Being Monday, Jon was required to head off to work, and so I had planned a 3 day escape to the Dolomites. I had to return the bike on Friday morning, so I planned on spending Thursday on a day ride from Milan - a margin of error in case of hiccups.
After packing the bike I was off - to Union Bike to buy a pair of summer gloves. I bought a pair with me, but they were nearing the end of their life, so it seemed a good time to buy another pair. However, Union Bike was not open, so that plan came to nothing.
So it was off north to the Dolomites. I had no reservations, just planning on stopping where it was convenient. Rather than take the Autostrada to Bergamo (fast and boring) I headed towards Lecco, then took back roads to Bergamo. This turned out to be not a great choice, as there was a great deal of truck traffic, and even though passing is not so limited on a bike, I was rather hesitant, not knowing the roads which were also rather narrow, and the trucks were occupying most of the lane and had little room to move over.
After Bergamo, the traffic thinned out, and I started to enjoy the ride. One of the objectives for the three days was to cross as many mountain passes as possible. I borrowed Jon's copy of Motorcycle Journeys Through The Alps to plan which way to go. After Bergamo it was along S42 towards Bolzano/Bozen. It's common for towns in this area to have two names - an Italian and German. This is a consequence of borders being redrawn after wars. Even today, German is the second, if not the first, language used in this area. And the closer to the Austrian border, the more Germanic it felt (note: this is written by somebody who has never been to Germany!).
The road heads over Passo di Croce Dominii and then ...
Mostly this was a riding trip, but this was also the first real section of the Dolomites I had entered. A consequence of this is that there aren't many photos for today! As is obvious, this is not just a mountain crossing, but a place to stay - for walking during summer, skiing during winter. And, of course, refreshments for the traveller just passing through. This seemed to be true of just about every mountain pass I crossed.
Where I stopped the bike, according to the GPS receiver. The receiver was sitting in the tank bag, which is why the image is of poor quality.
I'm not sure what this structure is, specifically the statue. Google has not helped. Most searches for Passo del Tonale turn up accomodation references, or more general travel sites.
Some more views of the mountains - they certainly are impressive. This is a composite of two images - I don't recall whether I intended these two to be a panorama shot, but the edges almost line up. Normally I allow much more overlap, so it may just have been fortuitous.
Once again headed towards Austria, I reached Bolzano/Bozen with possible thoughts of stopping for the night. But it was a large town, and I didn't find any particular place that looked like where I wanted to stay. In general I prefer smaller towns - they are easier to navigate. So onwards some more towards Bressanone/Brixen, and eventually the Hotel Clara a very Germanic style hotel. But they're biker friendly (I suspect this is true of all hotels in this area) and had a room. And a dining room - I didn't especially feel like going out to find a restaurant.
Since crossing over Passo del Tonale, the road ran up a valley with a pretty river; final Italian destination was the Brenner Pass into Austria. There is both a motorway and the old road running along the valley, often crossing over. Of course, I took the old road, and it was a very enjoyable ride. And quite attractive scenery too.
Italy In July