The Alpine Wall and the Woods

Riding off the main highway today around the back roads on the Slovenia / Italian border I came across an abandoned fortification which was once part of the great Alpine Wall. This fortification was built in the lead up to WWII at the order of Benito Mussolini to protect Italy from her neighbhours the defences comprises two central areas with bunkhouses and kitchens and two opposing circular machine gun posts with metal fixings for heavy machine guns giving a possible almost circular field of fire. Although the main doors had been removed to this Type A Zone of Resistance fortification I could clearly envisage the determination required to get through the two blast doors and the meters of reinforced concrete.The Alpine Wall and the Woods

Road to the sky

Rode the infamous Grossglockner today. Well when I say I rode it, I entered the park just after 9 and then for the next eight hours I rode a bit, hopped off the bike to take some photographs then rode on a bit more only to stop and repeat the process all over again and when I reached the end I just turned round and did it all again. It was breathtaking, possibly the best mountain pass I have ridden to-date – not to crowded but cold (2.4 degrees at 2548 meters high). Met some great folks including a team riding some very old machines at a sedately pace to the summit and the ‘rally for heroes‘ teams who were driving the pass having come from Kehlsteinhaus – the erosion of the Pasterze Glacier is startling what ever the cause.Knarley Dudess Pasterze Glacier

Shelter in Bergamo

Succumbed tonight to a night under bricks and mortar after riding through some of the worst summer storms locals tell me they have seen for years – the bike is tucked up in an underground car park and everything I have is laying around me dripping in an attempt to get it dry before the ride to Austria tomorrow and through my window I can see dancing shards of lightening over the old village of Bergamo. Rode the Col De l’Iseran today and although it was warm when I left I predicted snow at 9,100 ft and I was not wrong. Seems odd to be grabbing extra layers and using heated grips when 16 hours earlier I was riding with jacket open in the evening sunshine.Col De lIseran

LightVessel LV72 – Juno

Catching occasional glimpses of a famous merchant vessel used to guide the way for ships during the D Day landings, I meandered around the tracks and back roads of Skewen before finally ending up on the waters edge alongside the River Neath. Perched in the mud was LV72 – Juno. Built in 1903 by John Crown and Sons in Sunderland this lightship is now ‘rusting and resting’, embedded in the sticky estuary mud and, to be honest, is a sad sight. Having been a lightship for Trinity House she was moored off the Normandy coast on 18th June 1944 and was used to mark the edges of minefields and give safe passage – remaining on station until 27th January 1945. In the spring of 1973 she was sold and after plans for a nightclub conversion failed, she now sits on the bank slowing eroding back into her surroundings.Trinity House Photograph - D DayLightvessel LV72 Juno