Trev's Motorcyle Travels

For 2010 we decided to ride to Italy and the Dolomites. We had never been to Italy and we had heard that the Dolomites were a motorcycling playground with Venice and the Ducati factory at Bologna nearby.

We rented an apartment in the Dolomites near the town of Feltre for the period Friday 11th to Friday 18th June. As we wanted the opportunity to do some sight seeing on the way to and from the Dolomites we planned our holiday to run from Monday 7th to Monday 21st June. So this gave us around four and bit days to get to the Dolomites and three and bit days to get back.

Apart from our first stop in France, we didn't pre-book any accommodation for our outbound and inbound trips to the Dolomites. For France, the plan was to stay at B&Bs selected from Alastair Sawdays recommended French B&Bs. We've done French chambre d'hotes (B&B) several times before and found them to be very good. For the other countries, we consulted TripAdvisor to find some recommended hotels around the locations we were likely to be stopping at and loaded them into our Sat Nav.

We live close to Poole (5 miles) and Portsmouth (50 miles), but we opted to take the Channel Tunnel in preference to the ferries for the following reasons:

The 5+ hours on a ferry always seems like 'dead' time to us. There's also the need to lash the bike to the ferry deck. Sometimes this is done well by the ferry staff and sometimes I do it myself. Much better to ride on and off the train.
We do the Round Britain Rally (RBR) and we planned was to pick up RBR landmarks on our way to and from the Channel Tunnel. Kent is always a bit out of the way.

On the outbound trip we planned to descend on the Dolomites from the north after passing through France, Germany and Austria. Potential attractions along our outbound route were the Black Forest, Bavarian castles and Austrias Alps. On the way to the Tunnel, we planned to bag the West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent RBR landmarks plus one of the Grim Riders battlefields, Hastings (at Battle).

For the inbound trip, the plan was to ride east to west across the top of Italy stopping at the lakes north of Milan before crossing into Switzerland via the Simplon pass. Once in Switzerland we would ride through the middle of the Swiss Alps (the Eiger on one side and the Matterhorn on the other) before leaving Switzerland via Lake Geneva and Lausanne to cross back into France. Back in England, we would bag the Surrey RBR landmark on the way home from the Tunnel.

Dorset to Dolomites

The holiday started well on Monday 7th June. There was a front moving in from the west as we left Dorset but we managed to keep ahead of it in fine weather as we made our way to the Tunnel picking up our RBR landmarks and Grim's battlefield on the way. Once in France we headed for the Sawdays B&B we had pre-booked, Ferme de la Vallee at Auchy au Bois (around 50 miles from Calais in the direction of Reims). It was a very nice B&B run by a very welcoming lady. A nice dinner and home brewed fortified wine made from local green walnuts.

In the morning we took the fast route, via Reims, to the Lorraine. We did have a bit of drizzle on the way but nothing significant. On the way we managed to book another Sawday's B&B, Les Champs Grandmere near La Petite Raon, not far from the German border and Freiburg. The B&B was very impressive, an immaculate house in immaculate grounds run by a welcoming if a bit fastidious English lady. (Possibly a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder? If you've seen the U.S. TV show Monk you'll know what I mean.) She very kindly ferried us back and forth to a restaurant nearby. I think she was motivated by the need to minimise the amount of time available to us to bring disorder to her household? You know, a towel hanging on the wrong hook, a badly aligned magazine left open on the coffee table, shampoo bottle in the wrong place, etc. It was a nice enough meal but Im more into quantity than culinary niceties.

Next day we entered Germany with the intention of having a good look around the Black Forest and staying a night there. It was a beautiful day if a tad hot at 35 centigrade. We engaged with the German traffic on the autobahn and found we were left standing by all the Mercs and Beemers passing us at warp speeds. Never the less, progress was very good and the Germans are considerate drivers. When we got to Freiburg there was a huge student protest going on with loads of protesting students and German Polizei everywhere you looked. We got stuck in the middle of it all with Polizei shepherding the traffic around cordoned off streets. It got very hot pottering around Freiburg with the Blackbird hitting a record temperature of 109 centigrade. We decided to get going so we pushed on through the Black Forest in lovely weather to Lake Konstanz. We kept to the German north side of Lake Konstanz and eventually arrived at Meersburg, a picturesque little town on the side of the lake. We came across the Hotel Eden which was very plush but a bit pricey (I certainly hadnt budgeted for it). Chris had made up her mind so we booked into the Hotel Eden. The Italian hotel manager was a good guy although he was a bit concerned about our fly spattered crash helmets getting his linen dirty. (He neednt have worried, we used the towels to get rid of those!) We wandered into Meersburg that night and had something to eat and drink. (This is when I got the budget back on track, Chris had chips by the side of the lake.) Meersburg is a pretty little town and with the good weather, Lake Konstanz and the mountains in the distance we had a very pleasant stay there.

The next day I was suffering a bit because of the French cured sausages I had eaten the night before. Chris had warned me not eat them as they had been warmed up a bit in the bike's top box during the day. As we were packing up the bike oustide the hotel an irresistible urge forced me to return to the hotel to get to a toilet. Post armageddon, Chris gave me some Imodium and thankfully all was well in that department for the rest of the day. (Its good stuff that Imodium.)

From Meersburg, once again in lovely weather, we headed towards Bavaria and the Neuschwanstein Castle on the way to Austria. The castle was impressive. It was busy at the castle so we contented ourselves with some pictures of the castle and then pushed on to Austria. We crossed into Austria heading for Seefeld to find a hotel for the night. Last time I was in Seefeld I was 13 years old on a skiing trip with my school! We got a room in one of our TripAdvisor recommended hotels, the Hotel Hiltpolt, a hotel right in the middle of town. A nice one as it turned out.

After a meal at a restaurant we took a walk around Seefeld and came across the band stand where a Tyrolean oompah band was warming up. It was the grey season in Seefeld (not the skiing season) and soon a crowd of older people gathered to listen to the band. (It was free.) Although it was a very stereotypical scene I have to say that we enjoyed listening to the band. (Why does an oompah band always conjure up images of German troops invading somewhere in my head?) We had a good stay in Seefeld.

The weather was still holding out in the morning as we left Seefeld heading for the Dolomites. We passed Innsbruck on an elevated Alpine section which warned of high winds. It was a buttock clenching ride across that bit of road with the front wheel feeling tenuously planted to the tarmac because of the high winds. We rode through some impressive scenery which just got better and better and soon we had entered Italy. After we crossed the border I got a demonstration of Italian driving as a cement mixer streaked by us when we slowed down to the displayed speed limit for a little village we had just entered. I lost my sense of humour more than once with the way Italians drive. Macho drivers with everything seemingly advisory including speed limits and no overtaking lines. I eventually realised that it was safer to behave like them. Youve more chance of having an accident if you do something they dont expect. (It wasn't ideal training for my RoSPA test which was due when I got home.)

When we arrived at the Dolomites, to no ones surprise, we found loads of bikes, mainly German bikers. With the bike challenging roads winding up and down mountain passes its easy to see why there were so many bikes. The most common type of bike was the Super Moto. The tool of choice for negotiating tight bends. It was hard work chucking a fully loaded two-up Blackbird around the bends. I had to give way to an agressive Italian on a Speed Triple.

As we climbed the Dolomites we got to some snow and Chris couldnt resist having a paddle in it. (Its getting to be a tradition.) We came across the Funivia Lagazuoi cable car and took a ride to the top. It was a beautiful day and the views were spectacular. The temperature drop was also welcome as it was quite hot at the bottom. It has to be said that the Dolomites are fantastic for bikes.

Dolomites

After the cable car we rode on to our apartment at the Villa Rosa just outside the town of Feltre. The good old Sat Nav took us right there. Unfortunately we discovered that the Villa Rosa is half way up the side of a mountain with the only access being an uneven gravel track winding up the side of the mountain. On a fully loaded Blackbird we struggled up the track nearly coming to grief on a particularly nasty gravel ridged 360 bend. A motocross bike would have been more appropriate for a track like that and it wasn't surprising to learn that the owner had a Landrover. Somebody really should have mentioned that track before we booked the apartment. The Villa Rosa is a few miles outside Feltre so we had to ride that treacherous track to get to town. It was too far to walk. We developed a procedure for negotiating the track which involved Chris walking from or to the 360 bend depending on whether we were arriving or leaving. There was no point in both of us falling off.

The couple who run the place were nice enough. However, after the lovely little place we had in the Pyrenees last year we were quite disappointed with the apartment. The Villa Rosa is really for B&B and the apartment was a couple of minimally equipped rooms masquerading as an apartment. The windows were small so it was dark and the electricity frequently failed when the weather was stormy. The family who run Villa Rosa and the other people who stayed there were never far away.

We decided to chill out for our first day (Saturday) at the apartment. We got some food from the local supermarket and spent most of the day reading and taking in the rays. On the Sunday we enjoyed a ride around the Dolomites. German bikers keep coming up to me speaking in German but those conversations didn't last long. I said I'm English to which they nodded and walked off. We had a nice lunch at a small hotel where we sat outside with some German speaking Italian and Swiss bikers. Lunch was interrupted by thunder storm with some heavy rain which forced us to all cluster under the parasols and get to know each other a bit better. One of the Italians joked about British weather and I told him we were experiencing Italian weather. It was a good lunch and the thunder storm passed quickly to allow us to continue our ride through the Dolomites.

On Monday we decided to go to Venice so we rode into Feltre, left the bike at the train station and took the train to Venice. Luckily we met a very bright and helpful Italian kid who was on his way to a summer camp in Greece. His dad was taking him to Venice to catch a boat there. He spoke good English and saw to it that we boarded the right trains. When we got to Venice it was swelteringly hot. We bought day tickets for the river bus and took one to St. Mark's Square. (A must see Chris told me.) From there we walked around taking in the sights and exploring the back streets. Not unexpectedly the place was full of tourists, it was very hot and there was no where to sit. (Lots of American families that reminded us of National Lampoon's Griswolds.) There were even signs on the steps forbidding people to sit on them. You see, the Venetians have removed all the benches and forbid people to sit on steps so as to motivate tourists into their expensive cafes. We decided to return to the river bus and do a tour of Venice on it. Venice was an amazing place but one day of it was enough for me.

On the Tuesday the heavens opened up and it rained heavily all day so we stayed in and read our books. On Wednesday the weather was still not looking too bright but we felt the need to get out. We rode to Vicenza which was a nice enough town. However, the rain never quite gave up so we just walked around a bit, had a drink and rode back to the apartment. The ride to Vicenza was very tortuous with lots of lorry traffic and urban roads to negotiate. It seems that we had been riding through the industrial heartland of the Italian north. Our trip to Vincenza convinced us not to visit the Ducati factory in Bologna. Better to stay in the Dolomites.

Thursday comes around and the bad weather continued. However, it was our last day so we were determined to have one last ride in the Dolomites. At first it was a bit damp but we were getting along fine until we came across a roadwork that had unexpectedly closed the road we were on. As we were backtracking it started to rain heavily so we took shelter at the side of the road with a Dutch couple who were in the Dolomites riding their bikes. They told us that the weeks weather was not normal for the Dolomites. This year a big depression swept through Europe. (Many people lost their lives in floods in south east France.) When the rain eased off we got going on the bike again. Unfortunately it soon started to rain heavily again. We came across a cafe with a load of bikes parked outside so we headed for it. Inside the cafe was full of Italian bikers having a good time. Im not sure what the drink-drive law is in Italy but they did seem to be knocking back a fair amount of alcohol. We had a snack and waited for the rain to stop but it didnt so we said goodbye to the Italians and rode back to the apartment in the torrential rain. That evening we watched some new arrivals almost get their Transit van stuck on the 360 bend of the track to the Villa Rosa. The guy who runs the Villa Rosa was shouting dont stop youll get stuck at them. The next day they elected to leave the van down the bottom and walk the long track to the Villa Rosa. Very sensible.

Dolomites to Dorset

We departed the Villa Rosa on the Friday not feeling too sad about it and glad that the Blackbird never went over on the track while we were there. We rode back to Vicenza and went west on the A4 to Milan before turning north towards Stresa and Lake Maggiore. The night before we had used the netbook to book into the Hotel Brisino at Brisino, a small village just to the south of Stresa. The weather was lovely and we got to the hotel quickly. The hotel had been recommended on TripAdvisior. It was family run hotel and we had a room with a balcony overlooking Lake Maggiore. We took a stroll in the sunshine around Brisino and that evening we had dinner at the hotel overlooking Lake Maggiore chatting with a French couple. (The World Cup was in full swing at the time and we shared a distinct lack of pride in our teams!) We really enjoyed it there.

On Saturday we reluctantly left the Hotel Brisano and headed for the Alps, the Simplon pass and Switzerland. The weather was good when we left Brisino but it deteriorated on the way to Switzerland. If you've travelled on Swiss motorways then you probably know that you need to buy a Swiss vignette if you want to avoid a heavy fine. (Unsuspecting foreigners are easy prey for the Swiss police.) Unlike the reasonable Austrians, the Swiss have arranged it so that a vignette cannot be purchased for a shorter period than a year. We were only in Switzerland for a day. The vignette cost us around 35 pounds for the pleasure of riding on a bit of Swiss motorway! Apparently the Swiss do this to deter trucks from using Switzerland as a shortcut. What was amazing was how the driving had changed when we crossed from Italy to Switzerland. In Switzerland the drivers were staying in lane, mostly keeping to speed limits, using their indicators and overtaking sensibly. All of a sudden I had to forget what I had been taught in Italy.

As we ascended the Simplon pass the clouds descended to meet us, it started to rain hard and it droped to a chilly 7 centigrade. On a clear day the view is no doubt spectacular but that day you couldnt see very much plus it wasnt a good idea to take your eyes off a road running with water. A couple of deer ran across the road in front of us just to make sure we were alert. The old nag surfaced, does that deer whistle on the Blackbird really work or have I been conned? The rain eventually turned to a drizzle on the pass. After the pass we took the E62 through the Alps and onto Lake Geneva and Lausanne. We saw a few mountains tops but the low cloud cover denied us the spectacular views that are no doubt available on a clear day. Unfortunately the only memory we have of Switzerland is a crowded motorway service station.

In heavy rain we left Switzerland and entered France heading for Djon. We stopped and phoned around to try and get a Sawdays B&B for the night but they were all booked so we pushed on to Dole (just south of Djon) where we eventually found a Campanile (the equivalent of Travel Lodge) to stay the night. It did the job but there were some French teenagers staying there and they made for a disturbed nights sleep for Chris. (I had my ear plugs in all night.)

Sunday was a travelling day and we rode the fast roads to make good progress back to the Calais area. It mostly stayed dry for the trip but it was cold for June. We were very lucky to book a Sawdays B&B with dinner at Auchy au Bois, the same little town we had stayed at on our way out. A different Sawdays B&B this time, Les Cohettes. (A point to note is that it wasn't so easy to get a Sawday's B&B this time. They seem to be getting very popular.) The lady running the B&B was very welcoming and we had a very nice stay there. There were some regulars staying there as well as us, a British couple on a motorcycle and 4 Belgian cyclists. We all had dinner and wine together around a large table. A good night that.

Next day, the Monday we rode to the Tunnel and soon we were back in England. Would you believe it? The weather was sunny and warm. We rode back home via the M20, M25 and A31 picking up the Surrey RBR landmark near Guildford on the way. The Blackbird had covered 2,562 miles and had performed flawlessly in all sorts of weather and terrain.

Overall we had a really good holiday. The outbound trip was great. The weather was lovely and we took in Lake Konstanz, Bavaria and the Austrian Alps. The weather had also been great for Venice, Brisino and our first few days in the spectacular Dolomites. As we've come to expect, the Sawday's B&Bs were great value (as a lot of people seem to be discovering). However, compared to our Pyrenees chalet last year the Villa Rosa appartment had been a disppointment. The unusually bad weather we experienced at the end of our stay in the Dolomites was a shame as was the bad weather through Switzerland. Back to France next year I think (or maybe an East European country).