By Pedro Gregorio, Feature Editor
Ok, it’s word association time: Germany. Beer might be the first word that pops into your mind but if you’re a motorcycle or car nut, speed should be at the top of the list. Speed as in no speed limit, go as fast as you want, pedal to the metal, throttle to the stop speed. Ever since I started riding I’ve dreamed of experiencing the German autobahn in all of its speed-unlimited glory and riding the Alps. This summer I had the chance to do just that. My friend Brad was on a work assignment in Munich so I had a place to stay. He told me I could rent a BMW motorcycle at the Munich BMW dealer so a few emails and phone calls later and I had a R1200GS Adventure for three days and 1000 kilometers. I had hoped for something brutally fast like a K1300S but choices were limited due to my waiting until the last minute and the Adventure turned out to be an excellent choice.
Before taking the three day flight to Europe (kidding, it just felt like it) I made a stop at the Barnes & Noble to pick up a Michelin map of Germany and Austria. The GPS would tell me where to go but I ended up using the paper map a lot. The other resource which proved invaluable had been sitting on my bookshelf for decades, John Hermann’s Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps. After a Sunday of getting over jet lag and a Monday of experiencing BMW Welt in downtown Munich (a must see for any car nut), Tuesday morning dawned overcast and drizzle as Brad gave me a ride to the dealer on his BMW K1300R. The BMW motorcycle dealer in Munich put most of our car dealers to shame. Three levels, new bikes and service on the ground floor, used bikes downstairs, and gear and parts upstairs. The gear area alone was bigger than most of our bike dealers. There was even a café on the ground floor. Picking up my bike meant filling out some paperwork, showing my passport and international driver’s license and handing over the credit card. I paid extra for the saddle bags, a tank bag, and a GPS, the most critical of all the options. I also added some extra insurance. The big 8.7 gallon tank was full so I didn’t need to worry about gas for a long time. Of course I would have to return the bike in three days with a full tank. The price of renting the Adventure and all the hardware? Not cheap; let’s just say I didn’t get more than a couple of Franklins back from a grand. If I had started researching my rental earlier I probably could have found something cheaper but hey, this was a once in a lifetime trip and Europe isn’t cheap so I was prepared to part with some serious cash.
Getting out of town was easy once I told the GPS to take me to Innsbruck, Austria. My dream of riding the Alps was only a couple of hours away. The Adventure probably topped out around 130 mph but I had no need to test that. At BMW Welt, anyone can rent a BMW car by the hour so, on Monday, I had rented an X5M for two hours. That’s a twin-turbo V-8 SUV with 550 hp. Experiencing that beast on the autobahn at wide open throttle had completely satisfied my need for speed. Besides, the Adventure’s windshield and I didn’t get along at speeds higher than 100 mph. As I approached the Austrian border the scenery started to have a decidedly alpine look with mountains popping up all around me. Tuesday would be the only day of clouds and drizzle on my 3-day ride and I had brought enough riding gear to deal with it as evidenced by the overweight luggage fee I had to pay at Detroit Metro.
Following John Hermann’s advice, I headed west out of Innsbruck on the A12 and exited onto B186 south. My goal was the Timmelsjoch Pass, a can’t-miss pass according to John’s book. The main pastime of European riders is what’s known as bagging passes, i.e., seeing how many passes you can ride. As I climbed to the top of the 8200 ft. pass, I started to see snow on the side of the road and at the top the snow was over 10 ft tall on both sides of the road…in June! Every time I started to feel a bit uncomfortable due to the drizzle and rapidly dropping temperatures, I would come across a spandex clad cyclist cranking up the mountain who would put me in my place. This would become a common occurrence over the next two days. The Alps are crawling with zero-body-fat cyclists. No wonder the Tour de France is so popular here.
Before I could go over the pass I had to pay the one-way 12 Euro toll, about $16. I told you Europe wasn’t cheap. Still, it was well worth the money. The cold, stark scenery at the top and the ride down the hairpins to green and warm valleys on the Italian side were absolutely stunning. This was what I had dreamed about all these years. The big GS handled the steep uphill and downhill hairpin turns with aplomb due to its low center of gravity and low rpm torque. If you’re not comfortable riding hairpin turns, you need to practice in the U.S. before coming over.
Alpine roads can be very narrow so staying on your side of the road is pretty important. There are only two ways of traversing a steep mountain: go over it on a road filled with hairpin turns or dig a tunnel through it. I would get my fill of tunnels the next day.
Tuesday night found me in the incredibly scenic Italian town of Merano. I stumbled upon the Hotel Graf von Meran right in downtown and that’s where I spent the next two nights. As with most European inns and hotels, there was covered bike parking in the garage. Although many of us travel by bike in the U.S., European inns and hotels seem to be much more accommodating to riders. Merano is a popular tourist destination known for its thermal baths and the medieval part of town. The Passer River runs right through town and sitting on a bench in the sunshine listening to the water as I admired the mountains all around was something that I will not soon forget.
Wednesday I rode a loop that took me over Jaufenpass, another picture postcard Alpine pass, and a lunch stop in the walled city of Sterzing. Because this area of Italy is so close to Austria, geographical landmarks have both Italian and German names and everyone speaks both languages. Riding south into Bolzano took me through lots of tight, narrow tunnels that didn’t keep a leather-clad sportbike rider from blowing by me as we entered a blind turn going into a tunnel. 99% of riders I saw were wearing full riding gear, no shorts and flip-flops here. Many riders wore highvisibility vests to the point that I thought they were mandatory. They’re not; however, if you have a breakdown by the side of the road you have to wear one. My rental GS did include a vest under the seat. The thing I most envy about European riders is the ability to split lanes. I wish we would put the same effort into lane splitting legislation that we do into helmet laws. Not being able to lane split is the most frustrating thing for me as an American rider.
Thursday was the day I had to return the bike in Munich so I backtracked to Innsbruck where I headed east to pick up the scenic 181 north into Germany. The weather was sunny and warm so there were tons of bikes on the road. I was surprised by how many cruisers I saw since I expected to see mostly sport, sport-touring, and naked bikes. Riding along the Achensee, a long, thin, bright green-colored lake in a resort area was another postcard moment burned into my brain. Lunch at a quaint roadside restaurant provided a never-ending parade of bikes and sports cars. It was the perfect way to end my 3-day Alpine adventure (pun intended).
If you’ve ever dreamed of riding the Alps, do it. It will be expensive but worth every penny. The scenery is mind-blowing and the people and food will only add to the experience. For me, the riding itself wasn’t as enjoyable as riding in the Smokies or the Ozarks because of the very tight roads, traffic, and speed limits. On secondary roads it felt like I was always coming up on a town with a 30 or 40 mph speed limit so passing cars between towns wasn’t really worth it; ironic in a land known for high speed autobahns. Of course over my three days and 500 miles I only saw a very small sample of alpine roads in populated areas so I’m sure there are fast deserted sweepers waiting to be discovered. I’ve heard good things about Switzerland.
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