Monday - Biel to Celerina

Today instead of sticking to the set route and riding the Grimsel and Furka passes myself and Steve decided to cut a route East along the Susten Pass instead . I had ridden the other two several times in 2016 but only the Susten once before, I recall it being one of my favourite mountain passes in this area. It's a bit twistier and narrower I remember looking down close to the edge at the valley below so had to run through it again while here. We set off early 8.30 before the rest and took the motorway down around Bern, only to come off a little early and got stuck in Monday morning traffic through some industrial parts of Emmenthal. Steve's GPS saying Motorway mine saying main roads but luckily with our intercom set up we agreed to stick with my route albeit slightly longer in time.

Eventually we came across the rest of the group being led by Steve F so tucked into follow them for a while up some really nice mountain roads as we climbed up the Glaubenbielen Pass and later Brunig Pass on the way to Meiringen. Great set of twisties up there with really low cloud base at the he top. We left the group and pulled into a cafe for a coffee and where Kevin joined us later. Next leg was the ride down to Innertkirchen where we left the route to take the more northerly Susten.



What a great time, didn't disappoint. The weather ideal I clicked to Dynamic again and took off leaving Steve behind as I had a lot of fun taking switchback after switchback. The surface is great , better than anything found In the UK - glass smooth. What a ride, mile after mile of the the best motorcycle roads ever!

Video: Our alternative ride on the Susten Pass

Later, we curled back round toward Andermatt and back onto our official route.



And then took our lunch Stop in Andermatt town. What a great restaurant we found at the Hotel Zur Sonne , serving the best Beef Strogonoff with rice I've ever tasted. Myself and Steve splitting one serving between us. Great little Hotel and Restaurant, there was an elderly little old lady who was clearly the owner  who fussed around all of the clientele. The guy opposite didn't know much English but leaned over to us and whispered 'big boss' and pointed to her - quite amusing!









After lunch we headed out to ride the Oberalp Pass after suffering a bit of road works. Really pleased to have this new hill hold feature on my GS. Basically, pump the front brake hard while on a hill and the bike locks brakes avoiding the roll back down the hill and freeing your brake hand or foot to help steady the bike weight with full panniers 👍

Some photos of the Oberalp Pass. Really enjoyed this one too:

Steve, in the valley below

The final pass of the day was the Julier Pass. By this time we started ride into light rain getting a bit heavier , though quite patchy in parts depending on which side of the valley.









Lots of low cloud and bruising rain clouds on this one. Took a bit steady at one point seeing as I saw a river of what looked like diesel flowing down. Ouch !




I

"Ere, why ain't I got a balcony" - says Ian

Finally arrived at the hotel about 5:45. Great rooms and location full of Swiss rustic charm here in Celerina, not far from St Moritz. We stay here for two nights, with a group evening meal that consisted of traditional Swiss fair to include a Swiss kiss suite! Got to meet and chat to others on the tour. Excellent days riding and evening company. 👍