Touring without travelling
Story and photos: The Bear
Can you do a motorcycle tour and still sleep in the same bed every night? Well, I’ve just done one and I can tell you that you can not only do it but enjoy it too. Edelweiss Bike Travel has made a successful business out of taking motorcyclists to all kinds of places around the world. They provided a van and two guides. Every morning, one guide and the customers fire up their bikes for a day’s riding, while the van is loaded with luggage prepares to follow them. Everyone meets at the next night’s hotel, the guide in the van distributes the luggage to the rooms, then it’s dinner and goodnight.
Then someone at Edelweiss came up with an idea. Some destinations on the company’s books were surrounded by great day rides, where it was easiest if they used one hotel as a base for the entire “tour”. There was no need to unpack every night, or for a van. The Touring Center was born.
Mine was called Toiurin g Centre Dolomites and the base hotel was in Klobenstein above Bozen, a four-star place called Bemelman’s Post with in- and outdoor swimming pools, saunas and other “wellness” facilities as well as excellent cuisine which was included for breakfast and dinner.
Morning briefings were just like the ones on standard tours. We needed only one guide, the veteran Harald, who conducted the briefings in English: we only had two German-speaking participants, and their English was very good so it was no problem. English usually becomes the standard language on these tours partly, dare I say it, because English speakers rarely have another language.
The first riding day of the tour is always a Monday, to miss the congested weekend roads. Over five days, we did five different loops. These can be done in any order, because the guide will choose them according to the weather. This is another advantage of the touring Center.
Our first tour took us to the Sella, one of the most famous rides in the Dolomites. We circled it on what is called the "Sella Ronda" which takes in four high passes. The next day took us to the far east of the Dolomites. We managed to avoid the traffic of Cortina d'Ampezzo (another demonstration that Harald knew what he was doing). Instead he took us over several more great passes with good if not always perfect roads. The authorities know why riders and drivers come here, apart from the views, and keep the roads in good repair as much as they can.
The day into the mountains west of Bozen took in peaks that are not as spectacular as the Dolomites themselves, but the roads are just as great if not better. They are also quieter with rather less traffic and less development. The café at the top of the Mendel Pass is quite small and homey and was warm and crowded even with our small group.
And so it went. One afternoon when we had dealt with even more passes than usual and were tired but still a way away from the hotel, Harald suddenly took us off on a narrow side road. At the end, next to a little lake, was… an ice cream parlor. These Touring Centres have a lot going for them.
The Bear took part in this event at the invitation of Edelweiss Bike Tours Edelweiss Bike Tours. He rode a Yamaha 700 Ténéré, in anticipation of Edelweiss launching a series of tours in Europe equipped solely with Yamahas. Check them out on the website!