Around the Pyrenees

[zorkler]

Great to see the 2 of you up and at it again !!!!!! .

 

[rogdeb]

really nice pics Stef. Thanks for the sharing

 

[teerex51]

Day-um, but time doth fly

It's time to run our Tour of the Pyrenees again... :yahoo:

Here it goes in Italian

We're leaving through the Italian port of Genoa on June 16 bound for Barcelona, Spain.

This year we're returning on the same boat from Barcelona on June 24 as we want to give France a wide berth :glare:

Our itinerary will cover only the Spanish side of the mighty mountain range. Why? Better roads, friendlier folks, more twisties and less "autoroute".

This is an open invitation to any of you FJR brethren to join us. All you need to do is project your *** over the water (airline, ACME rocket-man suit, stargate --- I leave that up to youze guys) and we can assist with the rest, from bike rental to hotac and shipping reservations. Just be advised you'll probably end up riding a Beemer R-machine and not an FJR -- nobody rents them AFAIK.

Any takers? We'd really love showing you around

Stef

 

[Mike-H]

Stef....is this the plan for next year?....or are we going to do something different?.....riding bikes on a moving boat is not my idea of a good time :derisive: .....

 

[teerex51]

Stef....is this the plan for next year?....or are we going to do something different?.....riding bikes on a moving boat is not my idea of a good time :derisive: .....

Mikey, it takes a lot of concentration and a great sense of balance :dribble: . You'd love it, wise guy :angry:

Naw, next year we're doing the Alps, not the Pie-reh-niece and there ain't no car ferries up there.

(They have the Autozug, though. That train that carries cars through Switzerland, ya know. If you want I can book it for you.

That way you can ride a bike on a flatbed train carriage through a dark tunnel...how's that for kicks? )

Stef

 

[Mike-H]

Stef....is this the plan for next year?....or are we going to do something different?.....riding bikes on a moving boat is not my idea of a good time :derisive: .....

Mikey, it takes a lot of concentration and a great sense of balance :dribble: . You'd love it, wise guy :angry:

Naw, next year we're doing the Alps, not the Pie-reh-niece and there ain't no car ferries up there.

(They have the Autozug, though. That train that carries cars through Switzerland, ya know. If you want I can book it for you.

That way you can ride a bike on a flatbed train carriage through a dark tunnel...how's that for kicks? )

Stef

I don't know Stef....but ummmmm the flatbed train moving through dark tunnels sounds like a more fun prospect then the boat deal.....(since I know FJR's don't float worth s@#t).....ya maybe you should book that for me.... :lol: .....

 

[pawtracks]

Stupid J-O-B! :angry2:

I already have 95% of the battle done (residing in Italy) and I can't even make it.

I will be on a cruise during this dream ride.

Cruise to be provided by the US Navy...

 

[teerex51]

Stupid J-O-B! :angry2: I already have 95% of the battle done (residing in Italy) and I can't even make it.

I will be on a cruise during this dream ride.

Cruise to be provided by the US Navy...

Day-um, Rob. That's rotten. :glare:

Well, should the USN cancel or postpone the "cruise" you're always more than welcome to join us at the last minute.

Stef

 

[orestes]

We're leaving through the Italian port of Genoa on June 16 bound for Barcelona, Spain.

Stef

I'll wave at you from Cap Corse as you pass by. Hope you have a good trip

Dave

 

[teerex51]

We're leaving through the Italian port of Genoa on June 16 bound for Barcelona, Spain.

Stef

I'll wave at you from Cap Corse as you pass by. Hope you have a good trip

Dave

Thanks Dave, enjoy Corsica!

BTW, a buddy from our Forum just returned with some great pics CLICKY .

Great views and scenery and some pretty godawful roads, too. If you're taking the bike keep your eyes skinned and be sure you padlock it at night.

An inordinate amount of foreign-registered bikes just vanish every year in Corsica... h34r: or get cannibalized for parts the minute you turn your back.

Stef

 

[Khunajawdge]

We're leaving through the Italian port of Genoa on June 16 bound for Barcelona, Spain.

Stef

I'll wave at you from Cap Corse as you pass by. Hope you have a good trip

Dave

Thanks Dave, enjoy Corsica!

BTW, a buddy from our Forum just returned with some great pics CLICKY .

Great views and scenery and some pretty godawful roads, too. If you're taking the bike keep your eyes skinned and be sure you padlock it at night.

An inordinate amount of foreign-registered bikes just vanish every year in Corsica... h34r: or get cannibalized for parts the minute you turn your back.

Stef

 

[Khunajawdge]

The Pyrenees, Wow! Good place for a little ride!

Guess my planned rides this year pale somewhat by comparison? 3 Pagodas Pass between Thailand and Bhurma out of Kanchanaburi will have to suffice. Will probably be able to find a 250 cc near the Bridge over the River Kwai.

just some of my... CO2, you have a nice little ride!

 

[orestes]

Thanks Dave, enjoy Corsica!BTW, a buddy from our Forum just returned with some great pics CLICKY .

Great views and scenery and some pretty godawful roads, too. If you're taking the bike keep your eyes skinned and be sure you padlock it at night.

An inordinate amount of foreign-registered bikes just vanish every year in Corsica... h34r: or get cannibalized for parts the minute you turn your back.

Stef

There are 5 bikes going and I suspect they will all be chained together overnight even though the hotel has secure parking with CCTV. As to the roads, I keep telling my friends that our trips out will be a bit more sedate than those in Austria.

Thanks for the link, great pictures, which makes the wait until June a bit harder to bear.

Dave

 

[beemerdons]

Greetings Stef,

Fantastic motorcycle travelogue of the Pyrenees! Outstanding pictures that put you into the scene. Thank you so much. I last rode the Munich-Geneva-Toulouse-Pamplona-Salamanca-Lisbon route in Summer of 1970 aboard my 1966 BMW R60/2 while serving as a GI in the US Army in Augsburg, Germany.

Stef & Chris: Is there a chance that you could be in Merano on the evening of Monday night, May 21? AARG' would love to buy you dinner that evening; AARG' is the Arizona Alpine Riders Group. We will be staying at the Eremita-Einsiedler Hotel in Meran and we may be using this lodging for a few more nights to ride Dolomites und Sud Tirol. We can even strike out to St. Moritz and Riva-Lago di Garda for day trips from "Alto Adige". Six of us on BMW's.

Grossglockner is already open and my contacts in Bavaria tell me that Timmels Joch und Reschen Pass will be open by the last weekend in May. They also think that perhaps Passo dello Stelvio may be open by May 25. AARG' had asked SkooterG and LadyJane to ride with us, but I think that he is afraid of the 100 seemingly endless hairpins with practically zero inside radius on Stilfser Joch. Ah Stelvio, The Holy Grail of Motorcycling! I can't ride that pass enough.

Best Gruesse,

Don Stanley

[email protected]

 

[teerex51]

Don,

wish I could join you but I'm heading out to Istanbul on May 19. Here's more INFO.

Not a lot of twisties between here and the old Constantinople via the ex-Yugo but I'm sure it's gonna be a good ride. On the way back we'll cross thru the North of Greece and head for the Adriatic port of Igoumenitsa. There we'll board an Italy-bound ferry.

Alpine Passes are being opened as we speak. Yesterday PM we rode the Lucomagno and Oberalp and made for Andermatt as a hailstorm was just beginning. Down in the village it was only rain...lots of it.

The Gotthard was still closed, so we had to make our way back to Italy through the 17km-long tunnel. At an internal air temperature of 30° C, that dried us up real quick

Stef

 

[HIGHLANDER]

:dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble:

 

[beemerdons]

Dear Stef,

Do you have a lodging recommendation for Andermatt that you would be willing to share with we AARG' riders? Saturday night 5/19 we are at Hotel Zum Bayern in Heidelberg and Monday night 5/20 at Hotel Ibis Koenigplatz in Augsburg. I have ridden from Andermatt to Heidelberg easily in a day's ride before and we now have extended our bike rental for another day into Sunday 5/27 with Knopf Motorradreisen. We saw all of these open passes at various websites such as www.alpineroads.com and I called the group with the info on your riding Oberalp und Lucomagno; we then phoned Germany to see if Stefan would let us have the bikes for an eighth day! We were now thinking of Friday night 5/25 in Andermatt and any advice for reasonable rate lodging would certainly be appreciated. Is the pavement still rough on Gotthard? I last rode it in October 2005 on a BMW R1200GS. Viele danke Freund!

Auf Wiedersehen,

Don Stanley

 

[teerex51]

Dear Stef,
Do you have a lodging recommendation for Andermatt that you would be willing to share with we AARG' riders? Saturday night 5/19 we are at Hotel Zum Bayern in Heidelberg and Monday night 5/20 at Hotel Ibis Koenigplatz in Augsburg. I have ridden from Andermatt to Heidelberg easily in a day's ride before and we now have extended our bike rental for another day into Sunday 5/27 with Knopf Motorradreisen. We saw all of these open passes at various websites such as www.alpineroads.com and I called the group with the info on your riding Oberalp und Lucomagno; we then phoned Germany to see if Stefan would let us have the bikes for an eighth day! We were now thinking of Friday night 5/25 in Andermatt and any advice for reasonable rate lodging would certainly be appreciated. Is the pavement still rough on Gotthard? I last rode it in October 2005 on a BMW R1200GS. Viele danke Freund!

Auf Wiedersehen,

Don Stanley

Hi Don

I only saw this post of yours this AM.

The only place I could recommend for you is the Hotel Soliva in Sedrun (that is before you reach Andermatt from the Oberalp road). The hotel has an excellent quality/price ratio (CLICKY) and you'll find it on the RH side of the main road as you climb your way to the Oberalp Pass coming from Disentis. (In other words, you're 30 mins away from Andermatt)

As for the Gotthard, it was still closed last weekend and the jury's still out on that one as it's been snowing pretty heavily again in the past couple of days. While the pass road was opened around the end of May on most years (mid May in 2005) there is always a chance that the weather will delay the opening. Last year in April there were up to 8 meters of snow at the top of the pass.

'ne gute & sichere Fahrt wuensche ich Euch

Stef

 

[beemerdons]

Hello Stef,

Thank you very much for the recommendation for Hotel Soliva! Sedrun will work perfect for an overnight stop for us as we'll be coming up from Locarno.

Do you buy a Vignette sticker (paid toll road pass) for your bike or do you just try to avoid the Expressways (autostrada und autobahn) in Switzerland and Austria. In previous trips I have never purchased a vignette and I have just tried to avoid the Expressways, but there were times I was forced to use it for a few kilometers or so. Naturally, I was nervous for the whole stretch of riding because I believe that the Swiss fine you 65 euros for being on the autostrada and the Austrians get a 40 euro fine for being caught on the autobahn without a vignette. What are your thoughts? Just take our chances?

Regards, Don

 

[teerex51]

Hello Stef,
Thank you very much for the recommendation for Hotel Soliva! Sedrun will work perfect for an overnight stop for us as we'll be coming up from Locarno.

Do you buy a Vignette sticker (paid toll road pass) for your bike or do you just try to avoid the Expressways (autostrada und autobahn) in Switzerland and Austria. In previous trips I have never purchased a vignette and I have just tried to avoid the Expressways, but there were times I was forced to use it for a few kilometers or so. Naturally, I was nervous for the whole stretch of riding because I believe that the Swiss fine you 65 euros for being on the autostrada and the Austrians get a 40 euro fine for being caught on the autobahn without a vignette. What are your thoughts? Just take our chances?

Regards, Don

Don,

As Switzerland is truly my backyard (45 minutes away) I tend to buy a "Vignette" each year, but I don't stick it to my windshield. The Swiss are kinda laid back when it comes to motorbikes. Whenever I cross the border I point to my tank bag and they nod me through. If you are not going to make frequent use of their Autobahns and just hop in and out, save yourself CHF 40 and don't get a sticker. Last week alone we rode for more than 60 miles on Swiss motorways, including the Gotthard Tunnel, and we'll go again before and after the summer. My riding buddies and I always get a "Vignette" and always get our money's worth...

In Austria, the short-duration sticker is EUR 7,60 (IIRC) and it's simply not worth the risk riding around without it.

Stef