The start
It had been a long process to get here, but now we’re standing at the Hjortneskai in Oslo and are ready for the first leg of our Tour des Alpes 2023 – to Kiel. I had spent a fair number of hours on the map and on the computer before we got this far. For a while I planned for a trip for four. Then we became two, which gave me room to reorganise the time shedule. ‘Two is more efficient than four, and we can add slightly longer daily stages both in terms of kilometres and time. With only eight days at our disposal, this was not a disadvantage.
DAY 1: Friday 1 September 2023
Oslo – Kiel
We’re not alone at the Hjortneskai today; some are at the starting line of their adventures, bigger adventures than ours, while others are on their way home after adventurous miles in Norway, Finland and Sweden. Bror walks around restlessly, taking a few last telephone calls while we wait for the go-ahead to board. I feel the tingling excitement that always comes at the start of a trip. What will the next few days bring? Bror feels the same way, but at the same time we both have a subdued enthusiasm for the start leg in particular, but we realise that starting with a boat trip has obvious advantages.
I often feel excitement ahead of a motorbike trip, even if it’s just a days trip in Telemark. Now I’m also feeling a bit more serious. After all, I’ve planned a fairly ambitious route, and even though I’ve been on many trips to the Alps, there’s always a certain amount of uncertainty involved. We need to fill the days, but at the same time not have to stress. Staying calm and taking things as they come will prove to be a good trait for the next few days.
Lørdag 2.9.2023
Kiel – Haßmersheim : 720 km
After a good night’s sleep and a decent breakfast, we approach Kiel. The weather is on our side and life is smiling at us as we roll off the ferry and eventually onto the German motorway network. The first stage will take us to Haßmersheim. A 710-kilometre stage should go smoothly. However problems start with a small navigation error just after Kiel and before we know it we’re on a 720-kilometre stage. Then we’re off.
I like the Autobahn. The motorways through Sweden and Denmark are boring, but on the German Autobahn there’s always something going on. I like the dynamics and energy of driving. You have to be alert all the time and drive active. There are always someone driving slowly, others driving faster than they strictly should. The trick is to find the balance between these extremes – to find the flow, that’s what triggers me.
The traffic southwards towards Hamburg flows smoothly, but then the GPS reports a 110-minute delay. We choose a detour and suddenly we’re at the Reperbahn, right in the centre of Hamburg. It looks completely different now compared to when I was last here in 1974 😊 It’s probably still just as colourful in the evening and at night as then, but now in the middle of the day it’s quiet and life is slow.
We get back on the A7 south of Hamburg. We’re not sure our detour paid off in time, but at least we got to see a bit of downtown Hamburg, and not just the six-lane motorway and the nice tiles in the Elbtunnel. Now we’re ready to make up some autobahn miles. Bror’s GS 1250 eats up the miles convincingly comfortably. The 750X doesn’t have the same comfort, but surprises positively and life is wonderful and carefree. At least for a while. At the next refuelling stop, at Hildesheimer Börde, we have a long-awaited «bockwürst mit brötchen» und senf and enjoy it in the shade of a tree. We are overheating now and dress accordingly.
We haven’t driven many miles before the GPS again comes up with a mood-depressing message – another traffic jam, also this time of the big one. No detours appear and we choose to drive carefully between the lanes. It works, and even though it’s only 30-40 km/h we’re on pace. The Germans aren’t particularly happy with this solution, and we pass several motorcycles that are neatly in the queue, while others ride on the shoulder of the road, which is illegal in any case. We are passed by a couple of motorcyclists in a busier mood than us and are happy with our the pace Now we are both glad we left the side cases in the garage at home.
Traffic jams usually clear up, and the forty kilomertrese queue is behind us og the Autobahn opens for us again. Even though there’s heavy traffic, we get to drive smoothly. So much so that we optimistically take a trip to Fulda and shop for some motorcycle gear and fo some window shopping for motorcycle gear. Besides – Fulda is a beautiful city.
I thought I’d planned a spacious itinerary for day one, but when the shadows are long in front of us, we realise that we’ll have trouble reaching the hotel before the kitchen closes. We don’t pass any eateries along the road fpr the last half hour. Haßmersheim is a cosy little town and after nine o’clock in the evening we can enjoy a good drink – but we’re disappointed to find that the chef has gone home. It’s not possible to find anything to eat at the hotel, or anywhere else in the town. So it’s good drinks and snacks for ‘dinner’. Right now, I’m especially happy that it’s Bror I’m travelling with – he doesn’t stress.
Our accommodation in Haßmersheim:
Gasthof Hotel Adler, Marktstraße 50, D-74855 Haßmersheim
Email: Mail@adlerlammhotel.de. Phone: +49 (0) 6266 1522
Søndag 3.9. 2023
Haßmersheim – Martigny : 604 km
The next morning we are up and running when breakfast opens, a very good breakfast by the way. We pack and even though we both had our packing in order from the start, there are always room for improvements and we spend a little extra time adjusting our luggage. Today’s stage to Martigny is also ambitious in terms of the number of kilometers. We will take the A81, then drive via Stuttgart, on to Zurich and Altdorf before we will aim for the Sustenpass and Gimselpass. That’s the plan.
We start the day with an entertaining «landstrasse» drive along the Neckar down to Neckarsulm before we enter the autobahn and follow the signs in the direction of Stuttgart. West of Stuttgart the A81 is closed. It is Sunday morning, and we are not alone on the roads. We manage to get onto a recommended detour before the trafic stops completely. This is clearly a heavy traffic day, and the roads through the many villages are not designed for such traffic. This takes time and the detour is more chaotic than feared. We are already far behind our schedule. And that’s before we’ve even had the feeling of having started today’s stage.
After a lot of twists and turns, we get onto the autobahn south of Stuttgart and can continue on our planned route. We have lost a lot of time and decide to delete Sustenpass and Grimselpass from today’s routeplan.
But we can’t just drive on motorways, so we take a detour past Gstaad and the Col du Pillon (1546 m.a.s.l.) to get a little taste of the Alps before we get to Martigny. It’s nice to get off the motorway and we enjoy the road over the Col du Pillon.
After a short encounter with the motorway again, we are in Martigny. The hotel is fine, most of the guests are motorcyclists, some more experienced on the road than us and with “professional” equipment. We are recommended a restaurant nearby and tonight we can supplement good drinks with good food – it will be a better end to the day than we had yesterday. The day did not go quite as planned, but it was eventful and the trip over the Col du Pillon was a great end – and tomorrow we are going to the mountains for real.
Our accommodation in Martigny:
Hotel du Stand, Avenue du Grand St Bernard 41, 1920 Martigny-Ville
E-mail: mail@hoteldustand.ch. Tel.: +41 27 772 15 06
Read this too:
Tour des Alpes 2023 – II, Into the mountains
Tour des Alpes 2023 – III, On Italian and French border roads
Tour des Alpes 2023 – IV, French Alpine passes and more
