available in Austria so I opted to remove the gears leaving it as one gear bike. This failed to so I am currently without bike...arrrghhh.
Later we decided to buy a ticket and traverse the Grossglockner Pass (featured on Hairy Bikers recently) which crosses the Alps providing one of the oldest routes to Italy and Slovenia. It is now mainly a tourist attraction and spans 30km and 30 hairpin bends with a maximum road height of 8000ft. At the fe end you have a choice of heading towards Italy or up to the Grossglockner Glacier. We chose the Glacier and another 8 hairpin bends and serious winds combined with the start of a major Thunderstorm.
We viewd the amazing Glacier before heading back the 30km and 30 hairpin bends to the start of the pass. As we were driving the lightening storm came in and the rain was so heavy it was nearly pitch black. We could see the lightening striking the ground within half a mile so it was not just the 8000ft drops we had to worry about!
We finally got round the the last hairpin and headed for the tunnel that leads to the main gate....around the next corner we were confronted by a brand new Mud Slide right across the exit road and flowing into a raging mountain river beside the road. The mud, debris and force of water made the road impassable so we parked up as the two or three other car drivers also got out to access the situation!
A polish guy took charge and we all waded in and started lifting branches and rocks and throwing them in the river. This started to allow the force of water to start to clear some of the mud and grit which was about 12 inches higher than the road surface. After about 15 minutes we had cleared enough for a bike to try and ride through and he succeeded so an Audi 4x4 went for it and also made it. I did not fancy spending the night between a mudslide and raging river so we got back in and I headed for the mudslide and simply drove through the water and over the debris and we were all VERY relived when we were clear.
