Europe Tour 2016 Part 2 - Head for the hills.

Continued from Part 1


The Africa Twin was dragged out into the light and we quickly got the front wheel off. I'd had new tyres fitted just before the we set off so I was gutted to get a puncture. Young Joe was a great help setting about the repair. I've got a bad habit of becoming a right miserable bastard when things go wrong with the bike and Joe kept my spirits up. Euan was enthusiastically smashing tyre levers around every where and trying to rip the tube out. Rick supplied the tools and everyone else mucked in. We found a wee hole in the tube which we patched with a pushbike patch which in turn was double patched with another piece of inner tube. The bike was reassembled and the tyre inflated. It stayed up! Our repair was airtight. Braw.

I phoned Wolfgang. We were supposed to be well on our way to his house up in Breitnau by now. Wolfgang assured us all was fine and not to rush. It was a nice ride over past lake Titisee and in no time we were at Wolfgang's traditional house. On the way over I was getting more and more concerned with our repair. Was it deflating or was I imagining things? I knew there was a motorcycle garage in Freiburg and I'd pretty much made my mind up to stop in there and get a new tube on our way to Livigno the next day. When we arrived at Wolfgang's the usual greeting and introductions were exchanged. Wolfgang's partner Uta had cooked a proper feed and we were joined by Wolfgang's son Robin and his girlfriend Danni. Between lunch and dinner Robin took us for a spin in Wolfgang's Willys Jeep (have a look on the bonnet) and we had some Rothaus beer that Wolfgang had kept cool in the stream beside his house. We never made it to the brewery, will have to do that on our next visit. Barbecue was for dinner and the evening was passed with more beers. I told the guys my plan to go to the bike shop and get my tube changed. They decided to head straight to Livigno while HB and I would follow Wolfgang to the bike shop. Livigno is a tax haven in the very north of Italy, not far from the Swiss and Austrian borders. The obvious route would mean riding through Switzerland and that would mean having to buy a Swiss vignette at 40 euro. I was also pretty nervous about riding through Switzerland after hearing all the horror stories about people being caught at 7 kph over the speed limit or crossing a line painted on the road by a meter and receiving huge, and I mean HUGE fines.

At Wolfgang's place.

Wolfgang gets some beers out the stream.

 I checked the tyre pressure the next morning. It had lost a little bit air but was holding enough to get to the bike shop. I got busy with the foot pump while the guys packed their bikes up. I went over the route and the campsite we were heading for with them before HB jumped in Wolfgang's car and we all headed in separate directions. I followed Wolfgang to a familiar place, the same bike shop I had bought the tyre for the ZZR from on my last visit. My Africa Twin joined the queue behind some English guys who were also in with tyre problems. One of them had got a puncture in the rear of his Yamaha XJR which he'd repaired with one of those worm things. Like my repair it got him to the shop but he was changing the tyre for piece of mind, you don't want to be getting a blow out on some of the high passes! The new innertube was fitted and the guy even gave the bike a once over; it was like a mini MOT. All that for 40 euro. there's been some folk moaning that the Africa Twin has tubed tyres. Their argument is tubeless is easier to fix with the wee worm or rubber mushroom plugs. The guy with the XJR had done this very repair, but was very nervous about riding at any speed, so had to get a new tyre at 160 euro. I had the Markus the mechanic add his name to my list of destinations on my pannier lid before saying our goodbyes to Wolfgang and heading south.

We stopped at the Swiss border to buy our vignette, the Swiss border guards and police were friendly and helpful getting us on our way quickly, then it was motorway to Davos. I kept one paranoid eye fixed to the speedo all the way. Even from the motorway Switzerland is a stunning country but I couldn't relax in case I accidentally creeped over the speed limit. Off the motorway the speed limit is 80kph (50mph). The roads were open and fast but I crawled along at 80 with a queue of probably irate Swiss motorists behind me. Ultimately a fine of several hundred euros would mean the end of our trip so I dawdled along doing my best to make space for people behind to overtake when I could. There are several ways in to Livigno, one of which involves taking the tunnel. On one of our stops we picked up a message from the rest of the guys, they had attempted to take the tunnel only to find it closed. Instead of heading for the tunnel we took the route over the stunning Fluella Pass, Bernina Pass and the Forcola di Livigno. Once we were in these higher roads thing improved significantly. The Swiss alpine passes are among the best roads in the world. As we twistied out way up and over the mountains we passed glaciers, snow covered peaks and frozen lakes. At the top of our last pass, Forcola di Livigno we crossed the border in to Italy. Things could become much more fun now as I could give my full attention to getting us down the road into Livigno without worrying about being 7kph over the speed limit. I had done my best to commit Google maps to my sieve like memory and we found the campsite quite easily arriving just a few minutes behind the rest of the guys. It had been a long day but those last few miles from Davos to Livigno were absolutely amazing. It felt great to be back in the Alps.

Time off the bike is just as important as time on it. We wanted a holiday as much as a motorbike trip so we had planned as many two night stops as we could. The sun was going down not long after we arrived in Livingno and the temperature dropped pretty fast, high twenties becoming low teens in no time. We headed to a local pizzeria for our food, watched Iceland shaft England at the football, had a few beers then back to the campsite where we found Joe, Jamie and Wojtek, who had headed back earlier, attempting to keep warm around Joe's double burner camping stove. Jamie was feeling so cold he even attempted to pre heat his sleeping bag over the stove.
Another stunning alpine day woke us up. I wanted to head off on the bike and ride Stelvio pass with everyone else opting to stay and chill out in Livigno. Livigno is a tax haven so the fuel I chucked in the tank before I set off was the cheapest I've found in years working out at around 80p per litre. Riding up the Passo del Foscagno gives great views over Livigno and takes you eastwards through some stunning Alpine landscape to the bottom of Stelvio pass. These roads were relatively quiet, it was good to get out on my own and chuck the bike around a bit. Most of the other traffic were bikes, I stopped to take a couple of photos and got speaking to a guy on a Triumph who loved the Africa Twin. I say speaking, he had no English and I had no Italian. He understood what I meant when I offered him a seat on the bike, he sat posing while his missus took photos of him. We headed off in opposite directions where after a few miles I joined the Stelvio Pass. I'd ridden the Stelvio before years ago on my 1150 GS, I thought it was busy then but it was fucking HEAVING now. There were hundreds of motorbikes, loads of pushbike, classic cars, fast cars, banger cars, motorhomes and tour buses and everyone was trying to squeeze into the same wee strip of tarmac that famously switchbacks its way up the mountain. Top Gear once declared Stelvio to be "The Best Driving Road In The World." They must be smoking better gear than Wojtek because while Stelvio is scenically stunning, it's no where near the best road in the area, never mind the Alps or the rest of the world. The tight hairpin bends offer no flow or variety. That doesn't stop folk from trying though, you really need to have your shit together, it seem that at least one person drops there bike riding Stelvio every day. I had a few close calls, dodging a few folk who miss judged the corner, running wide. I figured the secret was to keep an eye on what was coming down the hill. This meant looking nearly behind me as I rode forwards, it took a wee bit getting used to.

Wojtek samples Fermet Branca. It's fucking horrible.

Overlooking Livigno.

The campsite in the distance.

Triumph owner and the Africa Twin.

Stelvio.

The top of the pass was stowed out. There were bikes everywhere. I though I was going to have to dump the bike further down the road untill a Harley rode away just beside the Suasage Stall. The top of Stelvio is like a wee village. There's a few hotels and shops selling souvenirs as well as the famous sausage vendors. The original guy was somewhat of an legend, folk said he spoke seven languages and was a millionaire. These days the orange stall has tripled in size and there's some competition over the road. Thankfully the food is still as good. I got a huge roll with a selection of sausages on it and, of course, it was loaded with sauerkraut and mustard. Braw

  

It was more amazing views and chaos riding down the other side, I even got stuck in a traffic jam caused by a bus that couldn't make the hairpin bend. I went down as far as Trafoi before turning around and heading back over to Livigno with only a brief stop at the top again to speak to some English guys who had some ABR stickers on their bikes, ABR being a magazine I've been writing for. We exchanged stories and shot the shit for ten minutes before I headed down the hill. The temperature was getting up again as my altitude dropped, it was another scorcher when I arrived back in Livigno. I rode back into the campsite around 4pm to find the guys in various states of intoxication but mostly asleep. In the sun. There was gonnae be some sunburned bodies later on!

HB, Euan and I wandered into town for food and a few beers while the rest of the guys done their own thing. They were planning on riding Stelvio the following day before heading to our next destination, Abbadia Lariana on the banks of Lake Como.

Livigno goats.

But I'll keep that for Part 3.



Mike

Europe Tour 2016 Part 1 - Hot hot hot.

The Alps. Biking paradise. I've been over a few times but I could feel the place pulling on me like a magnet, every shitey cheap car air freshener giving me a chemically edged, alpine fresh memory blast.
Aidan and I had been speaking about a European tour for a while, as had HB and I. Ferry tickets were booked and a rough plan formed. We would be joined by Jamie on his Honda Hornet 600, Euan on his BMW GS800 Adventure and Joe and Wojtek who were in Joe's car.
Near the end of June HB and I set off on the Africa Twin to the ferry at Newcastle, stopping of to collect Euan at his house. Euan had already had a wee hiccup, dropping his bike in his garage which in turn had knocked his crash helmet resulting in some damage to the visor. He only discovered this damage about 20 miles outside Newcastle when his visor came undone at 70mph. Luckily Euan managed to keep his shit together and save the visor, somehow re attaching it while he rode along the dual carriageway. Once aboard the ferry we had an unsuccessful search for some superglue to fix Euan's lid before having the usual buffet meal then beers, and a dodgy cocktail in the bar.

We were greeted to a wet Amsterdam morning. Euan attempted to stave off his cocktail induced hangover in one of Ijmuiden's dockside cafes while HB and I fuelled up the Africa Twin and grabbed some juice and coffee. The Netherlands' rain dried up as we headed south, my trusty old GPS guiding us on a mostly accurate path to Vianden in Luxembourg where we were planning to camp. As we rode the thermometer rose.
20 degrees,


25.....


fucking hell, its at 30!




32!!!

At a water stop. That chemical toilet reeked in the heat.

It was sweltering, we had to stop to take on water every hour or so which we sweated out almost immediately. Our Scottish bodies were in no way used to these temperatures. Eventually we sweated out way across Belgium and into Luxembourg where we got onto the more scenic rural roads lines with shady trees keeping us cool. You can really feel the temperature difference especially when you ride beside a river or lake where the water keeps the air cool. We followed the river Our into Vianden. HB and I had stayed here before a couple of years ago so knew our way about. We headed straight for the campsite where we were met by a closed gate and a big fence. Shite. The campsite was empty, the only thing pitched being a big digger that was there as part of the on going renovations. This was the last thing we needed. We were tired, hot, sweaty and seriously dehydrated. Tempers were beginning to fray and I felt responsible despite having checked the website where there was no mention of any campsite closure. It had hit 37 degrees at times.
"Fuck this, lets get a hotel if there is one."

Vianden

We rode back into town where there were a couple of hotels. Euan and I parked the bikes up while HB checked availability. Hotel Victor Hugo had exactly what we needed with the added bonus of air conditioning in our room. Ya dancer! After a long shower HB and I met Euan outside where we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon over a few drinks and some food. I sampled Bitterballen, a sort of deep fried balls of stovies, and Aperol, a refreshing Orange Italian wine based spritzer type thing, as well as some local beers.

Bitterballen

Vianden is a stunning small town and and ideal place to relax after being cooked on the bike all day. We ended up sitting outside Café Du Pont speaking with the locals about the topic of the moment. Brexit. They, like us, thought it was crazy. The vote was being counted as we spoke and we were all hoping that we would still have a future as EU members when we woke up.
A quick scan on the wifi the following morning revealed that 62% of Scotland had voted to remain part of the EU. Unfortunately the majority in England and Wales had voted to leave. Thing were going to be getting interesting back home. After breakfast we set off while it was still cool stopping to brim our tanks with Luxembourg's cheap fuel. We took the pleasant twisty roads through a few towns before joining the auto route and blasting along the Piage into France. We were still toiling to cope with the heat. It was so hot it was making me dizzy. Water was poured over our heads as well as down our throats. Plans to ride the Route des Cretes were scuppered by the heat, with our sights set only on Rick and Andrea's house in Rickenbach, Germany.

Everyone assumes that you can batter through Germany in no time thanks to the limitless speeds on the Autobahn but in reality its easier sitting around 130 kph. Anything more and you begin to guzzle fuel at a rate that means more fuel stops and less time on the road. 130 is also a relatively relaxing pace and we cruised as comfortably as we could in the heat from Strasbourg to Freiburg only getting slightly lost once around Offenburg when the GPS and my navigational skills shat themselves over the new road layout. Familiar Freiburg was busy with commuters, the traffic torture in the heat, and in no time we were winding up some seriously fun roads into the cooler air of the hills. My heat tiredness was blasted away battering around the switchbacks. This was our first properly nice roads off the trip and the Africa Twin's first proper two up test. I was concerned that the Honda would toil in the twisties when loaded up compared to the GS Adventure. I needn't have worried, some mild tweeking of the forks and some big adjustments on the rear kept the bike nice and tight even with the two of us, all our camping gear and luggage on board. My average hairpin skills were coming back to me and I was getting used to chucking the loaded CRF about. The roads became more and more familiar as we got closer to Rickenbach. I had got my ZZR1100 from Rick last year (see this post for the story) and HB and I had visited two years before so I now know the area quite well. We were a sweaty mess by the time we rolled up to Rick and Andrea's house. I introduced Euan and had a big swig of the cold beer that had been brought out to meet us. Showers cleaned us up and a trip to the local shop got us sorted for food and beers. While having barbecue and beers outside we could see flashed of lightning in the next vally where a storm was doing its stuff. We were also receiving the first messages from Jamie and Aidan. They were on the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam. Their plan was to get off the ferry, meet Joe and Wojtek who were in Joe's car and ride down in convoy. Eventually the storm rolled over head and we watched it from the shelter of Rick and Andrea's porch.
HB, Euan and I spend the next day with Rick and Andrea chilling out. I nipped down to the shops to get some flip flops as I'd left my Adventure Sandals (TM) back in Vianden, nightmare! We went over to Todtnau to ride the Luge and eat some currywurst. They all rode in the car while I followed on the bike, getting caught in the rain on the way over. Euan and I got soaked again taking the chairlift up to the luge but it was worth it. The luge is great fun, well worth the 9 euro. If you're in the area don't miss it out.

Andrea, Rick, HB, Euan and Eddy the cat.

Caught in the rain.

Going up.

Once back at Rick and Andrea's an eye was kept on the phones. Wojtek was giving us updates from the passenger seat of Joe's beemer. I was pretty worried about that lot to be honest. I was concerned that one of them would get lost, or that Jamie and Aidan would be unable to find Joe and Wojtek. We were also hearing that it was pishing doon with rain all over the route they were taking. All my fretting was needless though, Wojtek's updates assured us that they were doing fine.

They all rolled up that evening. Introductions, greeting and cold beers were passed around before the shower ritual. That evening we headed out to Stefan's Pizzaladen. We had a great time at Stefan's place. Full of pizza and proper German schapps we headed back to Rick and Andrea's where we carried on.

The whole crew at Stefan's. Round the table there's Wojtek, Andrea, Rick, HB, me, Joe, Aidan, Euan and Jamie.

Another feast was layed out for breakfast. While we ate we talked about the day's route. We were heading up to visit Wolfgang, only an hour or two's ride north. Because I'd already drank shitloads of the beer I figured it would be good to visit Rothaus Brewery. Bike's were repacked with Joe's car being filled with lots of everyone else's stuff. I jumped aboard the Africa Twin and went to wheel it...

The fucks goin on?

Something's no right here.

Flat tyre.

Fuck sake.

Will we make the brewery?

Find out in Part 2.