(8/25/06 - 8/30/06)
On this page are pictures and descriptions from 8/25/06 - 8/30/06. These are mostly pictures of Switzerland (on motorcycles). Click on any picture or panorama for an ENORMOUS version. Click here to go to the homepage and get a description of what this is all about.
This webpage, and all of http://www.ski-epic.com are yours to enjoy. Feel free to use any pictures found here for any purpose you like, with or without credit. I grant you full rights, for free, forever, to do anything you want, including redistribute the pictures with or without any credit to me. This isn't my job, it's just my vacation website. Enjoy!
(Read
a personal
description of Backblaze here.)
END OF NEW ADDITION, now on to the original site->
I arrived into Zurich, Switzerland the morning of Saturday, 8/26/06. On these trips we don't ride motorcycles for the first day or two while we get over jet-lag. This is the view out my hotel room window of the line of motorcycles our tour group will be riding for the next two weeks. A note on motorcycle selection-> in general you can choose any BMW motorcycle you like, you let the tour guide know in advance and he has it ready for you upon arrival. I choose the 2006 BMW R1200GS because it is tall and more comfortable for me, and also because it handles some of the smaller gravel roads well. The gravel roads are "avoidable", but sometimes there is some good riding just past some gravel or dirt.
I took this photo later, but it shows a closer up view of the same row of motorcycles from the opposite side. Use your horizontal scrollbar to scroll back and forth and see all of them (and click on the image for an ENORMOUS version). These are all either brand new or 1 year old BMW motorcycles, worth about $18,000 US dollars each. So you are looking at about a $200k investment of the tour owner (Rob). He calls each bike "part of his retirement". :-)
My buddy Brian Beach and I took a train 10 minutes to downtown Zurich the first day to look around. From now on I'll refer to Brian Beach as "BrianB" to distinguish him from myself ("BrianW" for Brian Wilson). The picture below is just outside the train station in downtown Zurich, Switzerland.
We noticed an old church (turns out it was the Grossmünster Church which was built around 1200 A.D.) that we could walk up inside and get views of downtown Zurich, Switzerland. After a hike up some stairs, below is a panorama of downtown Zurich, Switzerland.
That's my buddy BrianB (Brian Beach) taking a picture. In the distance is Lake Zurich.
Our first group dinner together. Dinners are included in the one price of the motorcycle tour, and the dinners are usually in the the hotels we stay in (which are chosen to have excellent food). Below are all the tour members on our motorcycle tour on the first night. From left to right we have somebody hidden by pole, Gary Maenpaa, Denise Maenpaa, then across the table Anna Fontaine, Donald Fontaine, my buddy BrianB (Brian Beach) in blue shirt, and finally far right in black is Sarah Walker (Virtual Sarah).
Far left standing is Rob Beach, owner and chief dude in charge of Beach's Motorcycle Adventures. To Rob's right is Jack Leahy. In back facing the camera are Lois Wilthew and Robert Wilthew. Facing away from the camera on the left is Scott Farnham and Jo Farnham.
All at the front table in the picture, in the back in black shirt is Steve Peterson, he is across the table from Carol Peterson also in a black shirt. One couple closer is Jane Manchester (in grey sweater) facing Peter Manchester. Closest to the camera are Lynn Legace (in pink) facing Frank Legace.
On the left is 10 year old Alex Walker (son of Sarah Walker and Al Walker), and on the right is Gretchen.
Ok, ready to ride some motorcycles through the Alps?! On the morning of Monday, 8/28/06 BrianB and I got up, checked out our motorcycles (we both decided on the 2006 BMW R1200GS motorcycle) and decided to do a loop south of Zurich on the BMW motorcycles and do 4 mountain passes. Below is a map showing our general route, starting north of Zurich on the "S", then going south to Altdorf, and heading through Klausen Pass, then Pragel Pass, then through a small pass called "Ibergeregg", then over Sattelegg pass, then home.
A couple hours into our day, and here we are stopped for a picture break riding our BMW motorcycles up to our first Swiss mountain pass of the trip! That's BrianB in the photo below, we are headed up to Klausen Pass, Switzerland.
It's hard to capture how INSANE this terrain is, the picture below doesn't do it justice. But look closely the size of the drop off between road and grass, then notice the grass keeps going away at a 45 degree (or greater) slope. Switzerland is filled with roads that make Klausen Pass look safe and sane, we tried to drive on as many of them as possible. :-)
Here I am going up Klausen Pass, Switzerland on my motorcycle on 8/28/06. Picture by BrianB.
This is the lodge at the top of Klausen Pass, Switzerland. I've been here before a couple of times before over the last 5 years.
Below is a panorama of the road and terrain we just drove our motorcycles on to get here. We came up that valley you see in the middle of the picture.
The first cappuccino break of the trip!
A little while later in the day, a picture of the top of desolate Pragel Pass. I've been here before also, a few years ago. Nothing really to do here. We stopped for lunch at a lodge a few hundred yards further along.
We took a short detour to stop and see this famous Church at Einsiedeln, Switzerland. It is a Benedictine Abbey that dates back to 900 A.D.
A little further on, the Sattelegg Pass was closed-> no cappuccino for us!!
On Tuesday, 8/29/06 we headed out of Zurich to the next Hotel. It was raining and SUUUPER foggy most of the day, so I took very few photos. Here is one fuzzy one I saved of a wooden motorcycle we parked next to.
The next day (8/30/06) the morning was foggy and rainy, and the day got better as we went along. At the top of the first mountain pass I took this picture to show the conditions. Below is taken from just across the street from this sign. This is just outside of Colmar, France.
I am the guy in the picture below (BrianW). A foul weather day on our motorcycles outside of Colmar, France on 8/30/06. Picture by BrianB.
Below is taken from the same spot as a truck goes by. It's about 20 feet of visibility in the fog, and raining.
As the day goes on the weather gets better, here is a scenic little village nestled at the bottom of a valley, the fog is lifting. We are somewhere in France.
This panorama is at "Col du Hundsruck: Altitude 748 m" (says the sign that is not in this picture). We stopped for lunch here, it was a GREAT 5 course lunch where we had to turn down the desert that came with the meal we were so full. Welcome to France -> awesome food. That's my buddy BrianB in the photo below.
The picture below is of myself at lunch, and a few of the courses, we had to turn down desert and coffee that came with the meal because we were so stuffed. French food is GREAT, even in the remote mountain passes. Picture by BrianB.
A little way down the road, we stopped to refold maps (so that our current locations are shown and we can navigate). I like this picture of BrianB on his motorcycle near this big beautiful sweeping turn.
We are heading for the "Goumois, France" to stay the night, the sign below points out it is only 10 km away.
Goumous, France is the little town nestled low in the valley out in front of us. We will drop down into this valley to our hotel.
Our hotel in Goumois, France is amazing, the views out the window are gorgeous. This is the balcony window from inside my room.
And here is the view while standing on my balcony (inside the room pictured above). This is the Hotel Taillard, 3 rte Corniche, Goumois, France. I recommend it highly for a romantic weekend in a remote area of France.
This webpage, and all of http://www.ski-epic.com are yours to enjoy. Feel free to use any pictures found here for any purpose you like, with or without credit. I grant you full rights, for free, forever, to do anything you want, including redistribute the pictures with or without any credit to me. This isn't my job, it's just my vacation website. Enjoy!
(Read
a personal
description of Backblaze here.)
END OF NEW ADDITION, now on to the original site->
Return to 2006 Europe Motorcycle Trip Top Level