Last summer, Insidebikes own Rubber Hobo, Sam Girvan, set off on a European tour on his Ducati Multistrada 950S. Having been largely disappointed by the much vaulted Stelvio Pass, he finally found nirvana on Slovenia’s Vrsic Pass. This is his story…
I’m not going to lie, I stumbled across this pass while riding down to the North West coast of Croatia. The town of Kranjska Gora in Slovenia seemed like a great place to park up, get some grub, get my head down and then crack on again in the morning. Once fed and watered, I turned to the hotel bar for a nightcap and subsequently got talking to a fellow Brit, who had just ridden from Surrey on his box fresh Moto Guzzi V85 TT. After talking about the weather, well we are Brits, we got on to the reasons as to why we were there. ‘I’m doing the Vrsic pass in the morning…’ the chap said. That was it, I was doing the Vrsic pass in the morning too!
So, after not getting to my pit as early as intended, I rose to the sound of a Guzzi V-Twin being fired up. As I looked out the window, my bar mate from the night before rolled past, the exhaust vapours made more prominent by the sharp frost that was fogging the view from the window of my room. It was back to bed for a bit, until the sun lit up the frosty lawn.
A quick snooze and three coffees later, I too was riding past the same window on the way to the Vrsic Pass, via the town of Kranjska Gora. Unbeknown to me, before you reach the beginning of the pass you are treated to Lake Jasna. If you like blue watered lakes with a glorious mountain backdrop and large metal statues of mountain goats with big horns, then this is the lake for you!
After a quick pic for Instagram (@rubberhobo), I was off to find the Vrsic. I found it. The pass carves its way through the Eastern Julian Alps, which is bookended by the Savska and Soska valleys. That all sounds great, but the Vrsic Pass is one of the world’s most dangerous roads and this will instantly be confirmed at the first of the 50-odd hairpin bends. Hairpins can be tricky at the best of times but if you add in 40-degree angles, a little bit of rain and most importantly cobblestones, well, then it’s a proper party.
None of the switchbacks are the same, so you can’t develop any muscle memory along the way. Some of the angles are inverse, some adverse and the cobbles aren’t always in the same formation. Sometimes they are close together, which allows you to glide right over them, other times the gaps are wide enough to accommodate a 120-section front tire. Which was fun.
Winnebagos and Pans
Two things become very apparent when you’re negotiating the road ahead. One, you will come up behind a Winnebago that straddles three quarters of the whole road. Two, you will definitely be overtaken by a regular, riding a battered 15-year-old Honda Pan European with Swiss plates. In fact, you won’t just be overtaken, you will be left for dust. Luckily you can stop for a slice of humble pie at the top of the pass after the first 24 bends and take in the viewing platform, before you tackle the final 26 bends on the other side.
Now imagine all that and try to negotiate them going downhill. That pie may very possibly come back up to see you. If you haven’t done all of your braking before the cobbles start then you will be in trouble. My Ducati has the latest linked ABS system, the softest adjustable suspension and a perfectly scrubbed in set of Pirelli Scorpion Trail 2s on its hoops. They will not save you.
This road should 100% be on your bucket list. Not for the views, the speed, or not getting out of third gear, but for the sheer exhilaration of surviving it.
Europe’s mountain ranges are saturated with incredible roads like this, and you won’t have heard of many of them. Sometimes they just appear out of nowhere. Like in a Slovenian hotel bar. Which isn’t a bad thing.
Aa Zdravje!
Where is the Vrsic Pass?
Originally built as a military road and trade route in the early 19th century, the pass runs through Mount Vrsic, close to Slovenia’s borders with Italy and Austria.
The pass is situated just over an hour north of Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, and is a three hour ride from Venice.
It’s also just 40km from Faaker See, home to the annual European Bike Week – one of the world’s largest Harley-Davidson rallies, with crowds of 200,000 attending each year.
