July 20 - Portoroz - Leisure Day

Today a few of us took the bus and went to the next town.  Amazing how if you don’t do this blog right away I forget the details quickly.  

Walking around the town was beautiful.  The buildings and views are stunning.  I will let some pictures speak for themselves.

In the evening we walked down the boardwalk and found a spot to have supper and a beer later on.  Met up with a few of the Posse Riders for a drink on the way to supper as well.  That is one very nice thing about riding with a group of people - everywhere we stop or walk to you always come across people you know - friendly faces and people to share a table and drink with.  

Of course another beautiful sunset picture was taken and it is always important to take a drink picture as well which turned out amazing!  

July 19 - Kranjska Gora to Portoroz

 Today was a hot one.  As we get closer to Croatia we are getting hotter and hotter weather.  On a rest stop around noon we were able to ride up onto a sidewalk area where we could park our bikes in the shade.  I took advantage of staying in the shade and enjoying lying down on a hard bench and able to stretch out which actually was quite relaxing and felt amazing!

My GoPro is full and I forgot to empty it before riding today so my pictures are only from my phone which I do not use when I ride.  I have included a picture of the route today (at least I think that is the route just for today but it could be more than that.  LOL 

The hotel that we have today is right on the water and has a beautiful view.  Sunset was stunning and I made sure that I had a sunset picture.  

July 18 - Misurina to Kranjska Gora

Leaving Misurina which was such a beautiful setting it is hard to leave!  But today will be the last day riding through the mountains and what a day it was!  Hairpin turns galore!  And to top it off we had cobblestones in the turns going up - you know just to make it a bit more difficult.

On the way down the mountain there is 49 hairpin turns which do not include all the other corners on the way down.  To say it was a fun but difficult ride is an understatement.  I loved it!  But when you are competing for road space with bicycles and cars and small vans and sometimes meeting them head on in a corner as you can’t see before you go around the hairpin curve can be frightening.  I wish I could see the dash cams of some of these vans I met (6 in total) face to face.  Thankfully the motorcycle is quite limber and you can easily move it out of the way with just a quick turn - but you have to watch that you don’t go over the edge.  Lots of fun - right!

Arriving to Kranjska Gora which I have been before as well as being on the mountain roads was again amazing.  We had a buffet supper and then headed out to have a beer and take a picture in the ski town.  

Early morning again as we are moving to Portoroz Slovenia.  

July 17 - Misurina

A beautiful spot to have a leisure day.  Stoyan and Vessela took some of us out on a motorcycle tour to Cortina which is a place Stoyan goes to for work during ski season.  He said it was a little different touring around in the summer months.  

We parked near a Hockey area where Hockey Cortina has their home games and wondered if any of the kids I know ever placed hockey there!

This town was full of tourists as there was an old car race that finished in the town and had trophy presentations not far from where we were having lunch.  This is the area where the police in their Lamborghini was parked and we were able to take pictures with.  Too fun! 

 After riding back to Misurina I enjoyed the indoor pool and had a visit with some of the EPR team.  Later in the afternoon Mike and I walked around the whole lake in hopes that we could go up the chairlift to see the views but we were a few minutes too late for the final lift!  

However we met up with a crew of EPR riders that were bar hopping so we decided to join them for a beer.  It is so nice to be in a strange place but actually know people as you are walking around.  Friendly faces are always happy to greet you and share a beer with you.  

That evening met up with Mike for a drink and then had supper.at the local Italian place where the pasta was delicious. 

I highly recommend visiting Misurina if you are ever in the area!  Beautiful

July 16 - Monster Ride - Munich to Misurina

 Each EPR there is a Monster Ride where we head out early on the bikes and have breakfast somewhere on the side of the road, typically at a very beautiful spot to watch the sunrise.

Well the EPR team and Barbra along with Stefan did not disappoint.  The view at the lake was spectacular to eat our breakfast.  Some got a different great view as we watched people - mostly older - walk down on the dock and proceed to change into their swim clothes and go for a morning swim.  What a way to wake up in the morning for these people to come to their oasis and find out there is a gang of bikers eating breakfast at their favourite spot.

We arrived in Misurina after a very amazing ride through the mountains with lots of switch backs and hairpin turns.  We were all quite happy to see the nice weather and the beautiful views of Misurina.  Wow spectacular. 

We had a much quieter celebration after supper on the lake where we received our monster ride shirts and pins.  Was a very long day and I didn’t plan on staying up late but plans always change as we all were enjoying each other’s company.   

July 15 - Munich

This morning Connie and I woke up at a fairly decent time and we decided it was laundry time!  So we Ubered to the laundromat and completed two loads of laundry - so nice to get fresh clean clothes instead of hand washed in the sink clothes.  

Today was a leisure day and we chose to ride to the Harley Davidson Dealership and of course purchase some merchandise!  Imagine that!

After returning to the hotel a few of us took an Uber to downtown Munich to walk around old town.  Beautiful area to walk around with lots of shops and lots of architectural buildings.  

We had an amazing lunch at Hofbrauhaus which is a famous place to enjoy a good German beer.  I also headed across the street to get a few t-shirts for my boys at the Hard Rock Cafe which I normally do as I travel.

July 14 - Ceske to Munich

Finally great riding weather from the start of the day!  No rain - lots of winding roads through beautiful country side. 

We stopped at a very lovely spot for coffee or water. Was a nice rest before getting more heat!  

Driving along the River at a city called Passau. The sites from the road were spectacular.  Unfortunately there was another mishap while stopping at a red light. One bike didn’t stop ran into another one who hit the one beside me. All three went down but no one was hurt. Bikes can be repaired!  All bikes were rideable as well so that was good. 

After that incident we were trying to find a place to have lunch and all the little villages were empty with no sign of a restaurant unless we went off the by pass to find one. We did not and ended up stopping at about 6 km from the hotel as the rooms were not ready yet. We had a quick bite to eat and then headed to the hotel to get ready for the beer fest. 

The team has asked everyone to dress up and Connie was able to find these great aprons that looked like we were wearing a costume. We turned some head and everyone thought they were great!  

Supper was at a garden park not far from the hotel so we walked. Barbra and Stefan organized this for us and had cookies specially made for everyone. We all also received a beer mug from the EPR team. Our luggage is getting full!  

I am at my half way point of my trip and it seems like we just started but also feels like we are getting close to the end. There is so much to see yet and I’m so looking forward to it.