Day 7 - Friday 1st August
I'm pretty sure Daz, Nig and I could set a world record for how loud we snore, and I think Nig and Daz were having a go at setting new personal best! I did not get much sleep so when it was time to get up I was feeling pretty groggy.
Luckily most of our gear had dried out - my gloves were still damp so I swapped to my spare pair. We got all our gear together and jumped on the bikes. We could see the mountain from our hotel and there was heavy cloud. We were a little disappointed that we may not get the views, but at least it wasn't raining!
It was only a short ride to the start of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. This is a toll rode - costing around 30 euroes each - which at the time we thought was pretty steep.
We paid the toll and the road instantly improved. It was fantastic, long sweeping bends, steadily climbing up the mountain. In no time we were in the clouds and sure enough, visibility was quite poor; certainly no breathtaking views.
Then we got above the clouds.
It was absolutely breathtaking. After every climbing bend the views got better and better. The road was a joy to ride with a fantastic surface and amazing bends one after another. Honestly one of the best, if not the best, road I have ever ridden. It was worth every cent of the 30 euros we'd paid.
At the highest point of the road there is another cobbled road which will take you to the highest point. This is meant to be for bikes only, but when we got to the top there were plenty of cars! This section was pretty tricky to ride, but it was worth it as there was a cafe where we got a cuppa and the most amazing views.
After spending quite a bit of time at the top, we start the descent down the other side of the mountain. After around 10 minutes we had to stop as the road was blocked because somebody was abseiling down the mointain with a chainsaw cutting down the overhanging trees and branches. It was pretty cool to watch, but not a job I'd fancy doing! We were stuck there for a while, but we didn't mind. The weather was good and the scenary was amazing.
Once the road opened again, we continued our extremely enjoyable ride down the mountain and into the valley heading for Italy. Although not quite as good as the Grossglockner, the scenary continued to be very nice, the roads were good, and the weather was great. All in all a very enjoyable day's riding.
All that said by this time my Triumph was really starting to piss me off. It simply would not go into gear and the clutch was super heavy. I'd tried adjusting my clutch lever, the cluch cable and the gear selector but nothing seemed to improve it. It had got so bad that the gear selector was starting to wear a hole in my boot. Nig had explained how to do clutchless gear changes and that certainly helped - I am very good at doing them now, but there were still many times where I just could not get a gear - it was driving me insane.
As we crossed into Italy we did another mountain pass. This one did get very cloudy on the top, but it was still a lot of fun.
By the time we got to the campsite just over the border in Italy, with the bike and the lack of sleep I was absolutely knackered. We put the tents up and I got in mine and had a nap.
The campsite was lovely, it was set om the side of a hill, it had a nice small swimming pool. Next to our tents was an apple orchard - so we had a few free apples!
Nig and Daz decided to cool dowm by having a dip in the pool while I had a nap. Later that afternoon we walked into the nearby town and had a lovely meal and a few beers, before coming back to the tents for some very welcome sleep.
All in all, an excellent day and one of the best days I've ever had riding a bike.