I’m not a writer, far from it, but the esteemed editor in chief of this prestigious publication allowed me to submit my most recent adventure so thanks in advance for bearing with me here.
My father and I had been slowly reconnecting since my late teens after a pretty ugly divorce between my parents and the common ground for us happens to be machines, especially motorcycles. Last summer he and I rode an organized trip to the Balkans (Serbia – Bosnia – Croatia – Montenegro) and while we had some technical issues on that trip (maybe another article in the future if there’s demand?) the overall outcome was that we had a great adventure of riding stunningly beautiful, less traveled roads that wind through countries long ago dismissed by the west. To keep it interesting, we did all of this while battling the eccentricities of machines that were each north of 2 decades in age. Coming off that trip we agreed that we would do it again the following year.
In the months since our last ride, we’d been scouring over calendars and guided trips but the dates were not aligning with my cyclical finance job. Once WSBK announced that they were going to Hungary we decided we’ll just ride the Alps on our own with a loose itinerary and end our trip at the new Balaton Park Circuit for WSBK weekend. I’m adamant about Hungary being a Central European country (and so they teach it in school). But admittedly the execution and dealings around the circuit are very typical Eastern Europe, i.e. it didn’t get done in time and they went to race in Portugal instead. We already had booked our week of hotels in Slovenia and Austria waiting for the tickets to go on sale before booking ourselves an accommodation for the race weekend. Upon finding out that there was no race, we tacked 3 more days in Italy onto our bookings and an intermediate travel day on the way home in Austria. I was excited; I’d been to these places mostly in the winter for skiing as a child and was looking forward to ride some of the famous alpine passes and roads that litter any motorcyclist’s social media feeds. I knew I was going to have a great trip, but I couldn’t imagine how much it would mean to me by the time it actually happened.
I was due to leave on August 16th, but unfortunately I had an accident on July 22nd on my motorcycle on the way to work. I had accidents before, but this was the first time someone else other than me also got hurt. It changed a lot of things for me. Long story short, a pedestrian stepped in front of me and I hit him breaking his leg and sending me rolling and sliding down leaving skin samples on Lafayette Street in Manhattan. I spent the weeks of my recovery from my injuries bouncing around between the overwhelming opposite spectrum of feelings of guilt, anxiety about legal and financial impact and absolute raging anger about my beautiful bike getting totaled. I ultimately settled on feeling grateful to be alive and not permanently hurt. The wife, for a number of reasons including my reckless disregard for safety that morning by not wearing proper gear as well as other similarly valid reasons, temporarily vetoed replacing my bike. TBD when that ban is lifted but I suspect I’ll be unbearable enough at some point where she’ll wish I had somewhere to go for a few hours.
So, in the month leading up to this trip I was wondering about my ability to ride while injured. Will I enjoy riding still? Will I be able to really relax and let myself experience the trip or will I stress over what could go wrong? I spent days reflecting on the series of poor decisions I made on the day of the accident and how they compounded each other and what I would do differently if I had the luxury of a redo. All my questions and doubts were answered on this trip and really cemented what and how much riding really means to me.
The weekend before my departure we popped in to see my new main dude Mads and his parents and our good friends Britt and Jake on our way home from the Catskills. As usual, we ended up talking MotoGP and it dawned on me that I could actually go to the Austria race on Sunday on the way to Slovenia, so I booked the tickets as soon as I got to Brooklyn that night. I also got a nice stack of new and improved Catskills Moto Club stickers, and I immediately knew I wanted to go on a side-quest and leave them across the iconic routes along Europe’s alpine passes.
The Prep: I’m generally a fairly methodical packer and like versatile gear. For this trip I took the plunge and picked up the Rev’it Echelon jacket at Union Garage (the only place really to get gear if you know what’s up) to replace my old and cumbersome 3 season Rev’it jacket that ceased to be waterproof. This touring/off-road biased jacket is waterproof, breathes relatively well, and I can layer under a puffy or sweater in the cold so more versatile use of my clothes. I contemplated on picking up the matching pants but given no definite date of my return to motorcycle ownership it felt like a steep investment. Then I packed my old helmet (the new one also left some paint on Lafayette St. so was a no go), tools, Kriega bags for the days we left our side cases at the hotel. The rest of the gear was my usual tools, camera gear (this time I actually used it) rain pants, my trusty riding pants, and a pair of tried and proven waterproof TCX riding shoes.
The Bikes: Both owned by my father, a 2001 Triumph Tiger and a 2004 BMW R1150R. I rode the Triumph. I had a score to settle with this bike from last summer. On that ride I had a mechanical issue every day that climaxed with me trying to hunt down and change rear wheel bearings on the side of the road in Croatia in 95 degree weather. My father rode the Beemer. He religiously drops the tall Triumph on himself in the garage so this felt like the right bike allocation.
Day 1 – Tatabánya (H) – Spielberg (A) – Kranjska Gora (SLO) (330 miles)
Due to some last min packing and general pffaffing around on my father’s end, we rolled out of the quiet mining city of Tatabánya about an hour and half later than we planned. This meant not only would we most definitely miss Moto2 but also the main event at 2PM was at risk. It was past 10AM, race starts at 2PM and we had roughly 3 and a half hours ahead of us. I was already pissed and we had barely left. Not a good start for the trip. It did calm me once my father started making moves on the highways splitting traffic at 100+ MPH only 10 minutes into the trip. The old man was on the case and we were going to get there. The leg to Spielberg was an uneventful highway lug, a necessary evil to get us to the foothills of the Alps where the fun begins. We made it on time, watched the incredible air show while walking from parking into the venue and promptly sat down at 1:58 in our seats at T4 on the North Grandstand. The race as most races in the 2024 season, was a good and competitive race. Always amazing to see these guys and hear these machines live.
After the race we turned our handlebars towards Slovenia and started the fun riding portion of the trip avoiding highways and looking for roads less traveled. We made it to the Julian Alps before nightfall.
Day 2 –Kranjska Gora (SLO) – Ötz (A) (400 miles)
We woke up to the calming sound of steady rain, donned our rain gear accepting that we will be wet and got after it. Logic would dictate to head west to Austria. So we left our hotel and naturally headed the opposite direction to hit some good-looking roads and to pop over to Lake Bled. Bled is not something to miss if you are in the Triglav National Park.
We rolled out from the hotel parking lot and headed south on the desolate route 206, riding a nice loop of mountain passes and winding roads to Lake Bled before turning westward well after noon. Then, avoiding highways and looking for side hits we briefly dipped into Italy before we made it to our accommodation in Ötz, well past our check-in time. This was one of the longest days in the saddle of the entire trip and the beginning of my complete inability to guesstimate how long a certain distance would take us on the backroads.
Day 3 – Ötz (A) – Timmelsjoch (A) – Stelvio (I) – Umbrail (CH) – Ötz (A) (260 miles)
Big greedy day hitting some of Europe’s most coveted and highest altitude paved alpine passes! We plotted a plausible route the night before with some clouds and rain in the forecast. Off we went to hit some of Europe’s iconic mountain passes. First, we headed south to Timmelsjoch (007 Spectre), then an over and back trip of Jaufenpass (Passo Giovo). Afterward we headed west to Stelvio and Umbrail Pass. Relatively slow speed technical riding, very easy to break concentration taking in the scenery. One will have to consciously resist the urge to let the mind wander as the corners and hairpins come quickly with poor visibility that can turn into trouble relatively quickly. This was the day when all my previous wondering and questions about my riding were gone. I was enjoying the analog nature of my old machine after my electronics laden modern Ducati. The lack of quick shifter power and any rider aids was an awesome glimpse back in time to the early 2000s. Banging down the gears and sliding the rear into the hairpins with no slipper clutch to regulate my madness had me giggling as poor cyclists were looking for the source of screeching tires. While it was a low mileage day, we realized somewhere in Switzerland that we would not be back in a reasonable time to get dinner. As a result, we had a long stop somewhere in Switzerland for dinner then we caught the last 30 mins of the rain storm as we pulled back into the hotel in the dark.
Day 4 – Ötz (A) – Garmisch (D) – Pitztal Glacier (A) – Ötz (A) (200 miles)
We planned a lighter day, to add to the long list of countries visited on this adventure. We turned north towards Germany through Fernpass. Don’t know if it was our timing or if it always like this, but Fernpass was an underwhelming crawl in traffic despite the very motorcycle friendly drivers who would pull to the right throughout our trip, giving us room to split ahead. Once we made our way through the pass, the traffic slowly dissolved. Taking the highway, we made our way to the Bavarian ski town of Garmisch Partenkirchen through windy back roads where I opted not to skip lunch as usual and had a nice plate of kaisershmarr’n.
Then we rounded out the German portion of our loop as we made our way towards Plansee in Austria. Unlike the tight mountain passes we had some medium to long sweepers as we followed the river through a forest all the way to Plansee. After a quick coffee break at the main street square in the small town of Stamzach, we did 2 or 3 runs on the Namlos pass. This was as surprise out of nowhere and an absolute hoot to ride. Then we took the next pass to the south called Hahntennjoch back over to Imst. Both of these passes far surpassed the Fernpass. Now knowing this, I’d completely skip Fern and opt for one (or ideally both) of these instead. We were still uncharacteristically ahead of schedule, so we made an in-and-out trip to the Pitztal Glacier before returning to Ötz for the night.
Day 5 – Ötz (A) – Stelvio (I) – Umbrail (CH) – Brescia (A) (290 miles)
Double dip day, we were heading south to spend 3 nights in Brescia. Given our extreme luck with the weather we double dipped and rode the Stelvio and Umbrail passes again, however this time we had a more direct approach then 2 days prior hugging the Austrian border through the Rechsen Pass. Once we had our fun on the iconic Swiss and Italian passes we headed south through the Lombardy region of Italy.
Day 6 – Brescia (I) – San Pellegrino (I) – Brescia (A) (200 miles)
This was the day I was forced to be flexible, not my strong suit. We set out to Lake Como, but it became inevitably clear as we rode narrow fun mountain passes and single lane goat tracks that it was not going to happen. So, I revised the plan on the go: “let’s have a San Pellegrino in San Pellegrino!” As soon as you leave Brescia to the north, you’re in the heart of the Lombardy hills and mountains, an absolute abundance of narrow windy technical roads and quaint quiet towns. We made it back in time to have a nice dinner in the old town of Brescia.
Day 7 – Brescia (I) – Riva del Garda (I) – Brescia (A) (175 miles)
Plan was to have a shorter day, pop over to Lake Garda and ride some of the epic winding roads. 10-15 miles and an endless stream of tourists quickly made Garda uninteresting. So we turned west and rode the Maniva and Crocedomini passes that we discovered the night before on our Pellegrino loop. After a nice day in the mountains we turned our aim to the old town again to get some local Italian cuisine and prep ourselves for the long trip the next day. This was our only day of slight mechanical issues.
The Beemer’s side cases succumbed to their age and UV rays as a result both hinges detached crumbling into small pieces of plastic from the bottom of the case. After a quick Rokstrap/duct tape/zip tie job we were on our way, hoping to keep this particular box (containing tools, inner tubes for the triumph, and a generator for the BMW) secure for the rest of the trip.
Day 8 – Brescia (I) – Cortina (I) – Grossglockner (A) – Kaprun (A) (330 miles)
Big mile day as we started making our way back northeast towards Hungary with our intermediate overnight stay in Kaprun. We tore out of Brescia early in the morning to make it into the mountains before the 90-degree heat. Grabbed our morning brew on the east side of Lake Garda before we dove into the windy passes. As we headed northward and started gaining elevation the temperature stayed a comfortable high 70s for the rest of the day. We stopped for lunch in the famous ski town of Cortina D’Ampezzo and spent the day admiring the bare monolithic formations of the Dolomites protruding from the form the picturesque green alpine pastures and forests. As usual we made the false declaration that “we’re making good time”. As we left the southern toll gate of the Grossglockner, we made it to the Franz Joseph Glacier overview well before 7. Feeling confident that we were “only 35 miles from Kaprun” we went about looking at the glacier and taking photos.
You might’ve guessed it, and it should’ve been a dead giveaway that we were the only two muppets on motorcycles. But we just thought the others are soft or prefer to hit the area in perfect midday conditions. As we kept climbing from the glacier overview, up to ~3,000 meters, the temps dropped down to the 30s and we found ourselves inside a rain cloud. As you might imagine, we blindly meandered our way. First, we slow rolled all the way to the top, and then all the way down the north side in the pitch dark and thick fog, so thick that you couldn’t see past 20 feet. We had to ride the center line to know where the road was. As the number of hairpins decreased and we dipped below 1,500 meters I stopped pressing the horn button on the quarter-century old Triumph in hopes that it’ll magically turn on the heated grips. We regrouped at the northern toll gate, had a good laugh about what two idiots we are, thinking we know better, and on we went to Kaprun in the drizzling rain to rest for our final day of ride back home to Hungary.
Day 9 – Kaprun (A) – Tatabánya (H) (330 miles)
An uneventful highway jaunt back home, still beautiful surroundings as you munch the miles.
After 2,500 miles it was great to get home. It was nice to reconnect with friends and family. I did wish along the way that I could be able to share some of the beautiful places with my wife, let her experience it the way you only can outdoors and not confined in the sterile steel cage of a car. To let her feel the subtle changes in temperature, humidity, wind, experience the scent of fresh cut pastures and wildflowers, a sense of presence and awareness you only get to feel while riding a motorcycle.
When I came home she asked me “what did you learn?” I knew she was looking for me to have some personal growth moment and reflection so I was looking for the right answer amongst all the things that came to mind and blurted out “patience and flexibility.” It really took me a few days of adjustment to be able to smile with my father pffaffing around while I had on my helmet and jacket already and to just to be ok with the fact that we were always “running behind.” Behind on what? At some point had to admit there’s nothing to be running behind on since we are not on a schedule and we do as we please. What a revelation!
What I also learned, but kept to myself given the recent stress and headache my wife also went through as a result of my accident was that I absolutely adore motorcycles. I love how simple and simultaneously complex they are. I love the endless variety in which they are produced to fit different purposes and riding styles, the conversations you have about them with people, and the sense of adventure you feel while riding one or pulling in after an epic day of riding. I also learned that I do not discriminate. I, this year again, had an absolute blast riding a quarter century old machine even though I am (was) very fortunate to do most of my own riding in the U.S. on modern top spec machines. I learned that it doesn’t matter what bike it is, I have grin while I’m riding. It was an epic trip that came at a perfect time for me to change up my mood and get me out of my funk. I’m hopeful for the future, I hope to have more adventures like this, I hope I get to share these adventures with more people including my wife and friends. Until the next time, ride on!
Bonus round – my father and his friends obsess over the bikes they rode in their youth. They all have fully restored and upspec’d East German Simson S51s that we took a spin around town visiting family, a good way to get ready for a long track back home to NYC is get some vintage 2-stroke smoke in your lungs.
