Day 1 started at 8am from Zurich with a straightforward route to get to Villach in Austria.
The morning was cool which was welcomed as the heat has been unbearable the last few weeks.
After saying my good byes I started the little thumper up and with a blip of the throttle I was off! I will admit it I was feeling very emotional as I left.
First quick stop was in Austria to fuel up and get the vignette for the Autobahn. Direction Innsbruck with the plan to ride over the Brenner pass and into Italy. I was making very good progress until I got to the start of the pass - there was some traffic on the way up. I think I saw a sign for a bungee jump on the way up. Either that or I must have been imagining it with the heat. What a great idea to buy black motorcycle clothing!
Thinking that it was just a few kilometers of tailbacks to the top it'd be easy on the way down. Wrong! More traffic. It seems that everyone decided to go on holiday at the same time.
After some filtering on the way down towards Bolzano I headed off on to some smaller roads - why miss a chance to ride through the Dolomites. The Tyrol area is beautiful and I really recommend a visit.
It was lunch time and I was starting to feel my stomach take over. Now it was time to play random restaurant lottery - which place is the best to eat at. Could it be the one that you've just past or is it the next one. Hmmm. And if the next isn't that nice do you turn back? I found a place and grabbed a bite. It was a quick lunch as I still had some distance to cover.
The rest of the road to Villach was through a beautiful valley with only the last part being a quick hop on the Autobahn.
Arrive at the terminal for the train and there are some cars already here. I'm thinking that I might have arrived too early but it seems not. Quick check of documents, do the check-in, guy puts some tie-downs on the bike ready for it to be secured on the train. I'm sitting and waiting in the shade but it's still unbearably hot at 6pm. Too much time waiting around and I'm starting to think who I'm going to be sharing the sleeping compartment with.
Sitting waiting for the boarding call one man approaches me and asks me about the bike and where I'm going. We have a chat for a few minutes, he's a biker too it turns out. He walks away but returns 30 seconds later - he offers me some cherries he's washed.
Second man stops to have a chat and I find out he's from Kazakhstan. He's a bit of a biker too but only likes sorts bikes as he likes to ride fast.
I get told to get my bike onto the train. Easy enough process with the one exception that there is a height restriction on the lower level. I'm crouched down, chin on the tank and trying to negotiate my way through the wagons - I need to stay left or right side as there is a gap in the middle which would result in embarrassment and difficulty in getting the bike out.
I get on board to meet my roomies for this journey. 3 guys from Turkey but now living in Germany.
Total distance covered today 577km.
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