This was gonna be a longish day, but it would include our first alpine pass, the Silvretta. I'd only heard good things about it so was really looking forward to today's biking. But we had a bit of motorway to cover before getting to the good stuff. After Silvretta we had a few planned stops along the way before arriving at our accommodation at the base of the Stelvio Pass. And again, forecast was for a hot one!
Route maps for day 3:
Day 3 Part 1
Day 3 Part 2
Brekkie in the hotel was delish with coffee, cereals, fried egg, bacon and the usual spread of breads, cheeses and meat all for the taking. Notice how I stuck with the bowl of fruit - not that it made the slightest bit of difference considering my diet for the rest of the day!
Once Jim had finished modelling his new Penny's t-shirt it was time to hit the road.
Jim bringing sexy back!
Hammer dropped, off we went and endured a bit of German motorway. It was busy enough heading towards the Austrian border. We stopped off at a motorway services to fuel up, have a drink and buy a vignette before crossing the border. Spotted this guy along the way.
All sorted and bikes fuelled up, we headed for Bludenz where we peeled off the motorway and headed along the B168 towards Partenen. As we rode along the mountains appeared at both sides. By God they were big, like, big big. And we hadn't even scratched the surface yet. So best thing to do?...Stop for coffee and treats! 😃
Nice and rare orderly parking!
Our goodie stop
They sure now how to eat around here!
Yummy pancakes
Jim and Aynsley play Rock, Scissors, Paper
After eating all the nom noms and drinking all the coffee, we squeezed back into our gear we headed for our first mountain pass. And it didn't disappoint. Silvretta is breathtakingly beautiful. Right from the valley all the way up to the top where we pulled over to admire the view.
Stunning views
A clip coming down the east side of the Silvretta pass...
From Silvretta we made our way to Landeck and then onto the Gacher Blick observation platform which overlooks the valley. The road up to the viewing point is class as is the view from the top. Well worth a visit.
Yup - reckon Stuart is the tallest of us all!
Stupid McStupidFace
Beautiful views
Some interesting wood carvings of the local wildlife...
The road back down from the viewing point was class...excuse the language at 2:20, Jim had just flipped me a birdie! :-)
Our next stop was the clock tower at Lago di Resia. As we pulled up the skies started to look a little grey. Derek, Wayne and Brian had arrived earlier and when they saw the changing weather they were keen to shoot on towards Trafoi and our hotel. We stuck around to take a few pics. It then started to bucket down so we stuck around for even longer. And a bit longer after that. The rainfall is kind of biblical around here. When it rains it RAINS. But when it stops everything dries up in no time. Whilst passing the time we bumped into this chap, have to say you see the strangest of things on these bike trips....
Who needs two wheels when one will do just fine?
Few more pics from the Clock Tower stop...
Pauline stays in stealth mode
Clear skies...or grey skies?
Before the heavens opened
I reckon the water was a wee bit deeper after the rain shower... :-)
So, back on the bikes once the worst of the rain had passed. Only a mile or two down the road and we were back to nice dry tarmac - I love this place! 😍 On the way from the lake Jim had a wee visor malfunction so we pulled over. Pauline took the opportunity to practice her Stealth Mode Blue Steel pose...
Coolest biker ever! :-)
We turned onto the Stelvio road and a few miles along, just before Trafoi, we arrived at our accommodation the Tannenheim Hotel. It's out of town, but they include dinner in the room price and there's a hotel bar so we were well sorted. Hotel has a minimalist feel with bare concrete, steel and wood exposed in the interior. Our rooms were huge and spotless. And being served beer from a motorbike engine block just seemed to top it all off!
Bit boxy on the outside but very nice inside (note the secure garage for the bikes)
Wee bike display at the front door, Derek seriously considered trading up by swapping the RR for the one in the middle!
Nice wee touches all round the place
Rooms were mahoosive!
This guy stood watch over us during the night
What a class set of beer taps!
We made sure the aforementioned beer taps were well oiled!
View from the bedroom window
Tomorrow was going to be an early start to make sure we beat the worst of the inevitable traffic. Stelvio wasn't just on our bucket list - it was on everyone's! So with a few after dinner beers quaffed, it was time to turn in.
