1200 Tour Report On The 2014 Emm (finally)

I've been trying to find time to provide a write up of the 2014 EMM trip. This was my first EMM and I was very happy to be able to link up with two Peter's (Coman and Rotaxracer), Pilot Paul, Graham at the Channel tunnel for the first part of our trip. Graham had got an earlier shuttle but we met him at the services on the other side, one look at his Mivv exhaust made us reach for our earplugs.



The first part of the trip involved a lot of French, Belgian and Luxenbourg motorway, we were cruising at about 85-90mph and stopping every 150-200 miles.
At one of our stops we realised that Paul had lost a bolt out of his crud catcher and he ended up having to strap it to his luggage for the rest of the trip.



The weather was pretty good most of the way but whilst we were trying to fix Paul's bike we were very glad of Graham's Rain Alarm App, which predicted that it was about to pour, so we took cover for a short while until it passed.

It was a long day to get to our first stop for the night in France at Pont a Mousson (418 miles). The bikes were almost at boiling point as we waited in traffic on the outskirts of town (almost 40 on the bike thermometer at one point). We were glad to get a shower and stroll into the town for some cold beers and supper, which were enormous oven cooked cheeses.




The next morning we hit the motorway again for a while until we reached the Voges area, we took a side road up and over the top of a small col rather than the tunnel near Nancy and before long we reached the German border. The roads near Frieberg were excellent and we made our way into Switzerland for a lunch stop at the Rhine Falls. The weather was very hot and most of us were wearing mesh jackets by this point



Coming away from the Rhine falls we thought we had picked up the right road but then got rather stuck on a slow road with lots of towns. A quick look at the maps and we decided to risk the Swiss motorways (even though we hadn't bought a permit). We rode fairly sensibly, to avoid unwanted police attention, and before long we were across the border and into Austria (were we did buy a motorway permit!). The mountains were getting bigger and the roads more interesting but the heavens opened as we left a tunnel. We were only about 10 km's from the hotel so we pushed on without stopping to put waterproofs on and headed up the St Anton Col to reach the hotel at about 7pm (it was only just over 350 miles but it had been a slow day with the detours). When we arrived at the hotel we met up with Steve Kefford and Aussie Pete. It was a rowdy supper and few beers made us all relax. The spectacular sunset gave us all hope for good weather the next day.
Hotel night 2 - Home - Hotel Restaurant Nassereinerhof - Christian Cordin GmbH





The weather the next day was excellent and we were up and raring to go. We headed down the valley and turned up a small Col to get us in the mood for the main event of the day. As Steve went round the first hairpin I was following and noticed a patch of diesel on the outside of the corner, I tightened my line a little to avoid it and Aussie Pete following me also tightened but gave the bike a fraction too much throttle and the back stepped round. He was only travelling at roughly walking pace and was not hurt, apart from his pride. The bike had a scratch on the pannier and had bent the gear lever and bar end. Luckily it was all Ok and we were able to continue on towards the mighty Timmelsjoch. The ride up the valley to the start of the pass was superb, highly recommended route. There is a toll booth at the start of the Col, you can can ride the route for free from the Italian side as long as you turn round and ride back before you reach the toll.









This is a superb road, there was very little traffic and being a toll road not much in the way of speed limits. The road is wide and smooth with excellent visibility. As we approached the top the snow banks at either side got higher and higher but the road was still fairly dry.



We stopped for a quick coffee and to admire the view.


From left to right: Graham, Uncle Peter, Essex Pete, Steve, Me, Aussie Pete and Paul


The cafe was packed with all shapes and sizes of bikes and we were very impressed with the French Vespa rider with only 15 BHP on tap!

 

After we descended the Timmelsjoch and crossed into Italy, the Italian side is tighter and less well surfaced but still an excellent road, you just need to be a little more cautious. We went up and over the Passo Del Rombo, another excellent road. A quick motorway blast and we were on the final stretch. The SS49 is a great road but pretty heavy traffic and you need to be quick with you overtaking. After a total day of 175 excellent miles we arrived at our base for the EMM, the excellent Hotel Rainier in the Italian Dolomites.
Hotel Rainer - Hotel San Candido : Hotel Rainer in Innichen

There was a great atmosphere as Multistradas from all over Europe arrived. We had riders from Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Norway, there were 2 American riders who live in Germany on US bases and 2 Australians (one of which flew over and hired a bike just to be part of the adventure). Old friendships were rekindled and new ones made. Grahams Mivv exhaust had disintegrated on the run to the hotel and his bike was incredibly noisy. Paul had stopped and picked the end cap up, but it had been run over by a lorry, he arranged for the hotel to gift wrap it and as it was Graham's birthday he was presented with it during dinner to much laughter. A great welcome dinner provided by the hotel and a bit of route planning afterwards.


The next morning there were Multistrada's everywhere!





The route for the first day took us up Grossglockner, another toll road which goes up to a glacier.
This is the full route: Dobbiaco day ride to Austria





Thanks to Greg for these fantastic pictures.





We headed down the mountain and made our way to the lunch rendezvous.



After lunch the group split, the weather was looking menacing and the extra loop looked very black some some of us decided to skip it. We had only ridden about 5 kms when the heavens opened, there were storm warning sirens going off and we quickly stopped and pulled on waterproofs. (Some of the others managed to get themselves into a disused garage, with a friendly owner who was creating a bike themed cafe). We made our way up to a toll tunnel in torrential rain, it was almost impossible to see the road with the spray being thrown up. When we got out of the other side of the tunnel the rain stopped and we continued on the route to the Staller Satell pass. The road up was interesting and although it was tight and twisty it suddenly opened out and reminded us of a Scottish glen with a fast swooping road and little lakes. You can only go down the pass every 15 mins each hour and we made it with about 3 mins to spare otherwise it would have been a 45 min wait at the top. The road is so narrow at the top it feels like you a riding along a garden path.




We got back the hotel and caught up with all the other groups for beer and bullshitting...

 

The next morning we headed for the Dolomites.
Dobbiaco day ride Northern Dolomites

The first part of the ride was on very bumpy Italian narrow roads, but it opened out into some stunning views of the Dolomites. The group got slightly split up and some riders ended up doing it in reverse order but we all met up at lunch and continued to enjoy the ride. The heavens opened for about 15 mins after lunch again, but we sheltered in a petrol station and it soon dried up again.





This was a great day's riding with almost no dull parts, the roads were excellent especially one long section that had just been resurfaced for the Giro Cycle race! A detour trip to Cortina was another great road

Some more pictures from Greg




We did a short side trip to get the best photo of the trip!



The last night was filled with more stories, beer and some crazy people (Paul, Steve and me) decided to watch the England/Italy world cup game (we shouldn't have bothered).

It was a sad start the next day as many of us were heading off in different directions. Essex Pete, Paul and Graham and I were in a group with Belgian Steff on his repaired 1000DS and Glen and we returned and did the Timmlesjoch in the reverse direction, which was still just as enjoyable but a lot busier as it was Sunday.





Timmelsjoch/ Passo del Rombo- 44b/186

As we reached the St Anton Pass the heavens opened once again (cursed) and we headed for a service station to put on waterproofs although we were pretty soaked already. Greg headed off towards Switzerland and we waved to Steff as he made his way home. We were heading for the Black Forest but the Sat Nav had a bit of a meltdown and took us across country on some tiny roads and villages. I nearly came a cropper as I realised I'd missed a junction and turn quickly into what was a one way street and came face to face with a startled driver. The final part of the ride was cold and it was almost dark when we arrived at the hotel.
Homepage | Hotel Großbach

The next morning we headed across country to ride the B500. This is a fantastic road wide, very fast with sweeping curves and brilliant surface (with no visible police cars).

Short video of Pete and me on the B500:





After this it was a slog along the motorways to get to our hotel at Spa and the long promised Wild Boar supper. By this point Graham's exhaust had completely disintegrated and he sounded like a B52 bomber and Pauls chain was almost dragging on the floor. He found a Ducati dealer which had a chain and sprockets in stock and had this fitted whilst the rest of us had a look at the circuit. Sadly we had to split into two groups as Graham needed to head for the shuttle as he had a long trip back up north. We made a mistake and headed through Brussels but made the shuttle in time and were soon back in the UK.

Overall this was one of the best bike trips I have ever been on, great roads, great company, great organisation. Next year the plan is to go to the Pyrenees and I suggest you book as soon as the dates are announced if you want to be part of this amazing group.

 

I will try and upload some video once I've managed to edit it...

 

John - It was a more interesting way to get back to the hotel at the end of the day, but worth a detour if you are in the area.
Staller Sattel -L25/ss49

 

I was surprised you didn't go permanently deaf!
It was LOUD!