John Hermann has been on 26 Beach tours. For two decades we had the pleasure of  guiding, and later following, John through the Alps.

Now he has written the guide - "Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps". Even after publishing the definitive guide to Alpine motorcycling, John still manages to join us... and as mentioned in his 2nd edition, we are still able to introduce him to new roads and destinations!

The cover photo on the 2nd edition of the book was taken by Rob Beach. 

Excerpted from the book "motorcycle journeys through the ALPS" by John Hermann, available for USD$19.95 from Whitehorse Press, PO Box 60 -- 107 East Conway Road, North Conway, NH 03860-0060 USA. Or call 800-531-1133 or FAX to 617-241-5247. HERMins93 - ISBN 0-9621834-6-6.


Imagine the most exciting, the most beautiful, the best possible motorcycle trip. There'd be roads, endless roads, climbing and sweeping through forests, past waterfalls and glaciers, bursting out into meadows, twisting past snow-capped mountains. There'd be green pastures with flowers and cowbells and farm houses with flower boxes. There'd be good food and shiny clean rest rooms. Maybe even motorcycle parking by the door. And there'd be other motorcyclists, riding every kind of bike available on this planet. Imagine this, and you've imagined the Alps. Motorcycle heaven with scenic overload.

There are other mountain ranges, but only in the Alps of Europe have people spent centuries building roads up into each high valley and in between each peak. Only in the Alps can you expect good food and drink at the top of the mountain. In the Alps, good roads, good food, good hotels, good health standards, a standard of living to equal or exceed any other, all come together with exotic scenery and a general appreciation of motorcycling and driving.

Starting on the Mediterranean coast, the Alps arc across Europe, cutting off Italy's boot from the rest of the continent. Deep valleys cut into the mountains from all directions. All our good motorcycle roads exist because since ancient times, people have been trying to get from one valley to the next. They hacked through gorges and hung roads on mountainsides, finally reaching a saddle, a pass, into the next valley. The ancients must have agonized over which pass to risk, how to carry supplies for a long journey, how to trade with the natives. Now, all those roads make a motorcycle paradise. Just bring a credit card.

The south slopes of the Alps speak Italian, drink cappuccino, eat pasta and gelati at ristorantes and gelaterias, drive Fiats and Moto Guzzis with skill on an amazing maze of mountain roads. They call a road over the mountain a "passo." The westerly slopes speak French, drink wine, eat French fries and glace and French bread at restaurants with French doors, drive Citroens and Renaults [say "wren oh"] over some of the highest roads in the Alps. They call a road over the mountain a "col."

The north and east slopes of the Alps speak German, be they Austrian, Swiss, or Bavarian. They drink beer, eat Wienersnitzel {veal cutlet Viennese style] and Eis [say "ice"] at Gasthofs. They drive BMW's and Mercedes very seriously on spectacular roads. They call a road over the mountain a "Pass."

There's something satisfying about a through road, one that goes up one side of the mountain and down the other side. In the Alps, such roads are known by the pass they traverse: Passo Sempione, or Grimselpass, or Col de l'Iseran. Each pass seems to have a unique personality.

At the core of all this is Switzerland. That's what we call it. German speakers who live there call it "Der Schweiz." French speakers call it "Suisse." Italian speakers who live there call it "Svizzera." Swiss stamps call it "Helvetia." By any name, it's motorcycle heaven. When the snow melts, Swiss put away their skis and get out their motorcycles. Motorcycling is so popular that German speaking Swiss (Schweitzer Deutsch} have a special slang word for it: Toff {say "tough"]. A Toffler, of course, is a biker. A Gasthaus may have a sign, "Tofftreffpunkt," meaning a motorcycle meeting place.

Tiny Switzerland even has its own motorcycle press, including a weekly magazine MOTO SPORT SCHWEIZ, published in both German and French. Swiss bikes and cars are identified by a "CH" sticker, presumably, for "Confederation Helvetia."

Imagine you and your bike in the high Alps of Switzerland at Andermatt, in "der Schweiz." Every road in every direction is a great road. Select roads are marked here with a star (*). The creme de la creme, the absolute best roads, rate two (**). Some rate none, by Alpine standards. But those roads of the Alps with no star still must be among the best in the world. Every road around Andermatt gets at least one star. Most, two. There isn't a bad one.

Order Motorcycle Journeys Through The Alps through
The Whitehorse Press Website

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John's website - kingofthealps.com