How To Tackle The Alps By Motorcycle

Climbing the mighty Stelvio Pass in the rain, where a rainbow waited for us at the summit. Image: Michael Jay

The domino effect of touring the Alps by motorcycle in 2023 began when I became a serious cyclist in 2013.  

Then 47 years old, I was invited to be a guest of Trek Travel to participate in L’Etape du Tour, organized by the same promoters as the Tour de France. Literally meaning a stage of the Tour, ours was a 130 kilometer loop starting in Annecy, France, with Mount Blanc lording over everyone like Zeus. I flew from San Francisco to Geneva, Switzerland, then took a bus 45 minutes to Annecy, our home base for the week as 10 of us trained for the Big Ride. It was my first time road cycling in Europe, approximately 7-½ years after touring Rwanda by mountain bike.

My international cycling tours were organized – and paid for – by others, so the concept of doing all the heavy lifting and check writing for a 10-day European motorcycle tour of the Alps was daunting.