I left Lienz, Austria at 8AM and headed via state road B100 towards the Italian border. The idea today was to get to Bormio, Italy by late afternoon, and be ready to ride Stelvio Pass tomorrow.
I didn't realize it at the time, but the route I'd programmed into the GPS, using Gary France's wise guidance, would turn out to be quite the route.
I think this was shortly before the Italian border,
I liked the castle on the hill.
The old border point into Italy.
It was a rather hazy morning, and it would just get worse as the day got warmer.
one of my first views of the Italian Dolomites
Climbing away from the Cortina d'Ampezzo area, the light
was completely wrong for me to get any pictures of Cortina I'm
sorry to report
Views while on Passo Giau
Scenic Italian Town
La Pavia
to one of the four/five passes crossed today.
Usually, I'm pretty good about recording names of locations where I shoot photos but it was a long day of seemingly interminable number of sharp hairpin turns, climbing up to the pass summits that came along only to find towns at the top of the pass. I must have driven the rental rig up and down over 100 hair pin turns in total!
In fact, I covered just a hair over 200 miles of riding today per the tripmeter, but it took me almost 12 hours to do it. There really wasn't a lot of time used up for pictures, there was a lot of time used up negotiating the pass roads, and their hair pin turns. Getting turned around at times near the bigger cities such as Bolzano ate up some time as well.
As evening approached, I was rushed and drove through Gavia Pass enroute to Bormio without really taking any pictures. The last pic above is the only one I did take while on Gavia Pass road. More on this pass in a future post. The climb up, on what was a single track road most of the time, was quite entertaining. Trouble was, once I was near the summit, I was in the clouds and visibility for pictures dropped to zero.
Tomorrow: Passo Stelvio.
7 comments:
It really looks like a fun day, take your time and enjoy it.
WOW! These pictures are breathtaking. Thanks for making time to capture the beauty of your hair raising adventure and for sharing them with us.
Absolutely stunning pictures Dom and no wonder it took you so long today - all those stops for pictures, but you are showing it really well. It is somewhat strange seeing pictures of the Ural rig you are riding taken in typical Dom style pictures, on roads I know so well! You think you had a lot of hairpins today? You didn't - you wait until Stelvio Pass tomorrow! From Bormio you will first ride up the easier side of the mountain, then the ride down the other side, with so many hairpins will be fun on the Ural. When you have run out of hairpin bends on your way done there is only one thing to do. Turn around and ride back up. I hope the weather is good for your pictures. Really loving your pictures, as they are some of the best I have ever seen of the mountains. You make the Dolomites look fantastic.
The light may have been wrong from where you were ... but the photos turned out spectacular. Sounds like quite the ride.
Cool pictures....glad I am home watching this trip adventure unfold from afar....I suspect. I see more from this spot, as I would likely have kept my eyes shut on all those hair pin turns.
Xoxo
Wifey
I did Stelvio back in the early 80s on my battered BMW GS. Way too top heavy with tank of gas and luggage. Slid around a few turns and scared myself but the views were amazing. ( Dave Morrell )
Those passes are work, aren't they? That sounds like quite an ardurous route.
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