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So there it was, the request in the GS Club tours chat whether there was interest in a 2-day tour in the South Tyrolean area from September 24th to 25th from Stefan Großmann. For me, as a quasi-beginner with just 12 months of motorcycling experience under my belt, this advance notice seemed like a good opportunity to join a few more experienced driving professionals on the GS again this year, to do what made me decide to ride a motorbike at the time: have fun riding a super machine by wonderful nature. So Flux was promised via Signals message and a separate chat group was created, so to speak beneficially counteracting the addressee-independent information overflow in the various chat groups. Stefan, as organizer of the tour, had sent the tour description to those interested in advance, thus creating transparency about the duration and level of difficulty. The big element of uncertainty, the lovely weather, could be read on the Internet in all its facets, from rain to sun, so it was clear that all kinds of weather were to be expected in any case. Marcel, Günter, Stefan Grossmann and myself (Hauke) then met at the meeting point in Bad Tölz in the "Restaurant" of a globally represented US American fast food giant to get in the mood for the tour with a first morning coffee.
All 3 others with many years of motorcycle experience and various tours across the globe. A personally totally heterogeneous bunch, but united by the joy of driving! After a brief discussion of the rules to be observed when driving in groups, the surprisingly dry weather set off via Lenggries to the toll road on the Jachenau, along the Walschensee via Walgau, Krün through Mittenwald into Austria, past the well-known ski areas of Leutasch to Telfs, to the first fuel stop. Afterwards I continued through the Inn Valley and then turned south into the Ötztal, always in the direction of the Timmelsjoch, my first challenge in 180-degree turns. The more experienced colleagues in the group are kindly considerate of me, who is not thundering through the corners at breakneck speed and at an insane angle of inclination, like so many Ducati riders who overtake at breakneck speed. In any case, I intend to register for the next possible curve training session. At the top at 2.200 m, a short stop for a second breakfast at the Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum, then we become aware of other oncoming riders who can report zero visibility and sleet on the Italian side.
I won't repeat the subsequent discussion in our group about the pros and cons of one's own rainwear, but I find it amusing to note how strongly opinionated everyone is about the advantages of their own clothes. After continuing the journey, it happens as predicted, visibility drops to less than 10 meters in the fog, the visor and my glasses fog up and I curse myself not to wear contact lenses. With great effort I try to follow the rear light of my club colleague driving in front of me or not to lose sight of him, I don't feel particularly safe on the machine at the moment. But the lower we come down from the altitude, the better the visibility and with it my confidence in my driving skills and the reliability of the machine. After a short rest we continue via St. Leonhard in Passeier to Meran, where the sky has become alarming and we take another break with coffee and rolls. After a good 40 minutes of being together, we continue through the beautiful landscape towards Lake Kaltner, which you can admire from Cagnò from above. From there it goes via Dambel to Cavareno to the Hotel Rosa Resort (Via de Zinis 31, 38011 Cavareno, TN), today's destination. The hotel is ideal for motorcyclists, large garage for storing machines and refined hospitality combined with reasonable prices and delicious food). After a shower break, a sumptuous dinner beckons.
The sun smiles on us early in the morning the following day, but the weather forecast for the Alps says otherwise. As a preventive measure, the rain gear is put on and off we go over the Mendola Pass to Bozen, where we stop again for gas in order to benefit from the Italian “super prices”, who would have thought that it would be cheaper to fill up in Italy than in Germany! Continue on the SS 508 in the direction of Sterzing. In front of the Penser Joch we stop for a second breakfast. Past Sterzing on the old Brenner road back to Austria, down into the Inn Valley, past Innsbruck to Zirl, where we drive back to Germany via Seefeld in Tirol behind Scharnitz, still with sunshine and fleecy clouds in the sky. In the north, however, dark rain clouds are already gathering, so we continue quickly via Mittenwald, Krün and Wallgau along the western shore of Lake Walchensee to Kochel, where we split up. Stefan turns towards Augsburg, Marcel turns east towards Chiemsee, Günter and I towards Munich. After a short time, the rain starts to pour in with full force, now the rain gear has come into its own. It's back to Unterhaching via beautiful front alpine country roads, where Günter says goodbye in the direction of Trudering. I drive over to Ottobrunn and am happy to be back safely and without a fall.
Despite the last 2,5 hours in constant rain, it was a great and instructive experience for me. I was able to collect lots of tips on how to improve my driving style, starting with my seating position, when to shift gears and how to turn corners correctly, there's nothing like copying from the pros. All in all, it was really a lot of fun to drive this tour in the manageable group, gladly again at any time. A special thanks to the organizer Stefan as well as to the co-drivers for the nice 2 days, which were pure driving pleasure (except in the fog on the Timmelsjoch, but I forget that quickly).
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