An early start on day five of the tour (day six from home) and Ride with Us had set up a nice dog-leg route in a westerly direction to pick up the Timmelsjoch mountain pass with an option to visit the famous Top mountain motorcycle museum before tracking back south-east across the Italian border and in to the Dolomites. A 7.30 breakfast meet had our wheels rolling at around 8.30. So far there had been some long days and arriving late evening on Wednesday and almost missing the evening meal we were both keen to make the most of today and arrive at our hotel in Corvara a bit earlier if possible. It would be be a shorter journey around 165 miles mostly in mountains thankfully only a few of those miles on the motorway.
Alas though, after leaving on time the Thursday morning rush-hour traffic through Innsbruck would be our first challenge. It started to feel our early plans had been scuppered after becoming separated while filtering. I phoned Rob while moving and he said he was heading toward the A12 motorway slip-road. I had lost him somewhere near the city so continued on for quite a few miles in the traffic heading west, eventually joining the motorway close to the river 'Inn'. Fortunately, the in-helmet phone connection while riding allowed us to agree a meet at the planned motorway exit but thankfully just as I joined the A12 and passed a truck I spotted 'Americano Rob' and the Tiger straight ahead so quite relieved to keep moving without losing time locating each other. A good save we commented while at a brief stop near Sankt Sigmund im Sellrain to check our general direction. After yesterdays confusion and missing some of the route, today I would be double checking the direction the GPS was heading before starting the climb and following behind other bikers all weaving our way up and down valleys with the sun shining on this very pleasant morning.
Video: Mark and Rob riding the Timmelsjoch
Riding the Timmelsjoch is a fantastic affair as captured in the video (above) climbing up high at 2,500 metres into the clouds the surface remains smooth with fast straight sections before switching back on the hairpins spaced between other long sweeping turns. Good fun even though our bikes were fully loaded with luggage. I'd ridden the pass before on two occasions. The first in the opposite direction back in 2013 with a storm brewing in the late evening only just passing through the gate before it closes for the night, and then again in 2018 I wasn't feeling too well after an evening on the beer the night before with Steve. On both occasions I'd missed stopping at the crosspoint and visiting the famous motorcycle museum, so intended to stop and take time to look this time.
After parking up overlooking the mountainside you are confronted with the huge futuristic two story wooden framed building that spans a kind of 'L 'shape wrapping around the cross point toll booths. By now both having worked up an appetite it was good to sit outside at the restaurant in the cool air and order a very nice lunch while admiring the mountain scenery and watching other bikers arriving and departing through the crosspoint. I can highly recommend the very reasonably priced gourmet burger, and Rob commented on how he enjoyed his meal too. A perfectly timed lunch stop before heading into the museum where 15 euro gains access to the best motorcycle museum I've ever visited. The exhibition is well worth it for any biker interested in the classics. There are over 580 bikes to look at from all over the world including Norton's, Moto Guzzis, Harley Davidsons and even a rare collection of Ferrari two strokes. I don't think I'd ever seen quite a variety in one place before with really fascinating odd looking machines and even the famous world's fastest Indian ridden by Burt Munro at the Bonneville salt flats.
After looking at the wonderful exhibits when I returned outside I noticed it had been raining with grey clouds closing in around the mountain. It was possible with an onset of bad weather the pass would close forcing a return back down to complete our journey with a huge diversion avoiding the mountain pass altogether. I messaged Rob who was still in the museum and later explained my concern. It looked like other bikers were quickly donning rain suits and joining a queue to get through the booth so we decided to ride our bikes through immediately and get the rain gear on after. It's always worth remembering the toll booths or pass gates can shut at anytime for safety, so when the weather turns for the worst up on the mountain its best to ride on when you can.
A perfect ride up and over the pass and I believe the best of which is after the crosspoint heading toward Italy. The ride down the other side would be through the very beautiful Passiria valley at San Leonardo and then into South Tyrol. The sky had brightened again leaving us to marvel at some of the most fantastic vistas before starting to climb again. Having crossed from Austria into Italy now, the passes are referred in Italian e.g. we had just come over Passo Rombo (Timmelsjoch) and now on Passo Giovo (Jaufen).
Another amazing panorama ahead while rising to just over 2000 metres revealing impressive gorges and valleys lit up in the sunshine. Later, the sky turned dark again as we sensed a late afternoon storm brewing as is usual this time of year. On our descent we commented on a few flashes of lightning in the distance and while stationary at a temporary set of traffic lights the mirrors revealed clouds chasing us down the mountain as captured in the selfie picture (below). Very soon they would catch up, starting with a little light rain, and then later after a fuel and ice-cream stop near Brunico large hail stones were dropping pinging off my helmet and visor and stinging my arms and legs. Over the intercom I could tell Rob was suffering too but with amusement and gritted teeth we continued on. Thankfully, the storm didn't get any worse and passed by with hail turning to light rain travelling along the SS244 toward Corvara. Those jagged sheer vertical cliffs rising up ahead were unmistakably those I'd seen in pictures of the Dolomites, but with wet roads, early evening dusk and the tightening bends I needed full concentration on the road ahead.
At this time we did experience a car driver (in a BMW) who insisted on riding both our tails very close in a dangerous way so we both agreed to pull over and let the car pass. Despite this, given our invite even with indicators the driver hesitated and started to pull over with us too! 'Welcome to Italy' I thought, but soon after we were riding alone again on warm traffic free roads arriving in Corvara a short time later pulling directly into the small but sheltered Hotel Italia parking area just before it started raining quite heavily. Four nights half-board at this one, and could now rest up a bit assured by the staff at check-in that these dark, rainy skies would be clear by the morning. Settling in to each spacious room and just about making it to the wellness pool in time for a swim to cool off before it closed. We had finally made it to the Dolomites and celebrated with a cool glass of beer each (the very good Bira Forst) and sat down to enjoy our four course dinner while reviewing the days ride and looking forward to a more relaxed luggage free day tomorrow.
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