I set the alarm to 6.00 am to make sure I don’t oversleep. As they only served breakfast from 7.00 am I took the time to shower, pack and take my stuff to the bike. It was a good move as by doing that I realised just how cold it is outside. The thermometer read 8 degrees! I had to put in the inner layers in both the jacket and the pants if I didn’t want to freeze.
I then had a quick bite and was already on my way at 7.20 am. I rode through some fantastic roads and almost hit a marmot at the Forcola di Livigno. As it was rather early there was minimal traffic on the roads and I really enjoyed the ride. I arrived in Livigno at 8.30 am where I stopped for fuel and a good Italian coffee 🙂
After Livigno I headed for the Dolomites to experience even more great roads. I took the narrow tunnel to Switzerland. While I waited in line (for the incoming traffic from the other direction) I took a couple of pics.
After the tunnel I turned East and took road no 28 in the direction of Merano then I turned South towards Bolzano where I was again unlucky with the traffic. After a short ride on the motorway I finally arrived at the foot of the Dolomites. The roads are just magnificent. The scenery is awesome as the huge rocks form different shadows on the perfect tarmac. I took the SS48 towards Cortina d’Ampezzo but I stopped plenty of times either to take some pictures or to have a coffee in one of the small restaurants or tourist houses by the side of the road. By that time I also had to take out the warm layers I put in this morning as it was getting hot.
From Cortina I headed for Dobbiaco and crossed to Austria where I continued on the E66 until I arrived in Lienz. It was another push back to reality and I quickly forgot the beautiful roads, the smile was quickly gone from my face as I had to struggle my way in the afternoon heat through the cars stuck in traffic. Just at the exit of town I stopped for a coffee and to fill up the bike while reminiscing on the day’s wonderful roads. I then continued on the E68 until it crossed the A10 motorway which I followed North for a short while. I headed for Murau where I wanted to spend the night. I called Anita – the hotel manager – who was kind as always and booked a room for me so I took road no 96 until I reached my destination.
Once at the hotel I quickly took my gear to the room, took off my jacket and went down for a well deserved beer. I had a great and lengthy chat with the staff and they even showed me proudly that we feature in the German Tourenfahrer magazine. In fact it is the biker hotel feature of the magazine issued every year. And as the hotel and its services are listed there is a picture of me and my mates under the hotel sign. I got a copy for free 🙂
I was a bit tired so I went back to the room after dinner to have a shower, sort out the pics, the diary and do some washing.
Good night!
Daily data
Total mileage: 533.9 km
Max speed of the day: 148 km/h