Awesome Alps with Globebusters.

The Alps were formed – are still being formed I suppose – by the pushing of the Africa plate against the European land mass. Just like today, everything in Africa and the Middle East wanted to migrate to Europe and Europe pushed back. The result is a dramatic rocky barrier from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic; from Nice to Vienna; steeper on the Italian side from where it was pushed.

Clearly people have lived here for millennia and crisscrossed the passes but the main driving force for anyone to bother trying to systematically build crossings through the region was military. The Romans discovered and exploited the easier crossings to raid and conquer the lands beyond and the most notable counter attack was led by Hannibal and his Carthaginian army helped by elephants in 218 BC. Napoleon famously crossed the Alps in 1800 to take parts of Italy that had been seized by the Austrians and the first carriage roads were built by Napoleon to speed troops across his Empire. The main passes used by the Romans, Hannibal, and Napoleon are still the main routes cross the Alps today and we rode a bunch of them – Stelvio, Umbrial, St. Gothard, San Bernadino, Splügen passes.

These roads now are a compulsive all-you-can-eat buffet of the finest driving, motorbiking, and cycling roads in the world. We rode 49 passes and, easily, 3000 hairpin bends in five countries over seven days of exhilarating riding and dramatic views on roads that are generally quiet and in fantastic condition. The sensation is addictive and insatiable and we barely scratched the surface.

I bet that most motorbikers enjoying this area feel just like Napoleon in the classic painting “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” by Jacques-Louis David.

The other photos here:
– Sitting contemplating the Grimsel Pass in the distance climbing up and over the Bernese Alps in Switzerland – The group at the top of the Stelvio Pass with Dom Davis, our trusty hooligan leader from Globebusters in the left – The Stelvio Pass looking down at the first couple of dozen hairpins out of a total of 48 turns that drop 6,000 feet in a half hour ride – The perfect bike for the job the new BMW R1200GS which was faultless escaping the UK in the rain and hurling around the curves in the mountains.