Tour des Alpes 2002

Very old news from my pré-Club-Triumph and pré-blog period this time! Commemorating the 20^th anniversary of my first trip with a TR7 into the Alps! The idea for this trip was born (as good ideas do) after a few beers in a pub with Roger. As we couldn’t agree what car to take (and who would do the driving) we played a game of heads or tails. I won, which meant I would be responsible for the car and the driving. And Roger would be responsible for the route, accommodation and navigation.

At the time I only had one road going TR7, so the choice was easy. ‘t Kreng would get some exercise in the mountains. It was also the first trip where my first digital photo camera (Canon Powershot G2) was used. And I wasn’t quite used to the fact that the amount of film wasn’t a limiting factor anymore. Just take enough memory cards!

Day 1 (26 June 2002)

Home > Zülpich > Bad Münstereifel > Altenahr > Bad Breisig > Puderbach > Dierdorf > Dornburg > Weilburg > Usingen > Friedberg > Altenstadt.

Crossing the Rhine with the ferry between Bad Breisig and Bad Hönningen (D).

Day 2 (27 June 2002)

Altenstadt > Büdingen > Wachtersbach > Lohr > Wertheim > Tauberbisschofsheim > Lauda > Bad Mergentheim > Creglingen > Rothenburg > Bopfingen > Neresheim > Gundelfingen > Krumbach.

‘t Kreng hiding in the Obergasse, alongside Hotel “Zum Schwarzen Adler”.

Early morning in the small town of Altenstadt (D)

Lunch stop in Igersheim (D), and me adjusting the engine’s idle

mixture slightly for the coming higher altitudes.

Day 3 (28 June 2002)

Krumbach > Mindelsheim.> Kaufbeuren > Kempten > Markt Oberdorf > Leuterschach > Gorisried > Bodelsberg > Untergassen > Moosbach > Sulzberg > Burgberg > Sonthofen > Hindelang > Reutte > Füssen.

A typical farm building captured during a nice and quiet (but wet) evening walk,

through the rural area around the town of Füssen (D).

Das Hohes Schloß in Füssen (D), and the Ammergauer Alps in the back ground,

catching the last sunrays of the day

Day 4 (29 June 2002)

Time for a well-deserved rest for ‘t Kreng and some action for the walking boots.

Exploring the town of Füssen and the neighbouring “Disney” castle, Schloß Neuschwanstein.

The courtyard of Das Hohes Schloß in Füssen (D).

Schloß Neuschwanstein (D) seen from the Marien bridge over the Pöllat Schluch.

When we arrived there, the bridge was absolutely packed with a bus load of Japanese tourists, spoiling the view. Luckily it was an old narrow suspension bridge over a very deep and narrow gorge. So the tourists were easily scared off when I managed to get the bridge into a nice sway. With the bridge emptied, I was able to take this panorama picture.

Day 5 (30 June 2002)

Füssen > Pinswang > Reutte > Plansee > Garmisch > Wallgau > Tegernsee > Gmünd > Schliersee > Hausham > Bad Tolz > Kochel > Bichel > Sindelsdorf > Grossweil > Kochel > Garmisch > Oberammergau > Füssen.

A short rest for man and machine halfway the scenic toll road between Wallgau and Vorderriß (D).

An empty Bundesstraße B472 near Bad Heilbrunn (D). It seemed there was a football world championship final going on (Germany against Brasil if I remember correctly). We only had to watch out for speed cameras (which we didn’t encounter 😊). Needless to say that it was rather good fun indeed!

A leisurely stroll along the shores of the Kochelsee, between Raut and the Walchensee Kraftwerk (D).

Day 6 (1 July 2002)

Füssen > Fernpass > Imst > Landeck > Kaunertal > Kauns > Piller > Wens > Sölden.

The parking area on top of the Kaunertaler Gletscherstraße, 2750m¹ ASL (A)

On top of the Kaunertaler Gletscherstraße (A), with a view on the Kaunergrat,

with the Hintere Ölgrubenspitze in the foreground and the Gepatsch Stausee in the back ground.

Coming down the Kaunertaler Gletscherstraße (A)

Another photo stop somewhere going down the Kaunertaler Gletscherstraße (A)

The cemetery surrounding the Pfarrkirche Mariä Heimsuchung in Sölden (A)

Day 7 (2 July 2002)

Sölden > Timmelsjoch > St Leonard in Passeier > Jaufenpass > Penserjoch > Bozen > Meran > St Leonard in Passeier > Timmelsjoch > Sölden.

Fairly poor driving conditions on top of the Jaufen Pass (I).

And to make matters worse the restaurant was closed!

On top of a very wet and windy Penserjoch (I)

Heading up a still partially un-surfaced Timmelsjoch (I)

A view over the Ötztal towards Sölden from the parking area,

near the Timmelsjoch’s toll booth above Hochgurgl.

When we returned to Sölden, I decided to fill up the car in preparation for the next day. Here I found out that over the 340km covered that day, the car had managed to burn 53 litres of fuel. Not what you call good fuel economy. And according to the handbook that meant I had only 1,5 litres left! But it was all good fun! I later learned that the car’s original tank will hold 64,5 litres when filled to the brim, so I needn’t have worried!

Dag 8 (3 July 2002)

Sölden > Timmelsjoch > Sankt Leonard in Passeier > Meran > Trafoi > Stilfserjoch (aka Stelvio Pass) > Livigno > Zernez > Susch > Ardes > Scuol > Landeck.

Going up a pretty wet Timmelsjoch again.

Somewhere between Hochgurgl and the toll booth.

One of my best drives with ‘t Kreng ever, if not the best!.

Going up the Northern slope of the Stilfserjoch (aka Stelvio) with no traffic worth mentioning. Using only the first 3 gears, and with the revs constantly between 5000 and 7000 rpm, I managed to get to the top of the pass in a little over 15 minutes. It was very good fun indeed!

On top of the Stilfserjoch/Stelvio Pass (I).

View from the top of the Stilfserjoch/Stelvio Pass into the Trafoiertal (I).

Views from the top of the Stilfserjoch/Stelvio Pass on the Piz Umbrail,

and the Italian-Swiss border area.

‘t Kreng enjoying a well-deserved short rest on top of the Stilfserjoch/Stelvio Pass!

Near II Casa Cantoniera dello Stelvio,

on the south slopes of the Stelvio Pass.

‘t Kreng in front of II Casa Cantoniera dello Stelvio,

on the south slopes of the Stelvio Pass.

Day 9 (4 July 2002)

Landeck > Lech > Bregenz > Lindau > Stockach > Eigeltingen > Engen > Tengen > Blumberg > Bonndorf > Schluchsee.

Day 10 (5 July 2002)

Schluchsee > Titisee > Furtwangen > Triberg > Hornberg > Wolfach > Schapbach > Bad Rippoldsau > Ottenhofen > Achern > Soufflenheim > Betschdorf > Kuhlendorf > Hohwiller > Wissembourg > Bad Bergzabern > Annweiler > Kaiserslautern > Wolfstein Lauterecken > Fischbach > Niederworresbach > Hellershausen > Stipshausen > Hochscheid > Bernkastel Kues > Zeltingen > Krov > Kinderbeuern > > Daun > Dockweiler > Hillesheim > Ahrhutte > Aachen > Home.

Sorry, forgot to take some pictures during the final days. There was one memorable encounter on the final day though. Sadly by this time the gear changes had started to suffer badly. It later turned out that the fairly new clutch hose was ballooning when the engine got on full working temperature. So when I was challenged by a fairly new Mercedes SLK Kompressor on the B48 south of Kaiserlautern, there was only one option: Get the ’box in 3rd gear (…) and use the Sprint engine’s ability to rev it’s head of. It was rather good fun, and a successful line of defence. Although the rather Arian looking driver tried his best, it wasn’t good enough (YOU SHALL NOT PASS! 😝). From here on the remaining part of the return journey was fairly uneventful.

Final rest for man and machine in the small town of Bernkastel Keus (D).

Only a few more hours driving from home. Thx to Roger for a fantastic route!

Over this 10 day tour the car covered almost 3500 kilometres without too many problems. The only real problem being the poor quality of the aftermarket clutch hose spoiling some of the fun on the last day of the trip. But while servicing the car a few weeks after returning home from this trip, I noticed there was also something wrong with two of the wheels!

Not what you’d expect from a reputable British competition wheel manufacturer. But despite the wheels being three years old, they were replaced under a part warranty. What I call pretty good service! And this enabled me to change the wheel's offset slightly, giving a deeper dished wheel. Together with road legal Yokohama A032R competition tyres they looked so much better. And with the huge amount of grip these added to the car’s handling, other points for improvement revealed themselves!