teerex51
The Italian Scallion
The Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse (yup, that's a mouthful of Deutsch right there) is a legendary high-mountain road that was opened in 1935 and climbs a huge massif (including Austria's tallest mountain at 3,798 meters) from the southern Moell valley to descend into Salzburg on the northern side. This is not far from Berchtesgaden, where Hitler and the top Nazi bigwigs had built their mountain retreats, which US troops liberated in 1945 and found exceedingly well stocked with fine wines and the occasional Van Gogh masterpiece. All of the loot having been stolen from cellars and museums here and there in Europe.
We left Milan early in the AM and pushed our rides (one 2007 FJR1300 and a 2008 C-14) into the Dolomites and down into South Tyrol like bats out of hell. We crossed into Austria at lunchtime. The plan was to head North to Kitzbuehel in Tyrol and treat ourselves to some very large beers, go to bed and ride the GH southbound the next day. By the time we rode into the Austrian town of Lienz, though, we figured: "Aw hell, it's sunny and mild, let's do this SOB now!".
We stopped for gas on the outskirts of Lienz and as we were getting ready to roll on, a summer thunderstorm that had been brewing further down the valley rushed in preceded by a barrage of thunderclaps. The Tyrolean gas-station manager pointed skywards and urged us to Losfahren! (In the US of A, he'd have put it like: "you guys had better git the hell outa here...". Who says German can't be concise?). We laid some rubber and headed to Heiligenblut (it means Holy Blood, I guess Tyroleans like their religion pretty overstated) and up the mountain. The GH is a toll road and it costs all of Eur 18 for a bike but the quality of the road and all amenities is first-class. It's like a mountain theme-park where you bring your own transportation. Should you so decide, you can ride around all day and check out every nook and cranny of the Grossglockner. The entry ticket's good for a full day.
We reached the Hochtor (high gate) at elevation 2500 meters and the view south was spectacular. The thunderstorm was thrashing the Moell valley but up here the sky was only partly cloudy. Through the Hochtor tunnel we reached the North Side and enjoyed more amazing views of the GG and the Pasterzen Glacier to the NW.
The road then winds down past some Alpine lakes to the Fuscher Toerl, a great overlook encompassing the whole mountain range. All of the peaks are at least 10,000 feet high with the majestic Grossglockner towering above them at over 12,000 ft. The road is absolute heaven for bikers, although it's also open to car traffic and littered with gawking cagers whose road antics you really need to watch. Some of them come from the flattest parts of Europe and the mere sight of a plain curve makes them queasy. Prepare for the worst. You also get suicidal cyclists negotiating the killer climbs in low gear, see them pedal like crazy just to keep from rolling backward.
We eventually hit the valley at 4.30 PM and endured the thick summer traffic all the way to Kitzbuehel and St Johann in Tirol, then crossed into Germany and to a small village called Reit im Winkl which is a sight for sore eyes. It's almost a German enclave in Tyrol and it's so pretty it looks fake.
We had booked a 4-star joint with pool and spa but, by the time we got there, we realized we really just wanted to have a few beers. Screw the health farm crap. The next day we woke up in the middle of a raincloud. Day-um - we said - good thing we did the GG yesterday... B)
The Wx improved at 9.00 however and we took in more beautiful sights along the local back roads. This area is part of the Deutsche Alpenstrasse, a concept similar to the BRP but with lots more traffic. Yet it makes for beautiful riding, while with a watchful eye on local speed cameras at all times.
Many quaint and spotless villages along this route sport their own variation of the Maypole, a tradition which goes back 7 centuries. You see them in the main square of every burg beautifully decorated with the icons of local arts and crafts.
We soon hit the East/West Salzburg-to-Munich superslab and headed West for a while to connect to the southbound Inntal-Autobahn that leads to Innsbruck and the Italian border at the Brennerpass. Traffic was the absolute sh*ts, with every Hans or Marike having left their native German or Dutch town in their mobile home bound for the Italian lakes or seashore. This sucks, we said, after eating the fumes of yet another diesel-powered camper hogging the passing lane.
At Innsbruck we decided to head West into Switzerland and then SW to St Moritz, now planning to reach the Italian border the hard way. It sure turned out to be the hard way. It rained non-stop for three hours as we negotiated a beautiful if threadbare valley road all the way to glitzy St Moritz.
There was a rally of vintage Jaguars in town that the weather mercilessly ruined. We were briefly stuck in convoys of foul-smelling veteran cars but we took advantage of several long straights to get untangled very quickly. Too quickly, in fact. Some parts we did at 170 kmh, which is over double the Swiss speed limit for non-slab highways. No chance of any radar camera having nabbed us, as we were pulling a cloud of fine spray behind our bikes that would have screwed any flash snapshot.
Got home safe and sound at 6PM on Day 2 after a mere 1,200 kilometers. What an exhilarating ride, though!
Stef
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