Stelvio and other Passes

After the Timmelsjoch, the Stelvio is the other big pass in this area that I couldn't see at the start of this trip because it hadn't opened for the season. Time two remedy that. All along the valley leading to it, there were hordes of bikers either coming from or going to it. And this is a weekday? Apparently at the weekend it completely jammed. On the way up, I called in to see my old mate 'The hand who speaks with the breath of the mountain" who was still there and as happy as larry. He gave me some little red berries that were quite bitter tasting….himmelbeer?

The original road was constructed in 1820-25 and has 48 hairpins on the north side and another 12 on the south side. It is the second highest paved road in the Alps at 2757m (Col de l'Iseran is 30m higher) All the way up, I was passing cyclists in various states of distress. The bottom is fairly steady (as high mountain passes go) but at the top it gets quite steep especially at the switchbacks. The road is narrow in places so you don't want to meet another vehicle at the apex of one of the bends. It is a bonkers road to be honest….the corners are very tight and it is all 1st and 2nd gear once you get anywhere near the switchbacks. All you can hear is the roar of engines accelerating out of corners and then down to 1st to make it round the inside of the curve in case someone is coming the other way.

From the top looking towards the north, the pass looks pretty bloody impressive. And to think they built this with horse and cart technology? Mad. All Ocan say is the bikers of the wold seem to treat this as some sort of mecca. The top was heaving with hairy overweight guys in strange clotting (myself included) everybody somehow pleased to be there.

As I left the top, I saw some guys standing in a puddle taking pictures and thought this looks interesting. It turned out to be some Motorbike journalist and a mate posing for hime. I queued up and got him to take me in the same pose. he has the life….some sort of Ducati sponsorship to wander round and take pictures on a free bike. How do I get that job?






The way down is more of the same only fewer hairpins (though you wouldn't guess it from this pic) and more tunnels. The tunnels have nasty habit of being about the width of a bus and have a right 45 degree bens in them about half way along so you have to take it on trust that there isn't something coming the other way. I went down to Trrano had an ice-cream and a drink and turned right to Switzerland and up the Bernina pass which I can only describe as sublime. Where the Stelvio is all crashing through the gears, this was just roll the bike side to side and on and off the throttle. Bliss…and in fact lots more of that was to come. I got to St Moritz (where she "sips her Napoleon Brandy but doesn't get her lips wet") and turned right for Chur up the Julierpass and did it all over again. I am definitely coming back to Switzerland, crap coffee or not.


I passed through Leichtenstein for a laugh. A country which is about 15 miles north to south, had about 35,000 citizens and 73,000 registered companies....Not much to look at except high mountains all around one side, the Rhine and a castle on a rock. The rest looks thoroughly modern imitating old and lacks the charm of switzerland. I seemed to arrive on traffic jam day and that may have influenced my mood as I was in a hurry.


I texted my college mate Pat near Stuttgart and he was in but the footy was on and he was planning to head into town to watch Germany be crowned and progress to the final. I burned rubber to try and get there in time. At the start the GPS suggested I would get there at 8pm. I did 140kph most of the way there and was 45 minutes late. What I wan to know is how fast does Garmin think you can go on an autobahn? Anyhow, in good Irish hospitality style, Pat had cancelled going into town, put the big screen tv on the table in the courtyard, cooked dinner (salad WITH mash potato :-) and put a beer in my hand within 5 minutes of arriving. Thats's a mate. We watched Italy destroy German hopes….too bad.

The Route (Apologies, my phone had a real problem getting a fix in Switzerland)

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