To the Austrian Alps

Even though the distance to our hotel in the middle of the Austrian Alps was relatively short, the weather conditions were so erratic and changeable, it was almost impossible to know how to dress. When you ride a motorcycle you must be prepared for anything. Particularly in the high alpine country that we were approaching.

The distance today was about 160kms but leaving Salzburg, where we were having a rain fest, was particularly treacherous. There were many road works areas along the early part of the route where mud slides had occurred leaving slippery deposits of soil and rotting vegetation for our tyres to contend with.

After about 60-70 kms of dodging paddle pop ladies we were continuously climbing the more steeply graded mountains through broad sweeping absolutely gorgeous roads. The rain continued on an off and the sun broke through time and again.

When we stopped for fuel at a very high point at about two thirds distance, the large road house with fuel stop and restaurants were a very welcome sight. It was warm inside, plenty of nice food and armies of people in cars, SUV's and trucks on the same journey as us.

The wind was freezing cold but the rain had slowed. We filled out tanks, filled our stomachs, walked outside and looked upwards at the horrific rain clouds hovering over us like an omen of what we were about to endure. We waited a while as the rain belted down. We suited up with full rain gear and after about 20 minutes decided it was time once again to be drenched.

As we left the road house the rain intensified, the wind howled and visibility shrank away to appear as though we were riding in the evening. It was grey and heavily darkened. After about 40-50kms the roads were much lighter of traffic as the crowds of vehicles had dispersed to their various destinations off the highway. The clouds had blown away and the rain was only light as the sun actually shone through providing a warming glow to our old bones.

The video here is longer than most but well worth watching if you want to experience a very approximate idea of some of the conditions we encountered. In fact this example was actually a very low ranging sample of what we were constantly exposed to. It was not wise to have our camera and its remote control exposed directly to heavy rain. I had already lost one remote to the rain in France and only had one left.

As we left the highway approaching our hotel, to add further abuse to our poor bikes and bodies there was an extensive mud bog in the form of road repairs leading to the hotel. Just our luck. I was lucky not to have dropped my 330kg Vmax in that slush. Sol was behind me filming and I know he was hoping I could keep the bike up. His bike is well at home in those conditions but mine was pushing the friendship severely as I was fortunate enough to avoid tipping the big blob over. Let me tell you...it was bloody close to going over several times.

We finally arrived at our hotel and there was no more rain to contend with. I have no idea how I didn't get totally lost up in the mountains there while riding to this hotel. As it turned out, had I not followed the GPS blue line through the mud bog and turned left where the road had forked we would have arrived at the hotel from the other direction where no such road works were present. Who was to know?