Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128178
Alpine Adventure Touring (RlghtJ Let it' snow let it snow. Th~ weather. as We found out, can be very unprecllctable In the Alps. This is the sight of Our Picnic on our final day outside of Annecy. France Where it throughout lUnch. snowed (LettJ Our grou right; 8/11 St P. from lett to enner D _ OliemUlier D •• _, Pete......n. Ro:::...~rte .11m Zlmme__ '··_n..... '-11. Ray .._~~ P erissutt/ • -.0 David and the PaSSo del ~u the top Of In Switzerland. n Bernardino . .lust another cast/ The thl e. ngs are like mlnlurns littering the coUlltrysjde. E~-::C Cook. COndo Our group at the ~p~~ the paSSO DI Gavt8. ite of many freezing~old battles during the First World War. Cappuccino time. lunch stop was at an exotic~game restaurant, which offered a menu comprised of antelope, bison, pheas~ ant, caribou, venison ~ you name it, they had it. My caribou and bison were served on a one~inch~thick slab of super~heated granite, and contin~ ued to cook the entire time I was eat~ ing. I'd never seen anything like that before ~ eat your heart out, fajita fans. The riding highlight of the day had to be the short pass that took us from Switzerland into France. It was rain~ ing lightly as we started up the pass, but I quickly realized that I was get~ ting really cold, and even the heated grips were struggling to keep my paws warm. The next thing I knew, it was snowing! I couldn't believe it; it wasn't sticking to the road, but it was fun riding through the flakes. As we rode into Annecy, France, which is set upon a lake of the same name, I was amazed at the beauty of the area. At one end of the lake was a huge castle, and at the other end of the lake was our castle . uh, I mean, hotel - which was the same size as the real castle across the lake. Just another night in paradise. Our final day was going to take us through the mountains around Annecy, with Klaus (our other gUide 20 OCTOBER 30, 2002' cue I on the trip), but we only ended up doing about half the roads we had intended to ride. The weather had become so cold that we were running into heavy fog and rain everywhere we went. After a couple of necessa ry coffee breaks in the morning, we started heading for a lake that we were going to picnic next to. As we were heading up the final road to the picnic sight, it started to snow again. I guess it isn't that big of a deal for it to snow in September in the Alps. We pulled up to the lake where Mario had set up the picnic, and it started snow~ ing like crazy. After trying to peel shrimp with our frozen fingers, we decided it was actually better on the bike, with the heated grips set to max. I think we were all eager to get back to riding, and to find a coffee stop somewhere - no offense Mario, the food was great. A lot of the day was spent riding roads that were used in the Tour de France this year, which was cool to see. The roads were covered with the names of the competitors, which the fans paint everywhere. I lost count of how many times I saw "Lance" (for Lance Armstrong) painted on the road, which was awesome because I'm a huge fan of his and the tour. n _ .. s EO Our day ended up being cut short by the weather, which was a shame, but we were all freezing in the cold temperatures. I spent that final day riding the Rl150 as - of which we only had one on the trip. I wish I would've taken the opportunity to ride the bike earlier on the trip, because it's truly the perfect bike for the Alps. The R1150 R was definitely a close second because of its light weight and positive feel from the front end. There are lots of bikes out there that would be good in the Alps, but when you think about all of the differ~ ent conditions that are encountered, all of the different weather, and the long miles, you realize that this is the type of riding that BMWs are made for. I can't think of too many bikes that are this versatile, and comfort~ able for all~day riding at the same time. I don't care how long it takes you to save up the money to do a trip like this ~ just do it. Find a way, because it is an experience you will never for~ get; it is well worth planning your vacation around. eN Most of the passes have a rest stop at their summit where you can grab a cappuccino and bench race.