Joel has ridden quite a bit in the Alps but still had some "bucket list" passes to check off..so, off we went!

First up was Passo Sella. Traffic wasn't too bad, good pavement and beautiful weather.





We stopped for some obligatory struedel.



I got a bit ahead of Joel on the passes we rode that day: Sella, Gardena, Valparola, Falzarego, Giau and Fedaia (a few repeats for me).

We stopped at Falzarego for a map check.



And then we were off to ride!



I have a personal mantra:



(Life is 100% fatal). This is response to the odd naysayer who says I could die (or even worse) on a motorcycle.

On Giau, I got quite far ahead as Joel stopped to take some pics. Near the top of Giau, I passed another Diavel who was stopped (one of only two I saw on the trip). He was riding with mostly sportbikes and they blasted by me a few minutes after i passed them.

I waited for Joel at the bottom of Giau.





After about 5h of set time, we got back to our hotel in Canazei. There's some nicely decorated houses:





Most Italian restaurants don't open until 1900 but in the mountains and due to the German/Austria influence, we were able to find a place open at 1800....good beer too.



The next morning, we parted ways and I headed back south. It was only 140 miles home but it was over 7h of seat time.

I rode the excellent Val di Fanes, no cops on this day.



Once closer to home, I took an obscure road up the east side of the Asiago plateau thru Rotzo and Roana...it was a curvy road.



I got home totally whipped. But I did bond with the new bike and made a solid effort to get ride of the chicken strips.

A prossima!

 

Beautiful scenery! Reminds me of the Rocky Mountains. Don't know if I'll ever have a chance to ride there but thank you for the post!