Motorcycle Trip 2017 (Switzerland and Italy)

This morning we left Corvara and headed towards our new hotel for the next 2 nights which is on the shore of Lago di Garda (Lake Garda) in the city of Riva del Garda.  The lake is the largest in Italy and is over 32 miles long, has an average depth of 446 feet and a maximum depth of 1,135 feet; a little bigger than most Minnesota lakes!  We are staying on the north end of the lake.  Much of the lake is very narrow with mountains on both sides which makes the wind conditions on this end of the lake great for sailing and wind surfing. This hotel is in a much more urban setting than we have stayed at before on this trip as this is a very popular vacation spot for people in Italy.  Below are a few photos I took shortly after we arrived during a short stroll along the beach.  As you can see in a couple of the photos, there were some black clouds in the area and thunder could be heard not too far in the distance so I kept my stroll short.  The first photo is t...

Early in our ride today, Charlie and I received Performance Awards (speeding tickets) from the Polizia (Italian Police) - here is what happened.  We had just completed our first pass and we were driving through some small village.  Charlie was leading, I was next, and then there were a couple of bikes from another group that had working their way through our group as they were able.  We were just about out of town and Charlie and I passed a couple of cars before starting the next pass.  Unfortunately, there were 2 Polizia on motorcycles parked to the side of the road and when they saw us pass, they quickly went in the middle of the road and waved us (Charlie, myself, and 1 bike from the other group) over to the side of the road- busted.  The officer didn't know a lot of English but he could get enough out to get his message through to us.  We had to show them our driver's license and we both have International Driving Permits as well.  They also wante...

Before our ride today, I took a couple photos from near our hotel to show you what it is like in the Dolomite area of Italy.  From what I have seen so far, it is different than Switzerland and Austria because here the mountains are rock formations that go almost straight up.  This means there isn't much for hills around them so you can get really close to the mountain itself.  In other places, even when you are in the mountains, it seems like they are in the distance.  See for yourself. The weather today was a mix of clouds and some light rain with a few rays of sun from time to time.  It did slow down our speeds over a couple of the passes but nothing we were not prepared for.  We did 5 or 6 more passes today including Sella (2,240 meters), Falzarego (2,105 meters) and Giau (2,236 meters).  Here are a couple of interesting items from the day (beyond just the riding and views!) We stopped in a town that is known for their metal worki...

This was such a great day I don't know where to start and I am sure I will forget some things. First, when I looked at Facebook this morning, I see my niece (Michelle Rettig) posted a picture of herself beside a statue of a Swiss cow in New Glarus, Wisconsin, where she and her husband Rod are on a very long pedal bike ride!  Coincidentally, I was in Glarus yesterday on my "bike" ride and that is the area where we saw the ranch with many Swiss cows on the road.  How cool is that for both of us! The weather today was bright sunshine with only very few clouds all day.  It made the views today very beautiful.  I will post a few pictures but I can tell you, they don't do the mountain justice but at least you can see just a fraction of what I did today. We went across several mountain passes today includes Silveretta which is 2,032 meters and has 34 hairpin corners, Timmelsjoch (2,509 meters = 8,231 ft.), Jaufenpass (2,094 meters) and Penserjoch (2,211 me...

This morning started out wet.  We left the hotel at 9:00AM and everyone had their rain gear on.  It was a light rain so not a major issue but it did slow us down at the start of the day.  We stopped at the bottom of our first pass to determine if everyone wanted to attempt going over the pass; there was a very low cloud base and we didn't know what to expect as we headed up the pass.  Everyone wanted to go ahead so we did.  Below is a photo of statue that was in the town at the base of the pass.  Not sure who it is as I have not yet tried to translate the text that was on the base of the statue.  (Update: Saint Gallus - Patron Saint of Wassen – Thanks Keith!) NOTE: I tried to upload pictures and the internet is really slow so I have to limit number of pictures today. Once we made the top of the pass and started going down the other side, the weather was very different with very few clouds and the rain stopped - yeah!  The second pas...

I was up before breakfast so I went for a quick walk around our hotel area.  Here are some of the photos.  I don't have any details about the castle. As expected, the ride today was mostly about people getting comfortable with their bikes, the roads, and the traffic.  Everyone seems to be adjusting fine.  We went over Schallenbrerg Pass (3,800 feet - not very high) as our first official pass.  Only me, Charlie (the leader) and Charlie's friend have ridden in the Alps before.  Many were impressed with the last loop we did.  It was fun, but I know it will get much better.  The weather was overcast and cloudy for much of the day as you will see in the photos. The last photo is of the restaurant we had lunch at.  It had this impressive string of bells hanging on it.  I saw similar bells on a few other buildings as well.  Tomorrow we are heading to Austria.  The forecast is looking a little wet ...

Today was a travel day. I woke up at 3:15AM in London, dropped the rental car off and got to the airport about 4:00AM.  Did the typical security and baggage check and was ready for the 6:00AM departure.  The flight from London to Zurich was an uneventful 1.5 hour flight.   From Zurich to Thun (our starting and ending place of the tour) is about 1.5 hour train ride.  It all went well! While I was waiting to board the train, a guy was standing beside me for a little while and then asked where I was going, I replied "Thun".  He said he was going there as well.  It ended up being one of the people on the tour; his name is Joe.  His shirt was from the Barber Motorcycle Museum in Alabama and my motorcycle shirt was from Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, so that was what helped create the connection. The train was very full and we had difficulty find a place to store our luggage on the train.  It was nice to have 2 of us working together.  One ...

Today, Thursday, June 22, 2017, is my last day of work before I transition to vacation mode!  Today I worked at our Peterborough location which was about 3 hours north and west from where I had been working on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We wrapped up meetings around 5:30PM and I drove back to London where I am staying tonight.  The hotel is near the Heathrow airport because I have a 6:00AM departure tomorrow morning.  That means getting up around 3:15AM to drop off the rental car and getting to the airport 2 hours in advance of the flight.  I am scheduled to arrive in Zurich Switzerland at 8:40AM (1 hour time change).  After gathering my baggage, I will head to the train station for a 1.5 hour train ride to Thun, Switzerland which will serve as the starting and ending point of the tour. I hope all the travels tomorrow go according to plan! Purchasing the train tickets was more of a hassle than I expected.  Charlie provided very simple-to-follow inst...

My first travel leg of the trip is complete!  I arrived on-time (actually a little early) with my flight to London yesterday afternoon.  I am glad to report it was a very uneventful flight.  After take-off we had dinner (yes - they still serve food and a drink! on international flights) and I watched a short movie, "A Dog's Purpose" that shows a dog having multiple lives and how it affected each family and how each family affected the dog.  It was a Corgi in one of its lives - so cute!  After that, it was time to get as much sleep on the flight as possible; I did pretty good at that as well. After arriving at the airport, it was through customs (that was a breeze), pick up the rental car (manual transmission and driving on the wrong side of the road - yeah!) and drive about 2.5 hours to the hotel near our office in Ramsgate.  Stopped by the office quickly to see everyone and catch up on e-mails.  Nothing too exciting here to blog about. The next 3...

This is one of those questions you will likely get as many answers as the number of people you ask!  Everyone has a different opinion and there is no one right answer.  It is just like asking what is the best oil to use or what is the best motorcycle tire. Last night, as I was going to bed, I opened the current issue of Road Runner magazine.  For anyone interested in seeing great places to ride around the US and the world, this is a great magazine.  It provides GPS files as well as printed route maps with each issue.  Anyway, as I read the editor's opening article; it discussed the Road Runner team's thoughts about the best roads. Listed first are the Alps and Dolomite's of Europe.  Stelvio Pass is specifically called out - how timely as I am going there very soon (and have done the Dolomite's of Italy once before) - check.  Next they discuss the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and the many mountains and valleys in California - check, been there too. ...

There are many things to be completed before I leave on the trip.  Knowing I am going to be gone for one month, there is plenty to prepare for at home as well as for my travels.  On Friday and Saturday, it was harvest time. On Friday, I took our 13 broiler chicken to be butchered.  This year we had them packaged and everything so when they came home, all I needed to do was put them in the freezer - easy peasy.  Before I depart, I still need to get the chicken coop cleaned up so I am done with that job.  It is never fun but part of raising your own food. On Saturday, I was able to pick 21 pounds of strawberries.  I thought I would miss strawberry season as it only last about 3 weeks and most places are not opening up to pick until early next week.  I was resigned to the fact that I would not get any fresh strawberries this year.  However, the place I picked berries at now for many years (Bauer Berry Farm in Champlin), was open for a few hours...

Once again this year I am fortunate and blessed with the opportunity to take another epic trip.  On Sunday, June 18, I will depart on a month long journey.  This journey is a combination of work and vacation. For the first leg of the journey, I will be traveling to the UK for work.  A portion of my work team is based there and it has been several years since I have been there to meet with them face-to-face.  One of the team members I hired at the end of last year and I have not even met face-to-face yet.  We are both looking forward to finally meeting each other after working together for more than 6 months. For the 3rd leg of the journey (yes, I will come back to the part 2 shortly), I will be traveling to India for work.  Again, I work with people there on a regular basis, but have not had the opportunity to meet any of the current team members face-to-face.  I will be spending 1 week in India. Now, back to the second part of my trip!  I ...