Back home from a week in the Alps. Rode up through Germany, stayed in a hotel in Austria and made daytrips in Austria, Germany, Italy and a little bit of Switserland. Hope you like the pictures. Rode up on a new set of Angel GT II tires. I batch-resized the pictures so apologies if the quality isn't always up to par.
All packed and ready
On my way, through Germany
Can't not eat sausage in Germany
Countryside Germany
An "Imbiss" is place where you can get food. They come in all forms, shapes and sizes though usually they're pretty small. Usually you can just get fastfood but often you can get a full meal like schnitzel with fries. This one also sells dried sausages and IIRC fresh meat.
Almost there
Why hello there pretty girl
Arrived at the hotel in Austria. The owner of the hotel is also an avid biker.
At an Imbiss called "Zum Charlie" (Charlie's place / At Charlie's), on top of a mountain, in the middle of nowhere.
On top of the Silvretta mountain pass
In real life this chapel was a lot more impressive. The top and the gutter are some kind of copper, the roof looked like untreated wood.
This was taken right after riding the Jaufenpass (Italy). I swear, riding this pass is better than sex. If you ever get the chance...
And from the Jaufenpass you go right onto the Timmelsjoch. This may be the highlight of the week, though it's hard to pinpoint "the best" day.
From the Timmelsjoch you ride back into Austria.
There's a (new) motorcycle museum here. Didn't visit though.
And they say Germans have no sens of humor (though this was in Austria)
Kühtai, cows and horses just roam the streets. Horses make me nervous though.
Right across the border, in Italy, there's a town called Graun. The earliest documents of this town's existence date back to 1147. In 1950 a company bought up the town and flooded it to create a reservoir for a hydro-electric plant. Families who have lived there for centuries were evicted. The churchtower serves as a remembrance of this atrocity.
A double espresso at the bottom of the Stelvio. If you ever get the chance to ride this pass, don't do it in a weekend. There's too many people here, a LOT of bicyclists. The problem is that the cars can't pass the bicyclists on these narrow roads when there's oncoming traffic, so you're stuck behind the cars on EVERY turn. I came back here on monday and it was much much more pleasant. Also, when you've passed the stelvio, be sure to turn back around when you reach Bormio and take the Umbrail pass. It's maybe even more beautiful to ride.
SOMEHOW a Surron got on top of the Stelvio. No clue how they managed that, but I guess a trailer was involved
I decided to take a break here by the water, but then I noticed the sign on a trashcan (see next photo)
BEARS??? Nevermind taking a break, gotta get the hell out of here.
A town in Switzerland. Switzerland is also very nice, but it's not in the EU so roaming tarifs are huge (be sure you're navigation app has downloaded it's maps and youre spotify playlist is also downloaded). One of the other ppl I met at the hotel made the mistake of sending a photo through whatsapp and was billed 60 EUR... Also speeding tickets are quite high.
Back at the hotel I noticed a dead bee, well... Every now and then a bug found its way into my helmet. The day after this I discovered how: A bee hit my collarbone, bounced upward onto the rim of my helmet (where you see this bee). A bit panicked (as I wasn't sure the thing was dead and might wake up IN my helmet) I stopped by the side of the road. I knew that opening my helmet while riding would send the thing towards my face. The thing is, if you put in the chincurtain, this helm is very very warm due to lack of ventilation...
Once a year, Tirolers celebrate Herz-Jesu-Kreuz. During the day you could see people in traditional clothing, going to church. The firebrigade was in there best clothes. The hotel owner said that after dark you can see fires all over the mountains, in the form of a cross or something religious. That is, if the locals aren't too drunk. Well I guess they were mostly shitfaced because this was the only fire this night.
Kühtai again I think, or maybe Kaunertal.
Kaunerberg, very nice to visit.
Bye bye Alps. Till we meet again. Planning to go back in August.
Back home with just under 3400km (2100 miles)
Picked up a small rock along the way.
I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end, I didn't get the Angel-GT letters scrubbed away
Sorry for the long post
