Due to being a lazy so and so i can't remember where i left off. think i was about to come out of the mountains to Lago di Maggiore. its a stunning place
and i learnt 2 useful things. first, i don't have time to find my way around big towns. therefore its much easier to pick a small pretty place that you can learn in half an hour. 2nd, if you get a fly in your crash helmet its better to take the trouble to stop and get rid me it. constant buzzing in your ear, plus about 10 bites can drive you nuts ! Anyway, the town i stopped in had a big market the next day so at least i picked up some trunks which i forgot to pack. Spent day 5 riding random roadsover to lake Como (see pics - beautiful places). Found wonderful little tourist spot called Menaggio and love it to pieces. Decided instantly to stop 2 nights and rest my weary butt lol. this morning i actually dipped my toes in the water, bought a gripping book by dean koontz, and went for a boat ride to the opposite side of the lake - just for the hell of it, lol. am gonna hate leaving here tomorrow :-(. but have some of the best roads in the world to head for back in Switz :-D.

What a day. WHAT A DAY ! Sigh . . . I'm in bikey paradise :). Started with some new swiss passes (heading south for some warmth) and they were awesome. By 1pm i hit Locarno and 35 deg - tshirt mode. Rode Lago Maggiore - stunning with favorite disney music playing. lol. Up nearest mountain for
the hell of it. Currently in a lovely restaurant down by the water surrounded by mountains eating ham and fillet steak. maybe i should just stay here for the next 26 days.

Wow, what a way to start your day !  Rode round Lake Luzern which is beeeee-autiful.  This should be the compulsory way to start every day .

Headed for the heart of Switzerland and the BIG passes.  What a day.  Most stunning scenery in the world and the best roads.  Absolutely awesome. 

Stopped for the night at Andermatt and got blown out by a gorgeous girl who couldnt understand a word of english ....... or my very limited German.  I did try "haben sie eine zimmer frei fur enine nacht" ........ but she failed to see the funny side - ha ha ha.

Heading south towards lake Maggiore-something in Italy today. 

The couple running the hotel in Lux turned out to be bikers - and from holland, not france - oops. insisted on drawing me a map of their favorite route, bless. stopped for lunch in Strasbourg, lovely place, huge gothic cathedral. came off mway to ride new bit of black forest - still cant find where they're hiding all the gateaux GRRR. temp must have been up to 30 with sun and cloud. stopped about 30km north of luzern, so i can do my first mountain passes after breakfast :). holiday really starts from tomorrow ! whoo hooo. Oh, gotta love the place names. today i went through Wildegg - lol.

Car broke down at 11pm outside local shops night before leaving. A.A. took an hour to fix. Bed at 1.30am and up at 6 (ish). Thanks for shouting at me to get up Jen ! Bouncy ferry was fun. Aimed for Colonge first night. Got on a Mway in wrong direction and wondered why i was heading to Paris ! HAH ! Detoured south to Luxembourg. Found nice little b&b and had really pleasant evening chatting to Adam and James, just finishing 2 week tour. After anger at wasting time was real nice end to 1st day. Getting lost is a GOOD thing ;-). Salmon steak and tagliatelli was yummy. Switz and sun tomorrow, yay ! B-)

Ahem, 1, 2 ......... 1, 2 ............. testing, testing.

Ok, i had to get caught out sooner or later and it was today coming down beautiful Nufenen Pass. Started to rain a little, then a lot :-(. Had to put on full wet gear coz it was bloomin cold too. By the time i got to top of Furka Pass i'd found out my new Alpinestar waterproof gloves aren't - GRRR ! The rain was freezing on my mirrors by now. Fortunately 2 years ago i stayed at this fantastic Hotel Belvedere, just below the top. Managed to get the same room looking right over the hairpins all the way down the valley - and the food was great too. Apparently weather due to improve tomorrow :-D

Well, i have to say the roads through the french alps were spectacular to look at, but the surfaces pretty poor on the whole (therefore slow). Crossing into switzerland yesterday was a big improvement and more fun riding wise (i.e. Much faster) ;-) Only 2 days left to enjoy switz and then its the big run to the ferry and my 2 sweetees at home. Still got some of the best roads in europe to do :-D. See you all back at home soon !

Off to a great start.  30 yards away from home I saw something poking out my new oxford paniers.  Thought I`d left it unzipped, but no, it split.  Luckily i spotted it before distributing my undies down the M3.

White van tried to put me over the central reservation.  Thoughtfully he indicated his intentions - so i could at least avoid early hospital treatment.

Next one was my fault. Failed to spot plod as i was about to overtake on the M20 causing him to brake hard.  Oops.

France extremely hot and boring.  Hardly anything worth mentioning.  Stopped the night in Strasbourg '- no time to look around that evening.  Just find hotel and superglue bag.  Still taped up though.  Oh, did get "chatting" to a rather pretty french girl in the hotel.  Didnt get far because she had not 1 word of english and me only a few Deustch.  How we laughed though.

Found centre of Strasboug in morning.  WOW !  Beautiful city centre and really magnificent cathedral.  My map has "highlights of europe" and this was in it.  Huge and awesome.  Went in and this geeser started playing something on the organ.  Never heard anything like it. 

After pics, vids and little scoot around headed on into germany.  Some nice scenery - some ok twistys - but when u know there,s so much better to come ........ well.  I did stop in a cool touristy place called Wolfach.  Big bavarian parade.  60 local villages all dressed up in traditional folk kit playing oompah music as they marched along.  Initially i thought it would be a lovely place to stay the night.  After one hour of thigh slapping music i had to get out of there ;o)

So, poodled south to the Swiss border and currently in Winterthur.  Stopped for cold drink and the guy serving lived in Golders Green a couple of years back.  Nice chat and some good advice ............ Switzerland is expensive '- yikes !

Tomorrow - the passes start !