Ah, riding in the mountains again!  How nice to feel the cool fresh air and see the vast mountain vistas.  But what's with all this traffic on these small mountain roads?!  And what about the restaurants at the top of each pass?!  Well this is Europe and the mountains are a little different than I'm used to back home.

 From Verona I rode north and east and entered the Dolomites on some twisty back roads.  It seems like I went instantly from the relatively flat plains into the towering granite mountains.  I caught sight of the rocky peaks through the trees, then I was riding in the mountains! 

 I had planned a route through the mountains that included as many of the small roads and highest passes I could find.  I had done all my research on my computer and through books at home, but the route I planned was excellent.  Or perhaps all the roads in this area are just as stunning :-)  Regardless, I rode miles and miles of tight twisty roads overshadowed by awesome rocky mountains.  I climbed each pass on countless switchbacks so tight that I had to slow to first gear to get around them.  When I reached the top of the pass I stopped to take photos of the surrounding mountains and valleys, then I descended on just as many tight switchbacks, this time exercising my brakes instead of my throttle.  As you might imagine, all of this was quite a workout on my heavy overloaded bike and each day I was worn out after just a couple hundred miles.  When I got too tired, I found small hotels in the quaint mountain towns nestled in the valleys and dined in the local cafes.  Then I got up the next day and did it all over again.  It doesn't get much better than that!

 The mountains here are not as high as the ones I'd ridden in the Himalayas, but in places they are just as dramatic with huge rocky peaks towering above the lakes and roads.  And in some ways these mountains are more picturesque, covered with green fields and grazing cattle and small villas.  The weather was bright and sunny each day I rode in the mountains and over 7 days I rode about 20 passes that ranged in height from 4,000 feet to almost 9,000 feet.

 But I rode some of these roads on the weekend and there was lots of traffic to contend with.  Once again there were hundreds of other motorcycles out enjoying the mountains.  At times there were so many motorcycles that it seemed like a parade!  All different kinds and sizes of bikes, but mostly sport bikes flying over the roads with their riders dressed in full leathers and gear.  To their credit, most of them seemed like excellent riders, and I only saw a few mishaps on the roads, not bad for so many bikes mixed with tight roads and other traffic.  And the good part was that all the car traffic pulls over and slows down to let the motorcycles pass.  There were a few places that I saved hours (literally) by following the other bikes between lanes of stopped traffic miles long.

 It was in St. Moritz that I had my first up-close encounter with a police officer.  I had been riding in Italy where the motorcyclists are fond of lane splitting, riding the wrong way up one-way streets, and parking on sidewalks.  Well you know the saying about "when in Rome", so while in Italy I had gotten into the habit of being rather free with the traffic laws.  That morning I crossed from Italy into Switzerland on a high mountain pass without thinking much about it, and rode into St. Moritz.  In the town center while trying to find a hotel, I came from a side street onto a one-way street, except I needed to turn the wrong way onto the side street immediately to my left.  So I thought about it for a second, than rather than go the proper way, I waited for traffic to clear and rode about 50 feet the wrong way to my turn.  Well within a mile a van pulled up behind me and two less-than-friendly police officers got out and told me that I had broken the law and I would have to pay 100 Francs "right here".  I explained that I hadn't done anything dangerous, but they told me that I had broken the law and they just couldn't allow that.  They seemed determined so I told them to go ahead and write me the ticket, at which point the officer seemed somewhat confused - I don't think they were prepared to accept the cash payment that the ticket would require.  I seized my chance and suggested that perhaps it would suffice for them to give me a warning instead of a ticket.  The officer liked that suggestion and after extracting an agreement from me that I would more closely follow the street signs they sent me on my way.  With that brief encounter I learned my lesson that I was back in civilized countries and that I would have to be much more careful with my riding.

 From St. Moritz I rode back into Germany and spent a couple of days at Fussen visiting Mad Ludwig's castles.  One of his castles is very fairy-tale like and is rumored to be the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle in Disney World.  I hiked up to the castle, then continued up another 3,500 vertical feet (!) on a steep rocky trail to have coffee at the high cafe.  Luckily there was a cable car stop at the cafe so I didn't need to hike down.  Now why can't we get cable cars like this on Colorado's 14ers?  It would save a lot of wear on my knees :-)

 After all this mountain riding in perfect weather my luck ran out and it finally rained on me.  But that's ok because I was heading to Munich, Vienna and Prague for a little culture and city experiences.  Next report, 3 great cities.

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