It's been pretty much the perfect day today.
Took breakfast down to the lake. Tried to eat but was distracted by 3 cute Italian ladies who were sunbathing in their smalls and rubbing suntan lotion all over each other.
Settled up with Francesca's dad. He's the whisky aficionado so nice little chat with him before saying our farewells and hitting the road around lunchtime.
Pulled over in Riva del Garda for one final hit of ice cream awesomeness. The waitress recognised me from yesterday and recommended the 'surfer'. It's the amarena with chocolate chips. I took one scoop of each, both of which were excellent, then retraced yesterday route back north.
One small correction to yesterdays post, which I'll make when i get home, but add Passo Durone via Cavrasto to the route rather than the S237. I'd have probably ignored it and stuck to the 'main' road, but satnav insisted and definitely picked a winner.
Just before the Passo del Tonale i got held up at roadworks. All bikes were waved to the front of the queue and signalled to kill the engines. They were shifting materials back and forth so it was a good half hour wait. Helmet and gloves off, topped up with water, then killed time with a group of Italian bikers.
Cleared the pass with them, then rather than continuing west, i headed north over the Passo di Gavia. It's marked up as dangerous for good reason. The southern side has a crumbling stretch of single carriageway with blind corners and huge unprotected drop offs. I've ridden it before and I've got my notes with saved to my phone, but it's the most direct route to Bormio...
...which is where i stopped for a caffeine fix. Pulled up on pavement outside the usual pitstop. The restaurant was empty but the waitress pulled me a perfect espresso. She spoke enough english to supplement my half dozen words of basic Italian so had a brief conversation, that comprised mainly of me repeatedly saying grazie, ciao, buongiorno, per favore etc etc. Your basic Italian Ps&Qs. I think she was smitten.
Suitably buzzing from my caffeine fix i hoofed it up the Stelvio Pass. I'd skipped it earlier in the trip but the weather was good today. In fact it's a fairly solid 22 degrees everywhere with glorious sunshine.
The road was relatively quiet but there was the usually gathering at the top. I had an excellent bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard. It proper hit the spot.
The skies in Switzerland looked good so rode north east to Zernez then flew through Switzerland, via St Moritz, and back into Italy. The entire route is amazing. One of my favourite roads. The passes flow nicely, the tarmac is good and the views are second to none. Riding the 27 and the 3 from NE to SW defo has the best views.
Quick fuel stop before leaving Switzerland then pulled up at the border crossing. I think the guard was bored and just wanted a chat. He asked where I'd come from and where i was heading. Gave him the abridged version, which seemed to impress him somewhat. He bid me safe travels and i took the steady road to Domaso on the shores of Lake Como.
The usual chap was manning reception, but no sign of Vicky and Mikey. I asked but there's only one bungalow occupied this week and it's an Austrian family. Never mind. It would have been great to catch up with them but i can only think that Catherine offended them last time.
Pitched the tent, sparked up the stove and got chatting to a German lad from a nearby pitch. He was (push) biking with a mate and they'd done a very similar route to me down through Germany and Switzerland. Unfortunately, when they hit the cold and rain they were stuck with it. I just pointed the bike south and wound back the throttle.
So it's been a day of perfect roads, perfect weather and filthy snacks. I went to bed with a big smile on my face.
238 miles
Took breakfast down to the lake. Tried to eat but was distracted by 3 cute Italian ladies who were sunbathing in their smalls and rubbing suntan lotion all over each other.
Settled up with Francesca's dad. He's the whisky aficionado so nice little chat with him before saying our farewells and hitting the road around lunchtime.
Pulled over in Riva del Garda for one final hit of ice cream awesomeness. The waitress recognised me from yesterday and recommended the 'surfer'. It's the amarena with chocolate chips. I took one scoop of each, both of which were excellent, then retraced yesterday route back north.
One small correction to yesterdays post, which I'll make when i get home, but add Passo Durone via Cavrasto to the route rather than the S237. I'd have probably ignored it and stuck to the 'main' road, but satnav insisted and definitely picked a winner.
Just before the Passo del Tonale i got held up at roadworks. All bikes were waved to the front of the queue and signalled to kill the engines. They were shifting materials back and forth so it was a good half hour wait. Helmet and gloves off, topped up with water, then killed time with a group of Italian bikers.
Cleared the pass with them, then rather than continuing west, i headed north over the Passo di Gavia. It's marked up as dangerous for good reason. The southern side has a crumbling stretch of single carriageway with blind corners and huge unprotected drop offs. I've ridden it before and I've got my notes with saved to my phone, but it's the most direct route to Bormio...
...which is where i stopped for a caffeine fix. Pulled up on pavement outside the usual pitstop. The restaurant was empty but the waitress pulled me a perfect espresso. She spoke enough english to supplement my half dozen words of basic Italian so had a brief conversation, that comprised mainly of me repeatedly saying grazie, ciao, buongiorno, per favore etc etc. Your basic Italian Ps&Qs. I think she was smitten.
Suitably buzzing from my caffeine fix i hoofed it up the Stelvio Pass. I'd skipped it earlier in the trip but the weather was good today. In fact it's a fairly solid 22 degrees everywhere with glorious sunshine.
The road was relatively quiet but there was the usually gathering at the top. I had an excellent bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard. It proper hit the spot.
The skies in Switzerland looked good so rode north east to Zernez then flew through Switzerland, via St Moritz, and back into Italy. The entire route is amazing. One of my favourite roads. The passes flow nicely, the tarmac is good and the views are second to none. Riding the 27 and the 3 from NE to SW defo has the best views.
Quick fuel stop before leaving Switzerland then pulled up at the border crossing. I think the guard was bored and just wanted a chat. He asked where I'd come from and where i was heading. Gave him the abridged version, which seemed to impress him somewhat. He bid me safe travels and i took the steady road to Domaso on the shores of Lake Como.
The usual chap was manning reception, but no sign of Vicky and Mikey. I asked but there's only one bungalow occupied this week and it's an Austrian family. Never mind. It would have been great to catch up with them but i can only think that Catherine offended them last time.
Pitched the tent, sparked up the stove and got chatting to a German lad from a nearby pitch. He was (push) biking with a mate and they'd done a very similar route to me down through Germany and Switzerland. Unfortunately, when they hit the cold and rain they were stuck with it. I just pointed the bike south and wound back the throttle.
So it's been a day of perfect roads, perfect weather and filthy snacks. I went to bed with a big smile on my face.
238 miles
No comments:
Post a Comment