ChucksKLRST
Team Colorado
An Austrian McDonald in Salzburg
If not now, then..... when?
- Thread starter HPPants
- Start date
Day 23:
Forni de Sopra, Italy to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
The hotel room was a bit warm last night and in case anyone is wondering, Greg still snores. None to worry – I put in the ear plugs and off to La La Land I go. Gary made good progress yesterday riding toward Heidelberg, and apparently his foot is no worse for the wear. He should get there relatively early today, leaving him plenty of time to prep for his flight tomorrow.
On the other hand, the rest of us have places to go and so after a nice FCB, we hit the road.
Northern Italy is so beautiful, ya’ll.
My point and shoot camera got a good shot from the side of the road here. The water appears to be down in this lake, and quite frankly, this is what we have been seeing all along this month (low water).
I don’t need a GPS to know where we are going.
Simply stunning!
Apparently, no homemade ice cream today, so we took one for the team.
For a while now, Greg has been wavering back and forth regarding going to Slovenia. Apparently, he’s decided it’s a go.
I give you: Slovenia! The Julian Alps!
Stay thirsty, my friends.
We are on the northern end of this country, the 6th in our journey. We are running through a national park near Kranjska Gora. It is so pretty here.
It’s also a bit warm – at one point this afternoon, my moto temp guage says 92 deg F! Still within the national parc, Greg stops at a beautiful lake, and, well….. If ya know, you know…..
While I was cooling off, the others went into a lakeshore café and started working on happy hour. Soon – I joined them. This one is my kind of bier.
And ….. another installment of the dessert tour!
Greg and Bryan found us a nice apartment in the village just outside of the parc. Another gorgeous day riding in the Alps!
Passes today
Vrsic Pass
Sella Ciampigotto Pass
Sella di Razzo
Sella Di Rioda
Sella Carnizza
Forni de Sopra, Italy to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
The hotel room was a bit warm last night and in case anyone is wondering, Greg still snores. None to worry – I put in the ear plugs and off to La La Land I go. Gary made good progress yesterday riding toward Heidelberg, and apparently his foot is no worse for the wear. He should get there relatively early today, leaving him plenty of time to prep for his flight tomorrow.
On the other hand, the rest of us have places to go and so after a nice FCB, we hit the road.
Northern Italy is so beautiful, ya’ll.
My point and shoot camera got a good shot from the side of the road here. The water appears to be down in this lake, and quite frankly, this is what we have been seeing all along this month (low water).
I don’t need a GPS to know where we are going.
Simply stunning!
Apparently, no homemade ice cream today, so we took one for the team.
For a while now, Greg has been wavering back and forth regarding going to Slovenia. Apparently, he’s decided it’s a go.
I give you: Slovenia! The Julian Alps!
Stay thirsty, my friends.
We are on the northern end of this country, the 6th in our journey. We are running through a national park near Kranjska Gora. It is so pretty here.
It’s also a bit warm – at one point this afternoon, my moto temp guage says 92 deg F! Still within the national parc, Greg stops at a beautiful lake, and, well….. If ya know, you know…..
While I was cooling off, the others went into a lakeshore café and started working on happy hour. Soon – I joined them. This one is my kind of bier.
And ….. another installment of the dessert tour!
Greg and Bryan found us a nice apartment in the village just outside of the parc. Another gorgeous day riding in the Alps!
Passes today
Vrsic Pass
Sella Ciampigotto Pass
Sella di Razzo
Sella Di Rioda
Sella Carnizza
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2013
- Messages
- 75
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Gloucester, UK
- Bike
- 1990/2002 ST1100
- 2026 Miles
- 005632
Agreed, we have only once, in over 50 years of touring gone with a group (apart from our Sahara trip.... don't ask!). We knew the leader personally and his routing and hotel selection was brilliant.... but, you would think some of the group had never left their homes before (and they had) they were hard work!
Getting hotels without booking used to be a bit of a hassle (no GPS or internet). You'd have to pull up at an establishment, go in, ask if they had a room, how much, could we afford it? All in our best French/German/Italian etc and maybe repeat the process several times before actually finding somewhere. Today..... when we are ready to stop, get the phone out, choose a booking service, find a hotel or room that looks good, book..... and arrive. Not once have we been unable to find somewhere acceptable and quite often on arrival much more than acceptable
If we ride past somewhere and it looks appealing we will still pull up and ask.
Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
My biggest problem with tour 'groups' is the larger they are the greater the chance there will be 'one' in the group.
That 'one' will be, as we say in the hills, 'the south end of a north bound mule' and will try to make it all about them.
I'm at the point that unless I've ridden lots of miles with a rider, I do not want to ride any distance with them.
'Ugly' will come out if enough days are spent on the road.
'Burnt child fears the fire' and I've been burnt on rides over here more than once because I let my kindness override my common sense!
That 'one' will be, as we say in the hills, 'the south end of a north bound mule' and will try to make it all about them.
I'm at the point that unless I've ridden lots of miles with a rider, I do not want to ride any distance with them.
'Ugly' will come out if enough days are spent on the road.
'Burnt child fears the fire' and I've been burnt on rides over here more than once because I let my kindness override my common sense!
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
Well, obviously a group tour isnt for everyone, but it is a valuable option for others.
IMO if you are only able to make one trip to Europe in your life (as I was) and you dont have a group of friends that want to go too (which I didn't) , unless you want to stumble around 5 foreign different countries, not knowing the best routes/sights to see, not speaking the languages, not knowing all the laws, having to maybe fix a rented bike by yourself on the side of the road, not knowing who to call in case of a medical emergency (as we did) and a hundred other little things that can come up on a motorcycle trip, booking with a well established, experienced and reputable tour group (as I did) made what could possibly have been a frustrating disaster into the most enjoyable motorcycle trip of my lifetime. I have no complaints at all with how my European motorcycle tour went. Yea, you can get a butt wipe fellow rider in the group I guess, but everyone in our group was friendly, enthusiastic and a pleasure to ride with. The two Aussie couples were kinda wild lol, but everyone got along and seemed to enjoy everything about the trip. Some of us stayed in touch long after the tour was over and we returned home.
If I were younger and had more money, I'd gladly do it again, exactly the same way.
YMMV
IMO if you are only able to make one trip to Europe in your life (as I was) and you dont have a group of friends that want to go too (which I didn't) , unless you want to stumble around 5 foreign different countries, not knowing the best routes/sights to see, not speaking the languages, not knowing all the laws, having to maybe fix a rented bike by yourself on the side of the road, not knowing who to call in case of a medical emergency (as we did) and a hundred other little things that can come up on a motorcycle trip, booking with a well established, experienced and reputable tour group (as I did) made what could possibly have been a frustrating disaster into the most enjoyable motorcycle trip of my lifetime. I have no complaints at all with how my European motorcycle tour went. Yea, you can get a butt wipe fellow rider in the group I guess, but everyone in our group was friendly, enthusiastic and a pleasure to ride with. The two Aussie couples were kinda wild lol, but everyone got along and seemed to enjoy everything about the trip. Some of us stayed in touch long after the tour was over and we returned home.
If I were younger and had more money, I'd gladly do it again, exactly the same way.
YMMV
I do agree with what you said, however,
during the riding season you may get away without booking hotels ahead of time when riding alone, and even that can be a hit or miss. But having a group of people it can be next to impossible to find hotels on the fly.
Unless you do camping.
We were a group of 5 (sometimes for various reasons, 4): A married couple and 3 gentlemen. In 30 days, we had no trouble finding lodging within our budget at a couple hours notice. Now - late July into August? Different story, I think..
All worthy responses and I apprecaite you taking time to contribute to my ride report. As I mentioned, this is not a "one size fits all". Each way has it's pros and cons. I'm merely sharing what I did with really only ONE goal in mind:
To encourage anyone thinking about such a trip to DO IT, and do it now. Because.... if not now, then..... when?
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
I too would encourage anyone considering a European motorcycle trip to actively look into it. There are no guarantees of tomorrow. It was singularly the best trip of my motorcycle life. I love riding in the US and Canada. Have ridden to all of the lower 48 states and the vast majority of National Parks, have ridden most of the "famous" motorcycle roads in the country (still missing the 3 sisters in Texas) but riding in Europe was a unique and exhilarating experience as evidenced by the text and pictures in this most excellent ride report. I've often said to people if Europe was where Canada is, I'd go there all the time. It cannot be overstated what a great and unique experience riding there is.
ChucksKLRST
Team Colorado
Fully agree, See my post #6 in this thread. One never knows what life will throw at you, Some times it's a fast ball, sometimes it's a curve ball, maybe a slider. If you are lucky you might get a hit and and find your self on base. Enjoy every min as life is short and you only have one. Time waits for no one.