Slovenia – Land of a Thousand Hairpins

If Finland is the land of a thousand lakes, Slovenia is the land of a thousand hairpins. But as usual, I’m getting ahead of myself. The last update was from Rauschenberg, the home of SW-Motech.

With a little bit of planning, riding in that part of Germany is delightful. Tree-lined country roads with smooth road surfaces, sweeping bends and very little traffic.

A few days catching up on events in Munich was the plan, well that and drinking beer, but that was 400+ miles away, and although the roads are a pleasure to ride, 400 miles in one day was impossible.

There are Pensions (guest houses) in just about every town, and we stuck a pin in the map and opted for one in Hünfeld. We were the only guests that night and ended up watching what we were told was an important football match (No such thing ~ Ed.) with the owner.

Autobahns

If you are thinking we should have opted for the Autobahn to get to Munich, you make a good point, but one of the reasons for a month on the road is the riding, and the Autobahn sucks if you are searching for a visceral riding experience.

Sometimes Autobahns are the only way to avoid cities efficiently, and they can also be the easiest way to reach a city centre hotel, which is why for the last 10 miles into Munich, we were playing “Dodge the high-speed Merc” on the Autobahn.

Generally, on a motorcycle, we have the advantage thanks to an excess of performance. Our ability to accelerate faster than most other road users gives us an edge on overtakes and aids clinical execution.

On a de-restricted Autobahn populated with AMG Mercedes and M series BMWs, our advantage is lost. Even at an indicated 130KPH (80 mph), I could feel the buffeting from the cars as they went past, all travelling well into three figures (MPH), and all nose to tail.

They were very polite when the “roadblock” of a Ducati Multistrada found a gap in the stream of fast movers big enough to overtake a truck or two. Yet, the moment I was tucked back into my lane, the stream of fat tyred, twin-exhaust velociraptors cocooned in their airconditioned and soundproofed world would begin again.

Strangely when we departed the hotel a few days later, a short ride through a residential area was all it took to be back in the countryside and once again enjoying the quiet flowing roads. I put the Autobahn experience down to poor planning.

Grossglockner

The route from Munich to Slovenia required us to ride the Grossglockner. I say “required” because I wasn’t coming all this way and not ticking that road off my bucket list.

The Grossglockner isn’t open all year. Edelweiss-Spitze is the highest point on the road at 2,571 meters (8,355 feet) and is above the mountain snow line. But when the Grossglockner is open, it is worth every one of the 23 Euros they charge for using the road.

At 48km (30 miles) long and featuring 36 “official” hairpin bends, it works out to about 50 pence per hairpin and 35 pence per kilometre. I might even go as far as to suggest that if the Grossgockner doesn’t invigorate your soul, you might want to check to ensure you still have a pulse.

Assuming you enter at the Kaprun end, nothing stops you from turning around at the Franz Joseph Glacier roundabout and riding it all again in the opposite direction.

If anyone asks what you are doing (they won’t), blame the GPS. Just remember to turn around again before the toll booths.

Knackered Chain

Up to now, everything has been going according to plan. We have had a few GPS magic mystery moments, but besides gasping at the petrol prices in Germany, there has been nothing to worry about. (Austria and Slovenia are significantly cheaper).

Something had to go wrong. After all, it wouldn’t be much of an adventure if it all went to plan, and our first problem has been the chain on the KTM 1290 deciding to spit the dummy.

It looks like something destroyed several of the O-rings in a section of the chain. We have no idea why, but such is life. It was fine before we departed, but a few days before stopping at Munich, Carle was surfing eBay looking for a new chain and sprocket set to be delivered to the hotel ready for when we arrived.

Having collected the chain and sprockets, we hoped to get to Split in Croatia, where we had our second stopover planned, but the Austrian chain on the KTM was having none of that.

Having returned to its homeland, the chain was determined to end its days amongst the Austrian mountains and started making all kinds of vile noises and messing with the KTM’s quick shifter.

Haus Elena was our next night stop, where the wonderful Elena had already cleared part of her garage for us to use overnight. Hearing we had a problem, Elena went out of her way to help us get to fixing the KTM.

Going far outside what could be expected, Elena fed us tea and cake while we spent a couple of hours puzzling our way through swapping the sprockets with a limited tool kit. The lady even lent us her angle grinder to cut the heads off the chain pins.

But even if you don’t have a broken motorcycle to fix, the road from the Grossglockner to Lainach – where Haus Elena is located – is a joy to ride. Wide open sweeping bends, flanked on both sides by stunning mountain views.

If you are in that area and looking for a motorcycle-friendly place to stay, Haus Elena makes an excellent choice, and it will help repay the kindness she showed two strangers with a broken KTM.

And besides all of that … bacon for breakfast!

Slovenia and Hairpins

One of the objectives of A Month on the Road is to ride all the iconic roads that are so often mentioned on touring forums. Having ridden the B500 a few years ago, and with the ST2288 and the Grossglockner now ticked off the bucket list, the Croatian Coast Road and Stelvio Pass remain on the list.

Strange, though, that you never hear much said about the Vršič Pass, sometimes referred to by its road number – 206 – or as Ruska Cesta (Russian Road) after the prisoners forced to build it in 1915.

Whatever name you use, the pass across the Julian Alps in the Triglav National Park in northwestern Slovenia is a challenging, awe-inspiring road and something I’m happy to say I’ve done and have that tick in the box.

The Super Motard rider looked to be loving every moment of it and appeared to be going back for seconds as soon as he reached the bottom. Perhaps a lighter motorcycle and no luggage is the key to enjoying the Vršič Pass.

At 43.4 km (26.96 miles) long, the Russian Road runs from Trenta in the north to Bovec in the south. The 24 hairpins on the northern side are cobblestones rather than asphalt, which grabs your attention when the first one appears. I was just happy it wasn’t raining.

It is a spectacular ride climbing 993 meters in the first 12 kilometres (8% gradient) to the summit. Each of the hairpins is numbered and shows the height above sea level. Very useful if you want to know how many more times you might be … errr … “intensely aware” of your surroundings.

At the top, there is … not much, and perhaps that is why you never hear of the Russian Road in motorcycling circles.

Shortly after the summit, on the southern side, is Lake Jasna (Jezero Jasna). Guarded by a bronze statue of an Ibex called Zlatorog (Gold Horn) – a legendary animal, I’m told, in many Slovenia stories about Mount Triglav.

Everything I’ve read about Lake Jasna after the ride tells me it is worth stopping for. If I hadn’t been staring intently at the next hairpin and was only briefly aware of the statue, I might be able to tell you more.

As I had never come across Vršič Pass or the Russian Road before, I had picked this route based on the number of squiggly lines on the screen. So, call it luck, judgement or serendipitous, Road 206, the Russian Road, across the Julian Alps should be on your bucket list.

The once awe-inspiring Stelvio Pass now looks like a decaff latte – on paper, anyway.  

Clarity

The images of the Russian Road (Road 206) are based on an original work by Petar Milošević and are used under license.