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Again, Paul and I were riding up front, with a much higher speed then
Erika liked. After a nice fast mountainroad we entered a small village.
We saw some uniforms in the mainstreet so we slowed down to the official
50 km/h speedlimit. That was a good decision because it was the police
with a lasergun and they were writing tickets......
A few kilometer after we left the village, we stopped and parked the
bikes and waited for Erika. It took much longer then we expected and
just when I was getting worried and wanted to ride back to see what
was going on I saw her coming in the distance.
She was furious. While Paul and I were speeding all the time and she
drove very cautious, she had got a speeding ticket in the village
we just passed. She was doing 60 km/h instead of 50 and that costed her
40 Swiss Franks.
She first tried to get away with it by telling she had no money but
then the police would keep her bike until she payed so then she did
find some money....
It was very unfair but in a way it was funny too.
Swiss speeding ticket
On the way back to camping Tropic we had to get our rain gear from the
Krauser cases because the rain started again.
After a 228 kilometr ride over beautiful mountain passes we arrived on
camping Tropic and we park the bikes next to our tents.
Back on the campsite
Tuesday, August 3, 1982
When we woke up at seven, there was a thunderstorm going on so we went
back into sleepingbags and slept until twelve. Then the weather
improved. Paul and I went to Brig to buy a newspaper for the weather
forecast.
Now the weather was better, we went to Brig to fill our tanks and then
headed to the Simplon pass. On that road, we went over a beautiful
bridge, the "Ganterbrücke".
The "Ganterbrücke"
At the summit of the pass we had a nice hot chocolat at the
hotel/restaurant before we continued our trip into Italy.
The Simplon pass
At a gasstation near the Italian border, we changed some Dutch money
for Italian lires and then went through Swiss and Italian customs.
The road was going past vertical cliffs with an abyss on the other
side. Exciting.
First we went in the direction of Domadossala but before we reached
Domadossala we turned of that road and rode in the direction of
Locarno
On the road to Locarno, we rode through a small village, "Re" with a
big church in the middle of the street. In the beginning of the 16th
century, they say, a statue of Mary has bled real blood and now it is
a pilgrimage.
In the church were a lot of new and very old pictures of horrible
accidents with the request to Maria to pray for the victims.
The road in the mountains was very narrow. Two cars could not pass
eachother and there was hardly a straight stretch of road. This is
the kind of road I love !
After a while we arrive in Locarno in Switzerland. The police officers
that regulate traffic looked like sheriffs from the Wild West with
hats and pistols.
We parked the bikes in the shadow of some palm trees. (Locarno
is the warmest city in Switzerland and has a Mediterranean climate)
Quite a difference from the snow we had on our tents in Arolla.
It was six o'clock in the afternoon and we were hungry so we went to
a CO-OP restaurant and had some sandwiches. We wanted to order some
spaghetti too but just when we wanted to order there was a power
failure so no spaghetti for us today.....
We did some sightseeing in Locarno and along the Lago Maggiore before
we went back to the bikes for the ride back to the campsite.
Erika at the Lago Maggiore
Because it was getting late, we had to hurry back. We had to cross the
Nufenen pass and sometimes it is closed when it snows......
Paul had to get gas to make it back to the campsite but Erika and I
already left and Paul would catch up with us later. First we went in
the direction of Bellinzona and then Biasca and from there we follow
the signs to the St Gothard pass.
just before the exit to the Nufenen, Paul did catch up with us and
with the three bikes, we climbed the Nufenen. On the trip to the summit
of the pass, we only met one car. It is just the mountains and us.
I love it !
At about half past eight we arrive at the top, next to a lake that looks
like a mirror. The only car we saw on our way to the top is parked here
and it was super quiet. We enjoyed the quietness, had some bread and
sweets and admired the scenery.
Gorgeous scenery
If nobody spoke you did not hear a sound until........ we heared singing
in the distance. Out of nowhere came four German girls who were hiking
in the mountains, singing, with the girl in front carrying a flag.
They crossed the road and while singing, they disappeared in the twilight
.....
The lake at the Nufenen looked like a mirror
After a while, the singing German girls came back and went into the
restaurant. It looked like some kind of girlscouting group on holiday.
It was rather cold and my gloves were cold too so I put them on the hot
cylinders of the BMW. That worked and when we left, I had nice warm
gloves.
The bikes, at 2478 meter above sea level
It was ten o'clock in the evening and very dark when we arrived at the
camping after an exciting ride on the dark mountain roads. We have a
cup of soup and then we went to bed early because the next morning we
had to leave to go to Geneva.
Wednesday, August 4, 1982
It is a quarter to nine when we got up and quickly we stowe the tent
and other luggage on the bikes. The weather is not so good and we wanted
to get the tents dry in the bags.
From the camping we went to Brig. In Brig I call my cousins Evert-Jan
and Seth in Geneva to tell them that we are coming today. In Sion we stop
for gas and then we rode to Lausanne. In Lausanne, we have a Wendy Big (a
big hamburger) with French fries and cola at a Wendy's restaurant.
When we parked the bikes in Lausanne, Erika noticed that her keys were
missing.
When we were packing up camp this morning, I left Erika's keys on her
bike and I assumed she saw them. She did not so they were somewhere in
Ried-Brig. We contacted the parents of our friend who were still in
Ried-Brig at the camping and we were very lucky. They found the keys
on the road near the camping entrance and returned them to us when we
were back in Holland.
Our bikes in Lausanne
We also visited a bikeshop with Triump's and Bimota's. Paul wanted to
buy a steering damper for his Honda but could not find what he was
looking for.
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