Col,
went down there a couple of years ago, we stayed over in innsbruck one night which is a great place in the summer.
In the morning we rode up a path and ended up pointing down the start of the olympic bob sleigh run, very tempted to ride down it but common sence got the better of me for a change..
From there we headed across to merano and then up the pass itself. Be carefull though as with lots of these type of roads you often come across cars, motorhomes busses and cyclists on parts of the road they are not supposed to be..
When we reached the top it was a lovely sunny day, so we stopped of for a beer at the hotel. 4 pints later we were booked into the stelvio hotel where the rather attractive hotel receptionist insisted we put our bikes in the lower ground floor restaurant area. at this point we though she was just being nice.
So of we headed to the bar, a spot to eat and a few more beers then bed, ready for the ride to zurich in the morning.
at 2am we were woken by the worst rain and lightning i have ever seen. Half of the hotels tables and chairs ( big heavy wooden ones ) had been blown half a mile down the road and over a 500ft drop. the rest had gone through various windows and doors. Now i was begining to understand why pretty receptionist had insisted our bikes were indoors for the night.
Finally got back to sleep at about 4am only to wake up and find a light covering of snow everythere.
Why oh why did we stop on the top of a bloody great big mountain.
Anyway as luck had it by the time we had breakfast it had started raining and metled all the snow, only now the mist was that bad you couldnt see your front wheel.
But we decided to head of anyway. About 20 miles later we missed a turn of and went down another dirt track, i was on a honda varadero and didnt have any problems but the other lad on his zrx didnt find it funny when i was ripping round corners like some mad dakar bloke ( well thats what it felt like )
We did eventually get back on the right road which took us through davos and onto zurich. All the roads in switzerland are spot on and highly recomended. Loads better than out pothole ridden things.
Dispite all our detours and so on we had a really good time.
So general hints, no matter how nice the weather is when you are at the top of stelvio , dont stop for a beer.
By all means have a coffee and take in the sights but no beer..
