8-DAY MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE through the SWISS & FRENCH ALPS
[Music] [Music] it's the end of the season early October most riders in central Europes are thinking about putting their bikes away maybe squeezing in one last ride before the cold really sets in hardly anyone's planning multi-day trips through the Alps at this time of the [Music] year but we were we were just getting ready to kick off an 8-day motorcycle tour through the Swiss and French Alps a proper end of the season ride with a mix of familiar faces and new ones and some of the most incredible roads in Europe's waiting for us now we knew we were taking a bit of a gamble october and the Alps can go either way you might get golden autumn days or you might get soaked frozen and fogged in turns out we got a bit of everything we were about to ride into a trip full of twists in more ways than one rain breakdowns freezing cold and a couple of surprises we definitely didn't see coming but we also had some of the best riding the best views and a few moments that we'll be laughing about for a long time [Music] [Music] this was now the second year in a row that I've been planning and riding an end of the season tour with Stefan and a group of friends the year before we explored the central Alps together for the first time an incredible trip that took us over the legendary roads like the Stelvio Pass the Gavia Pass and the Tremula for Stefan and his crew it was their first time riding those iconic routes and it left a lasting impression on all of [Music] us just like last year this trip kicked off right after I got back from the Transitalia Marathon a 5-day off-road event held in the heart of [Music] Italy around 400 riders from all over Europe come together for it and this time was extra special because it was the 10th anniversary of the event [Music] the final stage finished in none other than the city of Rome which made the whole experience even more [Music] unforgettable but not everything went smoothly during the Transit Telleller Marathon I had a crash that took up the entire leftand side control cluster on my bike that meant no ride modes no cruise control and worst of all no heated grips not ideal when an October trip through the Alps is right around the corner luckily Stefan had a KTM 1290 Super Adventure Sitting in Munich and we were able to borrow the parts we needed to get my bike sorted just in time just one more thing to add to the prep list before heading out on another big ride [Music] every good trips starts with a solid crew and this one was no different first up there's Stefan owner of Adventure Motorcycle Rental business partner and a good friend he's an incredibly skilled rider especially when they let him loose on the twisty mountain road bit of a speed demon to be honest and thankfully also the guy you want around when something breaks because he knows how to fix just about anything on a motorcycle that would come in handy more than once on this trip then we've got Raphael Stefan's best friend since school and the guy who runs point of the rental station in Munich he's quiet usually the one in the background but he has his perfect timing to drop a oneliner just when you least expect it total engineering mindset in theory in practice and like last year he took the opportunity to test the durability of his paneers in let's say unconventional ways next is Jan he's Stefan's buddy from Hamburg we briefly met him on the Central Alps tour the year before he's only been riding for 5 years but he puts serious time on his KTM ever since and on this tour Jan somehow managed to be at the center of some of the most memorable moments more on that later then there's Dave he's been a longtime friend of my brothers and mine he's only got his motorcycle license the year before but he's jumped in head first and has spent every free minute riding his BMW 1250 GS on this trip he sort of became our unofficial foreign minister he started a conversation with pretty much anyone we came across and then there's my brother Phil this was the second big road trip after our tour of Norway together and I was thrilled to convince him to carve out time for this adventure i know how limited the spare time is but I also know how much he loves motorcycle tours like this one as a medical doctor he made sure to bring extra supplies which surprisingly came in very handy for some unplanned repair work on one of the bikes then there's me the tour guide and official cameraman this trip was more than just another adventure it was also a great opportunity for me to fine-tune the guided tour I'm planning through the French Alps with this group we had a really wide range of skill levels from beginners to very experienced riders it gave me the perfect setup to test how to keep everyone engaged safe and having fun regardless of how long they've been riding and of course I had my camera rolling most of the time to capture it all so that's the crew six of us geared up and ready for an 8-day ride through the French and Swiss Alps our journey would start and end in Munich taking us first through the Swiss Alps and then into the heart of the French Alps where we'd follow parts of the famous Route de Grandes [Music] but first we had to get there and that meant several hours on the autoban some of it in the rain it's not the most glamorous sight of motorcycleycling but it's part of the deal cold wet and not exactly scenic but a necessary evil to make it to the good stuff once we've entered the smaller roads the real ride began the landscape started to change and we had our first major alpine highlight the San Bernardino Pass normally it's a breathtaking view one of those top 50 passes that's on every rider's list but on this day the summit was buried in low-hanging clouds and the visibility dropped to just a few meters it gave the whole thing a moody surreal atmosphere not the kind of beauty we expected but memorable in its own way not long after near the Godhead Pass we rolled into our first accommodation of the tour and true to biker tradition it was time for a welldeserved boot beer that first cold one you drink while still in your riding gear boots and all it was a perfect end to the first leg of the journey [Music] day number two we're very close to the St gord pass the old tremolo we actually see it in the background this is where we're going this is the uh St gard sort of mountain region we'll be doing two passes in that area and then we're heading to France where we spend the night tonight i'm really surprised to have such a beautiful day it's blue skies couple of clouds this is the mountain where we're going to go up to first pass straight ahead second pass is going to be the forecast pass also really nice pass and I thought we'd be having an overcast ski at least or even rainy conditions there's a chance that the tremolo the old Gota pass that we're taking but that is still wet um that's cobblestone so that makes it a bit more challenging by the time we reached the historic tremler road most of the moisture from the earlier rain had dried off this road had also been part of a central Alps tour the year before and it's still one of my absolute favorites the original construction dates all the way back to the 1830s with a reconstruction in 1951 since most of the traffic now takes the Sangard tunnel this beautiful old cobblestone route stays relatively quiet making it a gem for motorcyclists as we climbed towards the summit we entered the lowhanging clouds the views at the tops weren't quite what we hoped for but we still took a short break at 2,100 m above sea level it's always worth stopping here even if the scenery is hiding behind the fog [Music] this early part of the trip actually shared a few passes with last year's central Alps route including the Forka Pass i've ridden the Forka Pass many times before but this was the latest in the year I've ever been up there even though I've done this pass multiple times this is absolutely gorgeous at 2,429 m the surrounding peaks were already dusted with the first snow of the season the Forka Pass became internationally famous after it appeared in the James Bond movie Goldfinger back in 1964 with Shan Connory driving as Eston Martin DB5 along its winding roads normally this pass is packed with tourists and cars but visiting so late in the season meant we had it nearly to ourselves a rare [Music] treat nice rainbow after descending from the forecast pass we realized we were ahead of schedule so we decided to head up the Nufan Pass as well considering the many times I've been up in this region this is the first time I'm seeing it like this there's a little bit of snow cap on the peak of the mountains but not enough to close the roads off it had been a while since I'd been there this pass is only open during the summer months and with the snowfall around the corner we're probably among the last visitors of the season the big parking lot at the summit shows how busy it can get during peak times but on this day it was nearly empty it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves this is how we get up to 300 km a day 50 of them are in the parking lot after catching our first glimpse of the snow for the season we made our way back down and found a nice spot for lunch it was surreal to experience such a shift in weather freezing temperatures and snow at the peak followed by warm almost summerlike conditions in the valley all within the span of an hour that afternoon we hit our first hiccup dave's bike wouldn't start after lunch it didn't take long to figure out the issue his accessory lights had drained the battery while we were eating fortunately Stefan came prepared and pulled out a starter battery to get us going again dave was so relieved he volunteered to cover the first round of beers that evening fair deal I'd say we wrapped up the day in the town of Mave it's a popular ski resort in the winter but when we arrived it was still in that offseason hibernation mode beautiful peaceful and just what we needed they use the water and of course sticking to tradition we kicked off the evening with a beer at the bar boots still on before heading into town to find some dinner [Music] [Music] it is the beginning of day number three for us we're in the entry point of the route to Grand Alps in France we had this uh beautiful chalet resort in Megave it's a skiing resort was pretty much empty we had it all to ourselves and today we're properly entering the route the Grand Alps hitting about five of the top 50 passes that you get to see here in the West Alps so it's going to be cool day day is going to end on the cold dies uh one of my favorite passes in the West Alps and we picked the long route i had two options today and a on the B route uh the guys wanted to do the long route so this is what we do so let's get going day three started like any other day on the tour plenty of excitement and no idea what was really waiting for us at that point we didn't know it yet but we wouldn't make it to our planned destination by the end of the day we rolled out in good spirits and hit our first proper stretch of the route to Grand Alps it's a legendary route for a reason almost 700 km through some of the most scenic and dramatic roads in the French Alps our first highlight of the day was the Kier de Rosenau it's not one of the highest passes in the Alps and you won't find it on every top 50 list but it's a beautiful one and we were excited to get there the only problem clouds thick wet cold clouds it wasn't raining but the air was completely saturated visibility dropped and the temperatures fell as we climbed still we took a short break at the summit because that's what you do a couple of quick photos a few laughs and back on the bikes this is [Music] young as we dropped down to lower elevations again the sky started to clear and the scenery changed autumn colors lit up the landscape and the road ahead looked like something out of a postcard it was one of those moments that makes you forget how cold and wet you just were but it didn't last [Music] long the poor weather didn't dampen the group's mood though if anything it brought out the sillier side of a few riders and if the weather doesn't crack a smile on your face just wait until Stefan does something ridiculous he always finds ways to keep the energy up our next challenge was the cold lane another iconic to the to France climb and one of many along the route the Grand Alps and just like earlier in the day we went straight into low hanging clouds and near zero visibility at this point the group was still riding strong but there was this quiet tension building the conditions weren't dangerous but they weren't easy either ha just enough to make you second guess every line and every curve and then the real problem hit funny thing is we didn't even notice it right away it wasn't until we reached the top of the pass that Jan mentioned he had hit a rock early on the straight section going uphill just a bit of bad luck a small rock had deflected up and hit the underside of his engine that's when we spotted it a significant amount of oil leaking from his bike stefan jumped in immediately he's exactly the guy you want in that moment he pulled off his skid plate took a look underneath and confirmed what we feared engine case damage but looked like a minor impact had actually pushed a small bolt into the engine case puncturing it and the oil filter cap oil was leaking out and that's the last thing you want especially if it ends up on the rear tire we are at the peak of the cold lane and uh we just ran into our first problem yan hit a hard object on the track and it hit the bottom of the engine and there's oil leaking and it's quite a dangerous situation because the oil is getting on the rear wheel so he knows that he's slipping it's already wet on the track first we had to stop the oil from leaking we used some of the luggage to carefully lay the bike on its side when that wasn't enough a few of the guys went over to a nearby parking area and came back with wooden crates we used those to lift the tires and stabilized the bike enough to work on it and stop the oil leakage luckily a Yan did not crash on the way up the pass with all that oil on the rear tire but now we had a bike that couldn't move visibility was poor the air was damp and cold and we were stranded on top of a mountain but giving up wasn't even a thought luckily I'd packed a few emergency supplies for situations just like this one of them was a two component epoxy rock solid once cured and resistant to high temperatures i had used it before in similar issue during an off-road trip so I knew it could potentially do the job we got to work sanding mixing cleaning my brother who's an orthopedic surgeon even pulled out some disinfectant spray from the first aid kit to de oil the area before applying the epoxy he compared the whole roadside repair to an emergency operating room where everyone jumps in knows their role and everything gets handled quickly and efficiently we moved quickly trying to seal both punctures before we lost more [Music] oil then came the hardest part waiting [Music] we gave it around an hour and a half to cure hoping the fork wouldn't thicken and the temperatures wouldn't drop any further no one said it out loud but we're all thinking the same thing what if it doesn't [Music] hold but finally it was time to find out we fired up the bike crossed our fingers and cautiously started the descent all eyes were on the road and more importantly on the rear tire for any signs of fresh [Music] oil but nothing it held we couldn't believe it the fix worked and just like that we were back in motion after all the stress all the unknowns and the cold foggy weight at the summit it felt incredible to be rolling [Music] again we were incredibly lucky to be back on the road but the delay had set us back because of the unplanned stop we reached the cold galib one of the major highlights on the route to Grand Alps much later than expected by the time we got there it was already getting dark the fog hadn't lifted and the temperatures had dropped to minus one it wasn't the moment we had hoped for at that legendary pass so we made a call we cut the ride short and headed for the town of Brian it wasn't part of the original plan but honestly it didn't matter quite the adventure cheers cheers we found a warm place had a solid meal and laughed off the chaos of the day after everything just sitting together and sharing stories over dinner was the perfect way to wrap it up [Music] [Music] it's the beginning of day number four for a tour through the roots of the Grand Alps yesterday we had a puncture in the engine case of one of our KTMs which set us back a few hours we did a good part of the passes that we intended to do but we left out the cold zoir which will be our first pass for today also that means we're traveling from sort of the middle of the French Alps to the Mediterranean today so we'll be hitting Monaco and Nice towards the end of the day so it's going to be very long riding day yesterday when we sort of fixed the engine case puncture we left the splash guard off just to see if it actually works uh to see if it's if it's sealing properly okay so now it's time to put it back [Music] on we geared up and hit the road and right away we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful days of the entire tour the first pass of the day was the cold it was originally supposed to be our final pass the day before but now it became a first and honestly what a way to start the day it's one of my absolute favorites riding it from north to south is just a pleasure the climb the curves the scenery it all just flows but what really makes it special is how different both sides of the pass feel the ascent is smooth and dramatic and the descent opens up into these incredible views down the valley we took our time at the peak to soak it all in before continuing on not long after we ran into a roadblock and out there with so few alternative routes that can be a real issue we had to detour quite a bit until we got lucky we ran into some locals who pointed us towards a small gravel road through the forest and mountains a little shortcut around the closure we weren't totally sure if it would work but we gave it a try and sure enough it worked it turned out to be a fun little off-road section and soon we were back on track in different [Music] jobs next up was the cold devouse another great pass I've ridden many times before it's not quite as dramatic as some of the others but it's still a fantastic ride with a good flow and great views but the real highlight of the day was the cold de labonet now technically it's not part of the official route to Grand Alps even though it probably should be [Music] [Music] [Music] it's one of the highest paved roads in the Alps and while some people call it the highest pass that's not quite accurate what gives it that reputation it's little loop that circles around the summit make it at the highest pave loop rope in the Western Alps it's a stunning pass but it can get really busy during peak season luckily for us riding it so late in the year meant we had it almost entirely to [Music] ourselves and that made it feel even more [Music] special i've been up there many times but this one was different quieter calmer just us and the mountains originally the plan was to continue south all the way to Monica and Nice but between the delays early on in the tour the heavy traffic turning towards the coast and the weather starting to turn again we made the call to skip it instead we found a place just north of Nice to stay the night it looked like something out of the 1960s stylish kind of retro and maybe a little too fancy for a group of motorcycle riders but it turned out to be a great spot good food warm beds and the perfect place to wind down after another incredible day of riding [Music] so we hit the midpoint of our journey last night uh we stayed in this beautiful hotel 60s design I think from architecture wise today's tour is going to go west so we're going to hit the Verdon Canyon um basically take every curvy road that there is and then we'll head up back north again um back north to the Alps day five kicked off with yet another beautiful morning the weather was still holding strong and the Mediterranean Sea was almost within reach spirits were high the sun was out and we had one of the major highlights of the tour ahead of us liveron [Music] Canyon the Verdon Canyon is known for having better weather than high alpine region and today was no exception warm dry and clear skies all day long it was the perfect setup for a full day of twisty roads and amazing views we rode the canyon from one side to the other starting on the northern side winding our way around and coming back along the southern [Music] edge basically we hit every curvy road we could find around the canyon it's a paradise for motorcyclists endless turns incredible views and hardly any traffic this late in the [Music] season hey good so this goes off this comes off [Music] him because we covered so much ground this ended up being the longest day of the entire tour but even after hours on the road we weren't done just [Music] yet as the sun started to set we rode through the Deloui Canyon another hidden gem of the [Music] region it's one of the most beautiful canyon roads in France with long stretches of balcony road carved into the red rock hanging high above the valley floor [Music] we rolled through just as it was getting dark which made the whole scene feel even more dramatic eventually we reached our hotel for the night and that's when we run into a surprise that none of us will forget anytime [Music] soon enter the unet incident so we were sitting down for dinner going through the menu and the woman running the hotel recommends something special and yet a local sausage sounded harmless enough yan and Rafael decided to give it a try now none of us knew what Anduette actually was spoiler alert it's a French delicacy made entirely from intestines the presentation was questionable the smell was even worse and the taste let's just say it left a lasting impression not in a good way when Yan was asked how he liked it he gave a polite and reserved answer i thought he was being a bit rude until I tried it myself that first bite was hands down the worst thing I've ever tasted the texture the flavor the smell it was almost comically awful we were all in tears laughing [Music] it turned into one of those moments that sticks with you the kind of ridiculous memory you keep bringing up every time the group gets back together so yeah day five had it all breathtaking roads perfect weather unforgettable scenery and one truly disgusting sausage and that's how we wrapped up another unforgettable day on the road [Music] it is the morning of day number six for us on a tour of the route the Grand Alps this is the place we stayed at at the moment it looks pretty nice 15° it's dry we're still very much in the southern part of the French Alps so today is all about getting back north again the last major pass will be the cold dearan we're not sure if it's open and if the conditions are good enough for us to ride a motorcycle because it has been closed due to snow and cold uh weather conditions and it's going to get pretty rainy throughout the day so we'll see you know that feeling when you hit the midpoint of a journey and suddenly the days just start flying by that's exactly how day six felt for me we started the day refueling in a small town near hotel and it kind of hit me somehow we were already more than halfway through the trip it's that moment where you realize how fast time move once you're out on the road fully in it we had a long ride ahead of us but the good news was we were back on schedule after all the detours and delays early in the trip we had finally caught up with the original route plan [Music] one of the day's main highlights was the Kayol it's not one of the bigname passes but that's part of what makes it special it's raw a bit more remote and it has this untouched feeling to it there's not much going on at the summit but the ride up and down is absolutely worth it flowing curves almost no traffic and gorgeous autumn landscape all around when we got to the top Dave noticed something was off with his bike turns out his oil level had dropped fortunately we were prepared again we had spare oil with us and Stefan jumped in right away giving Dave a hand and getting sorted out the roads that day were stunning autumn was in full swing down in the valleys and we had some really peaceful stretches riding through golden leaves and open landscapes one of the highlights for me personally came a bit later riding the cold again but this time from the other direction south to north that gave Stefan and me a chance to just let it rip a little up until then I'd mostly been hanging back making sure the rest of the group was good but this climb was just for us we open it up a little bit and chase each other up the mountain pure riding joy [Music] [Music] [Music] not long after that the weather started turning again just as forecasted we are in Italy right now we just crossed the border from France to Italy and we're heading to Monte which is back in France again but before we get there we'll have to climb this pass and as it looks it goes up to 1,800 m and we're kind of caught in the middle of the clouds also the roads are wet now it's not really raining it's wet once again we're caught in the clouds as we climbed towards cold Mosini the fog rolled in thick heavy fog that completely changed the atmosphere it got so dark and misty that I honestly didn't realized at first that had ridden that road before nothing looked familiar but then just as we broke through the cloud cover near the summit everything changed the view opened up and this massive reservoir came into sight absolutely beautiful we stopped there for a bit just watching the clouds roll across the landscape it was one of those quiet surreal moments that really stick with you then came the big question do we go for the colder run but it was already getting late and we had been riding for a long time so we made the call to skip it for the day and find a place to stay nearby just before the start of the pass it wasn't an easy decision but it was the right one we found a place had a well-earned root beer grabbed something to eat and called it a night [Music] [Music] it's the morning of day number seven for us on the two of the route to Grand Alps we're a bit behind schedule so we have a long day ahead of us the first pass will be the Coldly Run which we didn't do yesterday and then we're still heading our way back up north again into Switzerland if we're going to make the full tour we'll be at the bottom of the Grimsel Pass which was closed yesterday but we'll see maybe the weather changes and we have a chance to ride over the Grimzel and Zusen Pass back to Munich they say good things come to those who wait and day seven definitely proved that after waking up and checking the latest updates we were thrilled to see that the Cold Dearan was open it had been closing off and on throughout our trip due to changing weather conditions so we weren't sure if we'd actually get to ride it but the day greeted us with blue skies and sunshine and the road was clear the colder is the highest paved mountain pass in the Alps and for that reason it's often called king of the Alps it's also a regular feature of the tour to France and on this day we had it almost entirely to ourselves as we rode higher snow cap peaks came into view and the air grew cooler the climbup was absolutely beautiful with long sweeping curves and that crisp high altitude [Music] air when we reached the summit it was nearly empty i've been up there plenty of times before but I've never seen it like that no crowds no noise just peace and panoramic views we spent quite a bit of time at the top took some photos soaked it all in that big sign at the summit is usually surrounded by tourists you practically have to take a number and wait your turn to snap a quick picture but today it was just us we even met a cyclist who had made it up to the top totally on his own and we gave him a celebratory wave as he rolled in we chatted for a bit and shared a few laughs it was one of those cool little moments you remember not because it was planned but because it just felt genuine for all of us i think it was the moment where the trip started to feel like it was coming to an end that was the final major pass and you could feel the group settling into more reflective mood [Music] so we were super lucky to see the cold run in weather like this and empty like this for a while we were the only ones that met with my cyclist that came up here and now we're on a downhill slope down to the valley so October is a great time to see this area but of course it's a gamble with the weather we had our fair share of rain but overall this is day number seven we've been quite lucky to have weather like this despite the fact that the roads are still wet but we get this beautiful scenery here still in the morning sunlight also pays to get up early in the morning so this very likely will be the highlight of today's tour as we continued on we started checking the weather forecast again and sure enough things were about to shift so before crossing the petite sena we stopped for lunch the sun was still shining so we grabbed an outdoor table and ordered big burgers probably too much food for a mid-ride stop but at that point we weren't too worried about it [Music] and good thing we stopped when we did because within 10 minutes of finishing lunch and heading back out the weather flipped the sky turned gray the temperatures dropped and that warm sunny day quickly turned into something completely different by the time we reached the granar it was overcast and drizzling still a beautiful pass but the clouds and fog swallow up most of the views we didn't stay long just a few quick stops and then down the pass onto a short stretch of Ottabban to wrap up the day we ended the ride near the town of Gums in Switzerland where we found a quiet little hotel and most importantly the final boot beer of the tour we sat down to a great dinner and the mood was calm everyone kind of reflecting on the ride the places we'd seen the challenges we'd overcame it had been a long unforgettable journey and we had just one more day to go [Music] this is the day when we head back to Munich and today we're not so lucky with the weather it's going to be raining pretty much the entire time we had been pretty lucky with the weather overall but this one this one was going to be a rain ride but what we didn't know was just how intense it would get the forecasts had rained sure but as we left the hotel we still weren't sure how the day would unfold we had three more top 50 passes in Switzerland on the list and there was a big question mark over whether we'd do any of them we are approaching the Grimsel Pass which is right in front of me the uh hairpin turns up the mountain there in the most beautiful weather you can think of here yeah it's raining but um it's not so bad it's only 8° it'll be cold up there but it's almost better if it like rains like this rather than it being sort of semi wet road surfaces you actually have more grips like [Music] this originally the plan was to just ride the Grimzel pass a solid one to wrap things up but once we got going we kept pushing one pass turned into two and eventually we tacked all three grimsel Susan and Clausen pass by the time we reached the last one we were completely soaked despite having proper Gortex gear the rain didn't let up for a second it wasn't just a drizzle it was relentless heavy rain from morning to evening by the time we made it back to Munich we had been riding and pouring rain for almost 9 hours and the most amazing part no one complained the mood was still good spirits were still high and even though we're all cold wet and exhausted the energy in the group never dropped we rolled into Munich and just like that our tour came to an end not with sunshine or fanfare but with soaked gloves fogged visors and a sense of accomplishment that only comes after a ride like that this has been the longest rain ride ever 9 hours in the strongest possible rain we had maybe the last 20 minutes where it wasn't raining everything is wet uh despite a good climb suit but we're back we made it back it's a long freaking day we're happy to be [Music] back never been happier to [Laughter] [Music] ride let's see how [Music] It was the perfect kind of imperfect ending tough memorable and something we'll all be talking about for a long [Music] time there's something in me [Music] something in the air [Music] air yeah
2025-04-26 17:04
