DAY #9...MUNICH, GERMANY TO HUTCHINSON

Well......we're home after a very long flight. it took 9.5 hours from Germany to Chicago, then another 1.5 hours to Wichita. 11 hours on an airplane is enough to make anyone tired.
This vacation was one of the best we've ever taken. Not only were the countries we visited very beautiful, we met some new friends that we had a great time with.
The weather was great the entire week, other than the last day, so we really have nothing to complain about.
For those of you that followed my Blog...thanks. It was a little harder to do than I'm used to, due to the problems with having access to WiFi.

Mike

DAY #8...MUNICH, GERMANY

Well, we woke up this morning to wet skies, the first day of any rain on our trip. We rode to the top of Grossglockner mountain, the highest mountain in Austria. It rained hard all the way to the top, and was aprox. 38* at the top.
Before we started down it started sleeting with winds blowing hard. It wasn't a pleasant decent off the mountain, as it was totally enshrouded in clouds, sleeting, and raining. Most of the time I couldn't see more than 30-40 feet in front of the bike.

Tomorrow we head for home shortly after lunch here, about 5:00 a.m. at home.

Should be home Sunday night. I'll post pictures to the Blog after I get home.

Stay tuned for more.....

Mike

DAY #7...STILL IN ITALY

I lied to you last night, thinking we were going to be in Austria tonight. We're still in Italy, and will head north towards Munich on Saturday morning, passing through Austria on the way there, I believe. We rode more twisties today, and rode through the Dolomites this afternoon. These mountains are without saying the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. They are limestone, and are so colorful they look like a painting.
We all now know why they called this tour the "Extreme Alps Tour". I have never ridden roads this crooked in my entire life. By the time we get back to Munich on Saturday evening we will have ridden over 1,000 switchbacks. I wouldn't even want to venture a guess as to how many curves we've ridden. The reason we have to carry all of our own luggage is because some of the roads we rode would be impassable by a chase van. For those that don't know about Edelweiss Tours, they normally carry all of your luggage for you, but this tour is the only one that the roads wouldn't permit that to happen.
We only ride about 180 miles a day, but those are some very intense miles, and we're totally exhausted by the end of the day.
One more night in Munich and we'll be on our way home on Sunday.
Mike

DAY #6....LEVICO, ITALY

We all were able to sleep in today, as this was a rest day. Some of us rode to Garda Lake, the largest lake in Italy. As I said last night, the scenery is breathtaking, and never ending.

The roads are, I'm guessing, some of the best motorcycle roads in the world, and I'm getting very used to lane splitting. Mary stayed at the hotel today to rest, as the next several days will be long ones.
We will ride the Dolomites on Friday, then head back to Munich on Saturday. This has been an amazing trip, and one Mary and I will never forget.
If I have internet on Friday night, I'll post some pictures of the mountains we will ride through tomorrow.
We're going to eat real Italian pizza tonight, and we're looking forward to that.
Until Friday night.....Ciao
Mike

P.S. The Italian Pizza was great!!!

DAY #3, 4, 5....THREE DAYS OF... WOW!!!!

I haven't had internet access for several days, so I'm having to rely on memory while I write this. The roads here are awesome, and I honestly believe I had not ridden real twisties until I rode here in Europe. I don't think there is a straight road anywhere, most are very intense, and my arms feel like wet noodles. There are more tunnels than any other place I've ever ridden, and some are several miles long.
Monday night we stayed in a remote mountain hut at the base of a large glacier, and above a large lake. What a beautiful view we had out of our window.
Tuesday we rode Passio Stelvio, the road in the picture I posted at the beginning of the Blog. There are 48 intense switchbacks on this road....what a rush!!
Tuesday we rode a total of over 100 switchbacks....not just normal curves, but 180 degree, very steep turns. Some were actually on dirt roads, so this made things really interesting.
We've ridden in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and now Italy. We'll be here for several days, and Thursday will be a day of rest, as we have a short ride scheduled, and will be back to the same hotel Thursday afternoon.
This is the bike Mary and I have averaged 200 miles a day on since Monday. I wish I had my bike here. I won't say much about this bike other than you couldn't run fast enough to give me a BMW.

It's hard to believe that our riding days are half over, but as the saying goes..."Time flies when you're having fun"
I should be back here Thursday evening.....
Mike

DAY #2....MUNICH, GERMANY

Mary and I were up this morning at 5:30 a.m., after finding the 8 hours we lost on Saturday, and sleeping almost 15 hours. Our bodies have adjusted to the new time zone well. After eating breakfast, we walked 2.5 miles to catch the train in Erding. We rode the train to Munich, then spent the day there on several tours of the city, in an open top bus. Munich is a wonderful city, and I wish we had had more time to spend there, because we didn't have near enough time to see everything.

The following picture is Olympia Park, the site of the Munich Olympics.

We rode the bus back to Erding, then walked the 2.5 miles back to our hotel. It is very warm here, and they've already warned us it isn't going to be much cooler in the mountains. Without A/C it's rough on us spoiled Americans. They said it's been unusually warm here this summer.Imagine that!!
We were issued our bikes this evening, and at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning will be on our way. Monday is a fairly easy day, with about 200 miles to ride, on mostly straight roads.
I will not have internet access on Monday night, so you won't hear from me until after our Tuesday ride, if then.
Talk to you soon,
Mike

DAY #1....MUNICH, GERMANY

Well, we made it to Munich, but somewhere along the way I lost 8 hours of sleep, and I still haven't found it. We've walked all over Erding, Germany this afternoon with several of the other people going on our tour. The flight over was uneventful, but long. Sunday we are going to take a tour of Munich, then Monday we leave on the bike trip. I think I must have brought the warm weather with me, because it's warm here, and there's no A/C anywhere. Getting ready to go to bed, as it's almost 4:00 p.m. here, and I need to find that 8 hours I lost on the way here.
Internet here is very limited in the hotels, so I can't guarantee I'll be able to update regularly.
Mike