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Wed Aug 15 2007: Stelvio Pass |
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We woke up later in the morning in Merano to attack the Stelvio Pass. I had read that it gets pretty cold up 9000 feet above sea level, previous days forecasts had pegged a high of 10C, so I thought we would try to reach it in the afternoon as opposed to the morning. As we checked out, we got to know the owner of the Elisabeth Hotel, Paul (another one!), who told us that the houses up in the hills in the surrounding areas were once only accessible by cable car. The remnants of the cable are still visible, but the cars no longer run as new roads were put in recently. Paul's establishment was a family run business, and the hotel was named after his mother. He took great interest in our bikes and our trips and confessed that motorcycles and travel were high on his list of things to do if he could find time away from the hotel business.
Paul, the owner of the Hotel Elisabeth
View of Lagundo through the orchard
The area around our hotel
Around our hotel. The cable running across the picture used to hold cable cars, which was the only method of transport up to the hillside.
On the way to Stelvio Park
Yes. This is actually a road. A two-way one at that!
Neda: "Just try passing me, Mr. Porsche!"
Approaching the mountains
The ride to the Stelvio Park took about an hour and we passed through many picturesque towns. I can see how this would be a popular tourist destination. As we approached closer, there were many signs warning us of all the bikers who have died in the area. A cautionary notice to slow down and be cafeful! The very first hairpin we took was a narrow, 1st gear affair, and both of us went wide on the exit, as we were trying to keep in our lane in case oncoming traffic was approaching us, unseen. We both panicked a little. What had we gotten ourselves into? There were 47 more similar hairpin turns in total to reach the peak! How do I know there were 47 more? Because on the outside of each apex was a sign telling you what number the turn was as it counted down to the peak. That was number 48!
Mountains are impressive
Neda is impressed
Wow!
There are many destinations that all motorcyclists have to do in their lifetime. Roads like the Pacific Coast Highway in California, Sea-To-Sky Highway in Vancouver, Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, Deals Gap. The Stelvio Pass is probably at the top of the list in terms of challenge, fun and scenery. As we negotiated more hairpins, we saw how the other motorcyclists, bicyclists, cars and buses (!) did it, and essentially, you have to use all the road available to you no matter if you are going up or coming down. Oncoming traffic is aware of you as they approach the hairpin and each vehicle will slow down or stop to allow each other to use all the road to pass through. That's the theory. We saw an F650GS Dakar that a guy was trying to bring back upright right in the apex of a turn. It seemed he tried to share the apex with an oncoming vehicle and he had to brake fully in the middle of the turn and dropped it!
Bikers stop to take it all in
GPS tells us where we are, bicyclists go on ahead
One of 48 turns to get to the top. This one was actually one of the roomier hairpins!
I managed to take a video of some bikers negotiating a hairpin near the middle of the Stelvio Pass:
Signs at each turn tell you how many more you have to take to get to the top
Wow! (Again)
The hairpins are actually more tighter and narrower at the bottom and they start to become more roomy as you reach the top. About half-way up we stopped at a restaurant for a beverage and watched the locals zoom through the pass at 3 times the speed we were doing it! When the numbers of the hairpins left till the peak reached single digits, we noticed a lot more people stopped at the side of the road, taking pictures and reveling in the sight of the Tyrolian mountains all around us. As soon as we reached the peak, we were greeted with a mini village of souvenir stands, restaurants and hotels. Hundreds of motorcyclists and bicyclists lined the side of the roads, their riders dismounted and walking around in full gear perusing the shops hoping to snag that one memorable souvenir to commemorate such a remarkable feat as conquering the Stelvio Pass.
Near the top, Neda is proud of herself
Grinning like a fool
What better way to celebrate reaching the top than to buy a small keepsake of the occasion?
Cool bikers stroll the peak
Thankfully Neda had a bunch of Canadian flag stickers in her tankbag. We were going to give them to
people we met along the way, but never got around to it. I scribble our names and the date on the sticker...
...and stuck it on the Stelvio Pass sign. A lot of other people have done the same, but I imagine they must scrape
all the stickers off every week. If anyone is up there recently, please let us know if our sticker is still there!
(edit Oct 2nd 2007: Wendy from Alberta just e-mailed me to tell me that our sticker is still there! Whoohooo!)
There are three roads that lead up to the Stelvio Pass, the Strada Statale Dello Stelvio approaches from the east from Merano and heads west through the pass and then back downhill. To the north is the Umbrail Pass which leads downhill towards Austria and Munich. This is the road we'll be taking and the ride downhill was a lot easier than uphill, however there was a lack of guardrails and nothing stopping an errant motorcycle from hurtling down the slope of the mountain!
Double-You-Tee-Eff? What is it with cows and hairpin turns?
No guardrails on the way down the Umbrail Pass
On our way to the German border, this was a really nice road
A tower seemingly rising up from the waters? We must investigate!
Apparently during WWII, the Italian government flooded the valley where the town of Graun stood to make a reservoir to generate power. 70% of the population were forced to move away without reperations for this operation. Today, some land has been reclalimed, but the town still remains underwater with the exception of the church tower, which now peaks above the reservoir waters. This is a view of the town and where the tower stood, with the real tower behind the people viewing the model
Watching a line of parasailing near the submerged tower
When we reached the German border, the road we were on became an Autobahn, and we were given license to go as fast as we pleased. There must be some sort of check before you enter the Autobahn to make sure your vehicle can maintain sustained speeds of 150 km/h or more, otherwise you run the risk of being rear-ended by a Porsche, Mercedes or BMW! It's such a kick being passed in the slow lane doing 150 km/h like you're standing still. Lane changes are a cautious and vigilant affair, because even after you've checked your mirror (nothing in the horizon...?) and signaled your intention, you should check again to make sure a 911 Twin Turbo or Audi RS6 hasn't warped in in the last couple of milliseconds waiting to take your tail lights out!
No, this wasn't a group ride. As motorcyclists pass cars, they tend to bunch up and follow each other. Safety in numbers, I guess...
Neda posing with the Alps in the background. Um, and my orange soda in the foreground. Oops...
Neda stretching her legs on the Autobahn. We're not stopped here, we're actually going 80 km/h
as the Autobahn speed limit drops when going through city borders
We reached Munich around 8PM and checked into the middle of BMW-Land. BMW had built the biggest motorcycle-only store in the northern part of the city, quite coincidentally across the street from a Dainese Pro Store. So I checked ourselves into a hotel about 50 metres away from the both of them, to prepare for tomorrow's festivities! :)
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