European Bike Week Faaker See 2012

[hadye]

Originally Posted by alicethomas

You have a safety officer!? There are no bullets flying around here. Middle Europe is very safe.

Thanks for the suggestions, we use safety officer as alternative to Sweeper of a convoy when the group is more than 5. it is for the safety of the group when they exceed 5 stays at the tail & in connection by CB with the road captain at the start

[RTLover]

Those are good plans. You should be aware than some countries in the EU are more 'accommodating' than others when it comes to group rides. Four or five is a good number in order to keep a low profile and limit the exposure to the police. What they don't like to see is a string of bikes a kilometer long with no breaks. Hi-viz is not required in France as it is in the UK but makes sense if you're a group. With the volume of truck traffic on the some roads, passing can be a real challenge if you're trying to keep the group together. Just a few random thoughts.

[alicethomas]

Traffic is dense and your group will get split on several occasions.
But no literate is really lost if he has a photocopy of your route with the (intermediate) destinations marked.
There are a lot of sign posts to the near villages and larger towns and even every street is labelled. And everyone speaks English (though not in France).

[hadye]

Well , by coincidence or may be due to the marketing effort of Apple, all of us have iPhones so we purchased iGO as navigation GPS, assigned the route & shall be downloaded on all out phones.

Also out of the 16 bikes about 14 have CBs on their bike so communication & splitting & regrouping shall be much easier (I hope)

[Eldezento]

if you are looking for a nice halfday-trip starting at Faaker See: go to Mount Mangart in Slovenija. (You can see the mountain´s top from Faaker See). It is a single trail tarmac road going up to 2000m alt. You need the best weather for this trip, and the alpine surrounding and outlook is worth to "climb" up.
I spend part of my holidays at Ossiacher See near Villach every year and do this trip many times. for further info look at http://alpenrouten.de/Klanska-Skrbin..._point585.html or send pm

good luck,
Peter

[hadye]

Originally Posted by Eldezento

if you are looking for a nice halfday-trip starting at Faaker See: go to Mount Mangart in Slovenija. (You can see the mountain´s top from Faaker See). It is a single trail tarmac road going up to 2000m alt. You need the best weather for this trip, and the alpine surrounding and outlook is worth to "climb" up.
I spend part of my holidays at Ossiacher See near Villach every year and do this trip many times. for further info look at http://alpenrouten.de/Klanska-Skrbin..._point585.html or send pm

good luck,
Peter

Thanks Peter for your suggestions, I have already downloaded the GPX file on my PC. Now I am preparing a list of suggested routes that I will choose from while I am in Faaker See.

So if you spend your holidays often there, will be crazy, if we head for the Dolomites on single day in round trip to the most "favorable" POI by fellow riders. I know for sure that I won't be able to cover it in this trip but at least I covered them

[motorrider]

Must become a graet ride Hadye. I have been a few times to Faakersee. I always stayed at camping Arneitz.
It is one big nice show. The road around the Faakersee they convert to a oneway street and the bikes ride whole days around the lake.
In the village Velden manny bikers are in front of the casino. Everywhere are motorbikes. I always liked it very much.
On sunday there is the parade with 1000's of bikes and enthousiastic people allong the road. It is realy a graet athmosphere.
I must say it was always nice and sunny weather, only in the nights it was cooling down a lot.
Have fun!

[Rudl]

Hello Hadye,

I agree with the suggestion to split the large group into smaller groups if you want to make some progress and avoid being stressed, so maybe you can promote some more of the riders to road captains and security officers

As for route suggestions:
Faak-Wurzenpass-Kranska Gora-Vrsic Pass-Predli Pass (possible detour to Manghart)-Sella Nevea-Nassfeldpass-Villach-Faak might be an entertaining route for a day. But a word of caution: Some of these pass roads are really alpine and not all are well maintained. Expect weird things like unlit tunnels with hairpins, single track roads, tight and steep hairpins, all of the above at once etc.

Another route might be
Faak - Villach - Tarvisio - Tolmezzo (no need for the autostrada) -- Sto. Stefano di Cadore - Sexten (Sesto) - Sillian - Kötschach-Mauthen - Hermogor - Villach - Faak
This is longer, but stays mainly in the valleys, so less hairpins, but beautiful scenery and you get a glimpse of the Dolomites as well. This might be better on HDs, if you have never gone to the mountains. Maybe start with that and if you feel bored, then see above

I agree with all the guys who suggested to be flexible according to the weather. But September is usually one of the nicer months. The summer thunderstorms are over and it might be stable and nice weather. You still have more then 12hrs daylight. It could be cool in the mornings, though and there is always a chance of a shower.

Enjoy!
Rudl

[Ali in Austria]

As others have said, September is very pleasant out here as a rule but the nights can get chilly with some frost that lingers in the shade. It can be one of the nicest months of the year to Tour.

Just be aware of Bike Security at The Rally. There were a significant number stolen there last year.

[hadye]

It always amazes me whether here in this forum or the other forums that I participate in the amount of help that one can get. In spite of the massive distance that separate us yet every one is willing to give all the help when needed.

Thank you all again, you have added alot of information to me. I will certainly benefit from it in my expected ride.

Originally Posted by Rudl

Hello Hadye,

As for route suggestions:
Faak-Wurzenpass-Kranska Gora-Vrsic Pass-Predli Pass (possible detour to Manghart)-Sella Nevea-Nassfeldpass-Villach-Faak

I didn't find this Predli Pass neither on Google maps nor on my navigator. Is there is another name for it ?

[francs]

Originally Posted by hadye

It always amazes me whether here in this forum or the other forums that I participate in the amount of help that one can get. In spite of the massive distance that separate us yet every one is willing to give all the help when needed.

Thank you all again, you have added alot of information to me. I will certainly benefit from it in my expected ride.



I didn't find this Predli Pass neither on Google maps nor on my navigator. Is there is another name for it ?

Spelling is wrong it's Predil ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predil_Pass ) .

[hadye]

started to plot the different routes suggested on the mapsource & Garmin basecamp added more & more to my confusion, lot of things to do & lot of routes. I will try in the next days to actually plot them on Google earth 7 try to visualize what is best.

Also, settled my mind on the gear that I might need during this trip, do you have any additional suggestions for what can be small & of a huge benefit?

[Rudl]

The only thing I can think of is to bring some cash. Restaurants etc. in smaller towns might or might not accept credit cards. There are, however, plenty of ATMs where you can withdraw from your debit card (Maestro) or credit card, so it's no major problem.

[hadye]

Originally Posted by Rudl

The only thing I can think of is to bring some cash. Restaurants etc. in smaller towns might or might not accept credit cards. There are, however, plenty of ATMs where you can withdraw from your debit card (Maestro) or credit card, so it's no major problem.

& What about toll roads, need to have coins? Not talking about passes where you pay 10 Euros or more

[Flying dutch]

Hi, Check out this site were you can download motor routes and find motor friendly guesthouses etc.

http://motorrad.kaernten.at/?siid=1728&LAid=2&jid=so