Last ride in the Alps for 2014 -- Furkajoch, Austria

The road is closed now to get to the top and over the Furkajoch pass, the crest of which is about another two kilometers further from where I’m parked. See the bar across the road about 50 m back in picture 2? One nice thing about riding a closed pass road is the near complete absence of traffic.

Check out that little bit of blue sky to the west in the second photo. I started the day with the idea of going east after this and deeper into the Alps, but I elected to follow that bit of blue sky which turned out to be a good idea. Coming back down the hills to the Lake Constance area was stunning under sunny skies.

New skins!

My new tires – Michelin Pilot Road 4 Trails – are anything but knobby, so don't look to my GS to pose for any of those RTW (round-the-world) posters. Michelin says they are "designed for large adventure bikes that spend almost all their time on pavement." That'd be me, then.

 

My first impression is one of pure amazement, as they come out of the mold with no mold-release compound so they’re ready to rock from the moment you roll. Of course, anytime you put new tires on it’s like buying a new bike, so any first impression would have to be positive, wouldn’t it? 

 

I bought them on the internet and removed the wheels myself, taking everything to a nearby auto-tire shop that mounts & balances them for 25 bucks. Total cost: around 250 euros, compared with around 400 euros if I had taken  the bike to the BMW dealer and let them do the job, as they always insist on supplying the tires (at quite a markup) and then charging full shop rates for installation.

To my budget, the 150-euro savings I eked out equals one long overnight trip to Italy. But best of all, I just like the feeling I get from working on my own bike. 

Update: 1000 km on, they are the best, I mean THE BEST, tires I've ever had on any bike I've ever ridden. Result! 

Should I Be Worried About Riding In Switzerland?

Got asked about riding in Switzerland and the Alps in general by an American guy who was worried he'd be overwhelmed by the Alpine experience and swarmed by faster riders as he putters along enjoying the scenery. Here's what I told him:

There’s nothing about the tightness of the roads, the sharpness of the curves or the mountain altitudes that makes riding here a recipe for disaster. Just go ahead and ride slowly – lots of people do – and enjoy the vistas. Set realistic goals for a day’s ride, with lots of time budgeted for photos stops – you’ll want to take one approximately every seven meters. 

Add time for long coffee and meal breaks and you’ll be lucky to ride 200 km per day. A good way to calculate riding times here is that one mile of riding in the States = one km in the Alps. Overall, you’ll be lucky to average 50 km/h in Switzerland. The maximum permissible speed on the backroads is 80 km/h, and the Swiss take speed enforcement to a spectacular level of efficiency, complete with hidden speed cameras and LIDAR armed personnel, all coupled with exorbitant fines. (In extreme cases they may charge one-third of an offender’s annual income. Yes, really.) One must be vigilant for speed limit signs everywhere, as the limit may change for noise abatement in a nature preserve or any other reason, so it’s not always intuitive what the limit of any stretch of road might be as it tends to be here in Germany, or in Austria. 

Anyway, you generally won’t find crazy knee-down riders destroying your confidence while you putter along; instead you’ll find well-disciplined riders sharing the road with you who are also trying to follow the rules while enjoying the scenery. Slightly faster riders will pass you politely, with a wave or a foot stuck out to say hi. And yeah, once in a great while a crazy knee-down rider will pass you. No big. Let it go. 

And speaking of waving, you’ll see a thousand bikes on the roads, and they all wave to each other. And, just like in the States, they pump their hand in a downward motion when they mean for you to ride with caution due to speed enforcement or an accident around the next bend. 

In all, the feeling of solidarity among riders here is very high. You’ll always have the feeling you are among friends. And you are.

Favorite Padfoot picture to date

Padfoot among the Dandilions

Flowers flowers everywhere...oh, wait, nevermind. They're just weeds.

Please say hello to 'Padfoot'

Sadly, despite nine lovely years together and many adventures, Ol' Blue's time had come. He was due for more maintenance than I wanted to invest in, and given the chance to make a quick cash sale, I had to let him go. I'd been shopping for a Camhead 12GS for some weeks, and when I stumbled upon this beauty being offered for a very enticing price, I knew it was time to act. So long Ol' Blue, hello Padfoot. 

Padfoot is a 2011 30th Anniversary Edition, which means it came with black spoked wheels, tinted screen, cylinder guards, and white plastic parts with '30 Years GS' stickers, and a red saddle.. The original owner swapped out the stock white plastic parts for OEM 'Sapphire Black' plastic parts, and took a black saddle instead of red. Had only 10,522 km on the day of sale.

For some reason, used bikes here in the south run about 20% more than bikes in the northern 3/4 of Germany, and this was no exception. A similar year/km unit here in the south would've cost me around 14,000 euros with no boxes or goodies. Price of this one was 12,300 Euros and included the TT Zega Pro boxes and a BMW tankbag, The round trip to pick it up near Muenster in NW Germany cost me about 300 euros, but not only was I still saving a ton of money but it turned into a great road trip with my friend Alex. We drove the six hours to pick up the bike, then three hours south where we stopped overnight on the way home to drink beer and play darts with our old darts buddy Sepp who moved away last December. So the trip was a blast, forget the expense!

I added the GSA black & tan saddle, I think it's much more comfortable and I like the extra height for my long legs. Wish I'd had it for the 7-hour trip home.

The license plate says ICE 9 the best I could with the limitations of the German DMV: IC3 9.

Couple of nice shots of Ol' Blue

I want this bike -- or at least the paint job