occasions. Once when he rode his Honda Africa twin across Europe, Iran, Turkey, Asia and having it shipped to Australia, where he did the Nullabor, Cape York and Darwin, and more recently he brought his wife Waltraud (nickname Wally) here when he was on an Teachers’ exchange program. Most of the German Ulysses members live in Saarland (the smallest German state near the French border along the Rhine valley, near the northern tip of Schwarzwald).

Gernot and Waltraud at home
Anyway, I called Gernot and he said that I should come to his place on the Thursday (the day I left Cologne) as Friday Ulysses Germany members are going on a ride to Labaroche/Colmar area in France (opposite the Rhine Valley, near Strasbourg), and I can loan one of his 6 bikes (4 BMW’s-2 of which have sidecars for he and Waltraud, the Honda and an old vintage bike made by the company (name slips my memory) that started Audi). Anyway, I got there – about 2.5 hours on the Autobahn, to find that Jacqui from the Ulysses forum group in Sydney is also there, having been riding a scooter through Europe for 4 months. 

Gernot says ‘pick a bike’ so I settled on a BMW R1100GS after a quick ride through his village. A nice BBQ dinner with beer and Wally’s home-made schnapps made from walnut and aniseed, and we turned in. Gernot and Wally were to take the Autobahn as Wally is working till 1PM next day. The next day, Jacqui and I make our way through the most beautiful countryside, through a town called Bitche for morning tea (and getting temporarily lost on a few occasions). 

We finally arrive at the villa in Labaroche at about 7PM. Gernot is already there, and his fellow Ulyssians – about 12 all up including us. We have dinner (again a fantastic BBQ cooked by the owner of the Villa, washed down with, yes, beer and grappa). 

Chris D with UC Germany Labaroche France
The next day saw us splitting into 2 groups-me in the faster group of 6, including Zilka, the wife of Uwe Prinz who is one of the workhorses of the UC Germany. Unfortunately Uwe was not there as he had to work (they both work at the city Krankenhaus / hospital). We enjoy some nice riding through great twisty roads, which was unfortunately cut short when one (Hartmut) went into a corner too hot on his 2-week old R1200GS, and he low-sided and broke his ankle! The slower group had a different motivation-Jacqui with Gernot and one other, rode in search of old World War sites, as Jacqui is in Europe on a fact-finding mission about her uncles who had fought on the battlefields in France. 

The next day (Sunday) Jacqui continued her journey, and we went back to Saarland the slow way, through some beautiful French villages (walled, cobblestoned) with a backdrop of wine-growing countryside and hilltop forts and castles. Would you believe that a 200km ride can take 7 hours? But a fantastic 7 hours topping off an awesome long weekend with the UC Germany. We stopped past Uwe and Zilka’s place, where I am introduced to Uwe and given a Ulysses Club Germany shirt. Such is the Ulyssian hospitality mixed with the abundant German hospitality. 

On Monday I drove myself to Frankfurt airport, stopping in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam for 2 nights. Here I could only marvel at the un-ending madness of the scooter traffic, where again there are no signs of road rage despite the craziness, and no accidents. We have so much to learn! I did not ride, instead choosing to placate myself with the local beers at about US$1 and eating nice Vietnamese food (Mick Harvey, how can you eat pizza here?), as well as the odd game of pool in the local bars-found myself shouting a few drinks as the hostesses do know how to play pool with the help of a bit of cheating here and there.

Can’t wait to do it again, next time hopefully with The Boss.
Chris Dietzel
Ulysses Canberra branch