Looking back to: August 2006 - Part 2

From the same Truprint folder but a day or two later. 

From the Grossglockner, the plan was to do the Pordoi loop in the Dolomites and then finish at a youth hostel just across the border in Switzerland in Santa Maria Val Müstair, after completing the Stelvio and Umbrail passes.

In the end we ended up way short. After the Pordoi loop of passes in sunshine it began to rain. Heavily. Torrential! We stopped at a wellness hotel. Expensive but I couldn't ride any further that day. In fact Claire went in whilst I was sitting at the top of the drive in the pouring rain.  She had a beer whilst they booked us in.  They didn't bat an eyelid that there were two sodden bikers outside.  Looking on booking.com now and this hotel is £290 a night!

So it was the next day that we arrived on the Stelvio. Dry and warm when the sun bothered to show up.

Claire taking in the brief weak sunshine!

Me front and centre.... bratwursts for lunch!

The last three pics show the weather coming in quite quickly and it began to rain again. As it was far too early to call it a day we went over the Umbrail pass and carried on to the stop we had planned for that night. So the youth hostel we had booked in Santa Maria Val Müstair was bypassed today!

As we progressed across Switzerland to make our booking for that night it hardly let up at all. Lashing rain still and so we opted to take the Rhätische Bahn under the mountain to Klosters.  If only to say we had done it and also for a few minutes out of the rain.  If only we had realised it was a white-knuckle ride sitting on the bike!

Rhätische Bahn - white knuckle ride!

By the time we arrived in Stein am Rhein it was dry. Another youth hostel. Another nice place to stay.