yep. she’s twisty alright :)
I first met BMW rider Ray Hemmerling at Karson’s garage in Pakenham in the spring of 2022. I had stopped for gas and he was having his truck fixed. We subsequently ran into each other a couple of times at the 5 Nights in Augusta Street Park festivities in Almonte in July. We chatted briefly.
Then, almost eighteen months later, we met at a Christmas choral concert at one of Almonte’s beautiful (and plentiful!) churches. He was with a couple of acquaintances of mine. This time, we ended up going to the Barley Mow for a beer during which he shared details from a summer 2023 bike excursion in Europe – a trip he and his travel mates affectionately dubbed ‘The Strudel Tour.’
“We had a great time,” Ray said. “Everything was perfect. I can’t speak highly enough of Hana Ptackova and her company Motoadventours. Hana led an amazing tour. She is an excellent rider and a wonderful person.”
One of the highlights was negotiating the Stelvio Pass, which is described like this on Wikipedia:
“[Originally built in 1820 – 1825], the pass is located in the Ortler Alps in Italy between Stilfs (Italian: Stelvio) in South Tyrol to the north-east and Bormio to the south-west in the province of Sondrio. It lies right at the border of Switzerland and is connected to Sta. Maria Val Müstair in the north by the Umbrail Pass on Stelvio’s western ramp. The “Three Languages Peak” (Dreisprachenspitze) above the pass is so named because this is where the Italian, German, and Romansh language-speaking areas meet.
The road connects the Valtellina with the Vinschgau valley and the town of Meran. Adjacent to the pass road there is a large summer skiing area. Nearby mountains include Thurwieserspitze, Piz Umbrail, Piz Cotschen, and to the east, the mighty Ortler.”
Here’s a taster courtesy of Ray:
And here’s another sampler thanks to YouTube:
© 2023 Susan Macaulay. I invite you to share my poetry and posts widely, but please do not reprint, reblog or copy and paste them in their entirety without my permission. Thank you.
