Wait and see dawn on our first morning in Imst: Church bells since 0600 so not much chance of oversleeping. 210 bikers given a fantastic welcome on arrival yesterday at the GLME Summercamp 2017 by our hosts here in Austria in lederhose and the hotel staff inTyrolean costume. Unfortunately the weather hasn’t joined in the welcome: I rode the Brenner Pass in a thunderstorm and rain which continued down to Innsbruck. And there’s been more rain overnight with the street lights staying on because of the darkness. The organised runs are departing to scheule but I'm enjoying a slow first morning waiting for the drizzle clouds to clear a bit and the high pressure weather to return.

• Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße
• Gerlos - Krimml - Großglockner
• Timmelsjoch / Passo del Rombo, 2509 m.
• Neuschwanstein and Hahntennjoch, 1894 m.

• Tyre change at Lake Garda
• Passo Manghen 2047 m. - Passo Brocon 1616 m. - Passo di Sommo 1341 m.
• Riva del Garda
• Colle di Tenda -1871 m.
• Ready for GLME Summercamp 2017

The beach at the lido was filling up as the tourists emerged, meanwhile replacement tyres were being fitted to my hired Z1000SX at a chic and friendly Honda dealer in the centre of Riva del Garda - the local Kawasaki dealer has gone on holiday! Tyres sorted, I’ve taken to the local hills and limestone cliffs to scrub in the new Dunlops. This is not the South Downs, nor even Provence so a quiet day is relative and my lunchtime stop was amongst the butterflies in the cool of the forest at just over 1000 m. altitude.

Read more: Tyre change at Lake Garda

Passo Manghen (2047 m.) turned out to be one of the most challenging mountain passes I’ve ridden in quite a while. The route up from Castello Molina di Fiume rides steeply through a forest of tall pine trees. The road is narrow and the hairpins tight. The south road is more open but still steep and scary.
On to Passo Broncon (1616 m.), disappointing scenically but some fantastic riding. A route to keep the rider guessing: no stacks but number of 270° hairpins amongst a challenging variety of curves.

Read more: Passo Manghen 2047 m. - Passo Brocon 1616 m. - Passo di Sommo 1341 m.

My ride to Riva del Garda, the town at the head of Lake Garda, started in Cuneo in Piedmonte. Breakfast in the loggia of the hotel looking over to the Alpi Maritimi, clear above the morning mist in the Po valley. Then another long hot bash across the plain, passing towns whose names I see more usually on wine lists: Alba, Asti and Mondovi, etc.

Read more: Riva del Garda