Austria & The Alps Day 8 - Stelvio? No!
Between breakfast and of setting foot outside to load the panniers onto the bike it had rained. Sheepskins soaked through so it was waterproofs on (and off all day). Despite it being August we had had very few dry days! Once on the main 100 road from Lienz to Italy it was hard going with trucks, motorhomes and bloody caravans and the last two along with tourist coaches set the tone for the day. We did manage some passes I hadn't done before like the Valparola, Falzarego and Costalunga before we cut our day short at 1630, and according to Doris there were still two hours (at least!) to go to the Stelvio and our eventual overnight in Switzerland. From the Pordoi pass it poured down making the 20 plus hairpins down to Canazei slippery and hard work given the tailgating and pillocks pulling out giving you hardly any chance or many options. After 134.4 miles we called it a day and stopped in Nova Levante at the Engel "Wellness Hotel" . We had n...