Switzerland & Italy - September 2019

[Duke]

Greetings everyone, its been far too long since I’ve posted but work has gotten in the way of “fun”. Well not this week!

I had to be in Zurich for meetings this past Monday - Thursday (9/16 - 9/19).

On Friday 9/20 I picked up a FJR-1300 from Arrigoni Sport, which is a BMW, Yamaha and Indian dealer in town. Why a FJR and not a GS/GSA you ask... Well I had been trying for over 2 months to secure a bike (ANY BIKE) and this was the only thing I could find between Bern, Zurich and Lucerne (easy for me to get to places). The FJR became available Wednesday as a favor to a colleague, so I am greatful otherwise I was going to have head up to Munich (plane fare or trains). Anyway.... Bike is sorted and now I am on a week long riding vacation of Switzerland and parts of Italy.

Highlights suggested by my Swiss colleague:

The Bike:

My ride thus far...

Currently I am in a hotel not far from Stelvio Pass in Zernez, Switzerland (just east of St. Moritz). I pulled off early today because it was snowing and I got really cold, even though I am layered and heated grips and all... Cold is tolerable. Wet and cold is MISERABLE! It has been in the mid 50s to mid 70s (depending on elevation) since I got here, but last night a cold front came through and all that has changed for me here in the mountains.

The sun should be out tomorrow and the clouds should blow out, if I am to believe the weather tools. Stelvio Pass is my last major “Bucketlist” pass for this ride. However I’ve ridden so many this week that SHOULD have been on the bucket list for sure. I am sure I will hit some more on my way back to Zurich tomorrow and Wednesday but by the time that many of your alarms go off in the morning I should have Stelvio in the bag. .

\

I have wine and a good WiFi signal finally to start this thread. I am currently uploading picture (only have my phone with me) and I will put together a proper ride report and my opinions on the FJR1300 AE.

 

[mlinkibikr]

Outstanding! Weather in the Alps can be anything this time of year, but usually changes quickly so in your case hopefully your next day is sunny and magnificent. If you are like me this trip will hook you hard, and you'll be baaaaack ! Enjoy!
Dave.

 

[klb1122]

 

[Tourmeister]

<---- is insanely jealous...

 

[Duke]

The September meetings were agreed to be held in Zurich July this year. FWIW I have been trying to secure a rental GS/GS Adv since that moment. However when I left the house to head this way I still had not secured a rental. All the locations that I could find in Zurich were all booked solid. I kept and optimistic outlook that I would be able to secure something so I packed my gear for the trip anyway. This now has become a game with my Swiss colleagues who were eager to see me get a bike. We were calling shops every morning and evening asking if there was a cancellation, then on Wednesday evening one shop took pity on us. Arrigoni Sport was willing to rent me a new FJR 1300AE. Their website is only in German(Swiss-German?) but they speak better English than I speak Texan. We exchanged a couple of emails and agreed to pick up and drop off times and then I had to concentrate for the last day of meetings. Friday morning comes and I get away from the office a little later than I had wished. I had stopped by to leave my suitcase and brief case at a colleagues desk while I was out riding. I was wearing my riding gear and had my "go" bag in one hand and helmet in another which got a lot of attention and side bar conversations, so it took a while to exit politely. I break away and head to the dealership to pick up the bike!

Lets go riding.

 

[Duke]

Day 1.

I left the dealership with the intention to only ride the smaller roads and stay off the Autobahns (intestate type roads). I did not have a GPS with me only my phone in my pocket with offline google maps and bluetooth ear buds inside my helmet.

NOTE: I did not have my camera with me on this trip, only my phone and to take pics I had to stop and take off my glove, so I didn't take as many pics while riding as I would have wished to have taken. But this was also a little liberating which in its own way was nice.

My navigation set up.

So with a sorta / kinda plan in my head I found 1st gear and headed off. Zurich is a rather large city and the first few miles were just getting out of town. But then the scenery changes. Here I am after my first small climb up a windy road looking down onto Zurich.

The roads were fantastic, low traffic and smaller, just what I was wanting to find.

I went through a couple of little towns that the closer you got the center of the community (town square?) I was greeted to a visual treat. These small towns are dotted all over the place and each had their own uniqueness but certainly a "Swiss" feel to them.

This is Willisau.

View from Morilialp, a little pass that was a great tease of what was to come. It also let me get comfortable with the FJR having never ridden one before. Gentle sweepers turned into some hairpins that were easily manageable.

Some of these pics just need video to appreciate.

I made my way down to Interlaken then down to Lauterbrunnen. Lauterbrunnen is spectacular and I am so happy that I went down there. The drive in was like Yosemite valley but for 20+ miles. It was 3:30 or 4pm when I got there so the sun was behind the mountain so that made for some dramatic shadows.

Some eye candy of a different sort that I found at the heliport.

I know... more cows, but the novelty was still strong on day 1 of riding.

I then head up to Grindelwald where I ended up staying for the night.

I rode through Grindelwald up to where the road ends, and there at that hotel there was a Bride and Groom whose ceremony just completed. I caught them having some fun with family and a Swiss horn (???).

They were trying to teach the bride how to play? the horn without much success. I did get to listen to the horn blower play for about 5 min, that was really cool even if as cliche' as the cow bells.

I come back down the hill and find me a room at the HOTEL CABANA and then head off to find some supper, to reflect on day one and to dream about day 2.

Route for today (more or less).

 

[Tourmeister]

It never ceases to impress me how stunning the scenery is in the Alps. Are all the towns so clean and nice or just touristy places? Do they ever have a seedy side of town that is kind of nasty? The rolling green pastures are incredible.

 

[Duke]

It never ceases to impress me how stunning the scenery is in the Alps. Are all the towns so clean and nice or just touristy places? Do they ever have a seedy side of town that is kind of nasty? The rolling green pastures are incredible.

I will say you see seedy parts in the cities, but in the small towns.. if its there I don't see it. Everything looks so manicured and is postcard worthy everywhere you look.

 

[Duke]

Day 2:

I woke up to a sunny morning and blue skys again. The Hotel Cabana had a great buffet breakfast that felt more like a B&B. The buffet had cereal(s), cold meats, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, pastries and jam. Assorted juices and coffee, Americano style as they label it over here.

I set off from the hotel with my intent to ride the central passes today with Furka being the highlight (Hint, it wasn't).

At the roundabout as I was leaving Grindelwald, looking back towards town.

A little more than hour later I am climbing up Susten Pass.

I was trying to take a pano to get a wide angle shot of the valley and the hairpin and bike drove through.. I will fix in PS later..

That was fun... first real pass with tight hairpins (or so I thought), the FJR was treat to ride through the sweepers and the would launch like a rocket when you twisted the grip on the straights when in sport mode. The wind at the top of the pass was blowing pretty good and it would catch you in twisties when you were not expecting it. So far though the shiny bits have stayed that way and I am building my confidence little bit by little bit.

On to the next pass, Gotthard Pass.

Thats the old pass road, its open to anyone but is mostly used by bicyclists anymore. It is also a cobblestone road. I am taking the pic from the new road pass which is only margionally less twisty than the old road. The biggest difference is that there are at least two lanes of traffic on the new one.

At the top of Gotthard pass looking down at the town AIROLO below:

Had to grab a sausage and a coke.

Now onward to my next pass for the day... Nufenen Pass.

This pass was the first time I was to get away from people, and to be honest I didn't really know that I was around a whole bunch of people before. But this road (a little road) that took me from Airolo to Nufenen Pass was devoid of any one. To the point that I really started to wonder if I was on the right road. Well that was easy to confirm that I was as there are not many roads to begin with. I guess since its not near a main North South or East West corridor it is over looked. Until it happened. I was putt putting along all by my lonesong around 80 or 90 KPH (speed limit 80) just soaking it all in on this glorious equivelent of a small FM road, when a heard of sport bikes blow by me like I was standing still. Any doubt that I was on the wrong road ceased at that moment. I caught up to them until we hit the hairpins where they left me in a blink of an eye. Boy could those guys and gals ride.

Anyway some pics from Nufenen Pass

From the top...

I felt like I found a hidden gem. The hairpins were not so tight that you couldn't take them with a little gusto to you pace, and the road was virtually free of cars. This would change in short order when I start to head over to Grimsel and Furka. But I digress...

Anyway.. Grimsel Pass, likely the most striking pass I would ride today. Still a ways away before committing to go the Grimsel Pass or the Furka Pass, this is what I see when I round a bend.

That is Grimsel pass infront of me. Traffic is starting to pick up quite a bit as Furka pass is also assessed on this road. Furka pass is quite famous due to James Bond (Gold Finger Chase) and it has the hotel in the hair pin. But Grimsel is more shall I say dynamic? Anyway, traffic is starting to annoy me. Its a sunny Saturday and seems like every tour bus and classic 3 cyl two stroke fiat is out for a cruise. I did more passing and riding than I did stopping for pics sadly looking back on it.

Furka Pass seen from heading up Grimsel Pass.

behind me as I am taking the photo above.

I get to the top and park at the hotel.. NOTE: Seems like there are little hotels on every pass. I suppose a left over from long ago, but they seem to stay busy.

View from the Grimsel hotel deck.

While the sun is out the wind is whipping along at I swear 40 knots with gusts quite a bit more. I wish you could feel it from the pic. The wind chill was about 20 degrees colder than I was dressed for....

I ride down the other side of the pass for a few km's before turning around to head towards Furka. The views were getting worse anyway (relative I know..)

As I come back over the top of Grimsel and am heading down I get a good look at what was behind me when heading up (it makes sense I promise).

Here you can see Grimsel and Furka pass roads very well and this spot is where I just sat for a while and listened to the bikes and sports cars pass the buses and slow cars. It may be hard to tell it by my pic but that white spot just below the snow line is Hotel Belvedere (the hotel in the hairpin).

It was also while sitting here that I made up my mind to head to Zermatt for the night. Its a little after 3pm so I scoot down Grimsel and Blast up Furka without stopping. There were easily 4 tour buses at the glacier parking lot across from the Belvedere and dozen or more cars with about as many bikes. But for story telling sake, here are a couple of pics from Furka that I didn't take but road by.

& how that shot was made:

Ok, back to my Day 2 ride... I am now hot footing it down to Zermatt from Furka and its getting late in the day but I do finally get the train station parking garage in TASCH, where get the bike parked and grab my gear for the train ride up to Zermatt. The ride up was only about 15 min and when you get off you're greeted to a small town where cars are prohibited.

This was cool, at 6:45 the church bells began to toll, and they kept ringing for nearly 5 mins. It was truly a treat.

It was also the weekend of a Mountain Biking World Championships, which was cool .

Until finally I sat down for my evening meal of some Rosti and a beer, and called it a day.

My route (sort of) for today.

 

[cdc]

Absolutely fantastic.
Cannot imagine the pictures you would have taken with a camera . . .

 

[klb1122]

Loving this! We were in Grindelwald in January and it was absolutely amazing! Covered in snow and completely different than what you saw, so it's cool to see your pictures of all the greenery.

 

[Tourmeister]

Absolutely fantastic.
Cannot imagine the pictures you would have taken with a camera . . .

I was thinking the same thing. The pics so far are great, but if he had his regular camera and time to use it...

 

[Knobby]

Thanks Duke. I love Switzerland,...Italy not so much. Great trip and trip report. I have to confess I copied a picture of your Pass route so I can do it if I ever go back. Your comment about Stelvio being on your bucket list, and that the other passes Should have been really captured my interest. Glad you had a good time. You're doing it right!

 

[M38A1]

Nice....

Whoever is driving that jeep a few posts back is short short short.