Pedro

After dinner, on the previous night, we stayed up talking and drinking wine as the weather changed and turned into wind and thunder, then heavy rain. I used to spend holidays at a camping place with my parents as a boy, in their caravan, and I forgot how nice it is to listen to the rain and weather cozied into bed without the shelter of a proper isolating house. We had a lovely night that night, and slept deeply. The next morning, we wake up to rain. It looks like rain outside, the forecast is unequivocal, etc, but we suit up anyway and decide to make the best of it. On the previous day, checking on google maps and waze, we realize that the mountain pass we were taking from Lake Iseo to Lake Garda, is closed. If this trip had a theme that has to be it! However, considering the nasty weather maybe it wouldn't have been very nice to lead the ladies up a mountain pass, instead we take the nicer less high roads to Riva del Garda, and stop there for lunch. I didn't take many pictures as the navigation was pretty straight forward so I didn't need the phone on the handlebars, plus it was raining so hard all of the time that I didn't want to take my gloves off and get my hands wet. The only time I stopped for pictures was right next to Lake Garda, coming back home after lunch, the lake is so big and the weather was so bad that it waves big enough to splash onto the road. I had never seen a lake like that. That road has lots of small tunnels and is quite interesting to ride through, in and out of the tunnels with the lake on your side. A little past 18:00 and we were back to have a nice warm shower and get dinner going. That night, as well, we ate on our cabin as well. I, again, cooked some pasta with anchovies and onion, which turned out way better than the one with tomato and peas of the night before. We got ready to leave the lakes and start heading back towards home.

The next day the girls went on a little walk around the camping and the lake, mostly relaxing, while I decided to go up to ride through Passo de Baremone and Passo di Maniva. I did a little research online and found these to probably be a lot cooler than the Via del Sale, while at the same time more off the beaten path. Sadly, riding up to Baremone I found out the road was closed for repairs. I insisted because I could make it to the unpaved section after the tarmac, but the amount of trucks that took the whole road was a little bit of a challenge. As I waited on a bend for a truck to come pass a fellow biker was following the truck down and told me there was no chance of passing as they wouldn't allow it. The trucks didn't have it easy though, some corners were too tight for them so they went down the pass by going forward and reverse instead of turning around the bends, not to mention they weren't exactly coordinated and often there were trucks driving on both directions. Pretty views, though! I decided to go around the mountain via proper roads and get to Maniva, on the other side, and then see if I could get on the pass. The roads up to Maniva ski station were nice tarmac and a pleasure to ride on gay tires, smooth and grippy but a little bumpy. On the way up came upon two kids on serious supermotos so had a little bit of a spirited ride up there chasing them, we got to the ski station and they quickly turned back and raced back down Up in Maniva, the pass was also closed right at the start, which was a shame because it looked really nice. The weather was closing quick, though, so made it down as the GS felt nice with absolutely no luggage but that meant I also didn't have any waterproofs. Went down Bagolino, home of the Bagoss cheese and maybe capital of the 4x4 Panda, and stopped by a grocery store on the way back home. Bought fruit, cheese, ham, pasta, lovely anchovies and tomato, as I was going to cook dinner tonight and the next day, and to prepare for two breakfasts. Back near the lake, the weather was summer like, so Sofia and I went for a walk to buy salt, the only supply I had forgotten. Somehow, the walk to buy salt turned into a big walk and we all went to see a fortress built by Napoleon. I wasn't impressed with all the walking. I had brought some Monogramo Felicetti, which is very nice pasta that had never seen for sale in Portugal, and got to work with dinner and making my fancy puttanesca. The ladies were lovingly watching from a distance sipping on wine. The result was very nice. Anchovies from the Ligurian sea, nice olive oil and amazing pasta along with Bagoss cheese. The cheese is a bit too strong, but had to be tried for being so local.

From Mandello del Lario, we set off not too early not too late, but as is the theme of this trip we quickly came upon a flooded tunnel, had to be diverted up a mountain pass I was avoiding because of construction, and proceeded to stay stuck in traffic going up it. Eventually by almost 11AM we were up at Culmine di San Pietro, which deserved a stop if nothing else but for the name We had a quick espresso stop, and proceeded. Through a gorge and some nice mountain roads we arrived at San Pellegrino. San Pellegrino was a great stop. We came upon a proper food shop, cheeses, hams, wine and beer, etc... My new best friend made me the most amazing sandwich with 24 month prosciutto, cheese and olive oil, which was simply amazing and probably the best sandwich I ever had. Basically a ham and cheese, though Perfect lunch stop, serious shop: Sadly, I was dragged away. I could have contemplated a love affair with an Italian cheese expert and sandwich maker otherwise. We carried on towards lake Idro.. A couple more mountain passes and roads, and Lake Idro awaits in glorious sunshine. Lake Idro is very small compared to all the other big lakes, we settled onto our accommodation for 3 nights in a camping cabin / bungalow. The next day was destined for relaxation and the following for exploring around Lake Garda. First night, we walked up to a nearby little restaurant / pizzeria, and had a lovely budget friendly meal. Barbara won the night by choosing a lovely pasta:

Cheers Bob, but probably easier on those tires going down than up.

Culture day, in Milan. We went to look at a Sunday car meet in center Milan, at the Piazza degli Affari, but got there too late, it was also raining too much for proper attendance as usual there are lots of very nice cars. Arriving at the Pinacoteca di Brera, in the rain. Judas, looking a little compromised there Fortunately, all the rain that had to fall fell on the museum day, and the next day we left Milan under warm glorious weather. Packing up: Heading to the Lake Como, to sleep at Mandello del Lario, but first a stop in the Alfa Romeo museum, @Sofia is a fan. Very nice! : A true GTA: Da fuck!?!? Having been a fan of all the old Italian movies with pursuit scenes, I was very happy to see this, maybe my favourite car of all the museum, at least on par with the race Junior and GTAV. Out of there, after an espresso at the stylish Alfa Romeo bar, and off we went. Rode up to Bellagio, to catch a quick ferry to the other side of the lake. Turns out the ferry people were on strike for a few days, so no ferry until after 5PM. We sat looking at the lake and eating the sandwich we had made in the morning, and looked at the pretty wooden boat taxis zooming back and forward. Bellagio was pretty, but way too much of a tourist trap, mobs of people and all turning up and with nothing to do but wait before going back. It's a very instagram friendly place: We quickly made it to Mandello del Lario by riding around the lake. The idea was to arrive at the Moto Guzzi factory at 3pm, to then get see the museum. Moto Guzzi was a bust. We knew they had the celebrations a few days after and were not taking bookings for the museum visit, but were told by the phone to just rock up and knock on the door. We were turned back, and after much begging and puppy eyes resigned to go to our apartmentl, to freshen up and have a walk around town instead. Mandello del Lario is very charming, the weather was nice, and we made the most of it. It was Barbara's birthday. Dinner was ok, but not as nice as expected, took forever to get served and so far Italian hospitality and service left a lot to be desired. We did enjoy Mandello del Lario, though.

I would spend two days without touching the bike, so woke up lazily after a nice night. Went grocery shopping to the supermarket 100 meters away, and just like that @Sofia and Barbara arrived. They had ridden from Portugal, had a meeting with friends in Salamanca, hopped on the ferry from Barcelona to Genoa, and were to join for the rest of the trip. They were riding two Honda CB750X, Sofia had given the Speed Triple a rest from this trip. We had a pizza, and went on a long walk into town. Tomorrow would be for culture, today just for looking around. The short walk turned into a long one. We were now on the other side of town's centre, and stopped at the Milan MV Agusta dealership before going back "home". I was very lucky to escape with my savings intact. They have an amazing sales woman there, proper motorcycle rider that rides a KX450 supermoto to work, and was happy to give us a tour around even though we were obviously not going to buy anything. She might have passed on a little of the enthusiasm about the brand too, to me, @Sofia doesn´t need any more enthusiam about MV Agusta! We hopped on a bus to go back home, then realized we were going the wrong way and got on a tram. Eventually made it back for showers before meeting my friend Luca, who lives 15 minutes away, for dinner. It was delicious. Next day, it was supposed to be very rainy and was to be taken to look at paintings and culture things.

The next morning I had to wait until the reception was open to check in properly and pay, and I had underestimated how long it would take me to get to Nice proper since Vence. All roads had some sort of construction and traffic was a little much, which delayed things, but at almost 10:00 I was exiting Nice. I love Nice, it would have been a pleasure to hang out around the old part of town having a coffee and people watching, but I was going to Milan via del Via del Sale, and wanted to make it there earlyish. A picture not making Nice justice: The plan was to exit Nice, ride through Monaco and into Italy, and then up to the mountains to then properly enter Italy. I didn't feel like breakfast but could not do without a morning espresso, so stopped at a very touristy viewpoint for one: It was nice to be there for 10 or 15 minutes, but then two busses unloaded a mass of tourists and it turned into this: Second but brought a very familiar noise, Spanish tourists but this time mixed with Japanese ones, and the excitement just became too much, so I carried on The road wasn't inspiring, and there was too much slow traffic, but the views are quite pretty in a James Bond / Monaco sort of way. Monaco was gridlock, I decided to avoid the center and the picture by the marina, instead you have this, with ugly building and construction crane for authenticity. Menton, east of Monaco, a little less pompous and less Bentleys, felt nicer. And just like that, I crossed into Italy, here's looking back at the border in a brief stop to set up navigation. If I had another day, it might have been nice to stay in Ventimiglia and go for a swim in the Mediterranean. Since I didn't have much time, I pointed the GS north and heading to the Col de Tenda, up to near Limone Piemonte, stopped to fuel up and buy a sandwich for the road, and cracked on. The shabby Fiat Panda 100 with part of the back bumper missing took the place of the Monaco luxury cars and announced this was now Italy. I liked it Col di Tenda and it's tunnel were closed, which considering the tone of the trip didn't come as a surprise to me, so went around also via a sort of broken tarmac / gravel road, leading up to near enough the same area, this time stopping for a break and the sandwich as I didn't want to get into off-roading without eating anything before. I don´t know what kind of cheese the Italian lady put inside my sandwich, but it was horrible. Also there was no tomato or olive oil in there, I had been duped The Alps, and my first view of them this trip. The road tires handled the quite dry dirt roads with ease, a little less confidence inspiring than the Mitas I'm used to but nice enough. I had called ahead to ask if the heavy rains they had in the previous days had made the road difficult, the dude at the reception told me I'd be ok, but now, parked next to the Beta he uses to commute to work I questioned myself if his opinion was adequate for myself. Nice snow stuff! Stopped for the red light for a bit, and tried to adjust the handlebars. Partly, the reason this bike feels more relaxed than mine on the motorway is the handlebars turned all the way back. However, for standing up I found them too back and too low, made for a very uncomfortable position after a while. Tried to adjust them but I had placed the quad lock holder slightly in front of the handlebar nuts, and since I had no tool for that I was stuck with it. No worries as it would probably be all downhill anyway. I didn't stop at the most impressive rocky bits because on account of a little over excitement I was now crossing people coming the other way. Did stop by a dude on a very cool Marlboro colored R80 HPN, by the famous rocky switchback, to warn him about the G Class which was a few minutes behind me, and he properly laughed from the top of his Michelin Desert's when he looked at the rubber equipping my GS It was very foggy on the other side of the mountain, so the views suffered, but at least it wasn't muddy. After the most spectacular part of it, it got muddy Obviously pictures don´t do it justice, but it got a little slimey as I got down and into the forrest roads. With proper soil instead of rock dust, the rains had made it a little slippery. Had a few very slow sideways moments, and had no courage to stop and take pictures of that as I felt that since that was a little uphill, I doubted I would have been able to regain motion from a standstill. Mitas Touring Force, aproved! This poor bike: After the muddy 15 or 20km, it was a pleasure to be back on a "road" Stopped at Bagnasco, to cool off, drink and eat something, and figure out a path to Milan. My boots and pants were disgusting now. 17:00, and I wasn't particularly in a hurry since I would have dinner by myself in Milan. I did half the distance in smaller but still adequate for progress roads, and then hopped on the motorway for the last 100 or so km. Made it to Milan at 20:00, and stopped right in front of the apartment where I would stay for the next three nights, right on the restaurant and bar part of town. I liked that on the same day I had come from the Mediterranean, did mountain roads, a little bit of off-road and arrived to a fancy part of a cosmopolitan city. The bike didn't stay in the street, though, as I had reserved the only place in town (within my budget) that came with a garage. I wish I had had my bike with me, it would have made the off-road bits a lot more fun. Stayed inside a classic old school Milan building, quite cool. Bike parked, all showered and laundry thrown in the machine, and off I went for a proper pizza in the Neapolitan restaurant across the street. All to myself, I wandered a little bit to check out the night scene. It's scooter and too-case central here, and I loved how the busiest bars all had tens of them parked in all directions around them. Wanted to take a picture featuring an MV Agusta parked with a helmet relaxedly left on it, but this plonker didn't move out of the way Still early, so stopped in the first place I found with a free chair outside and had a little drink while listening to young people chatting away in Italian. Felt like a @Marcel le Moose Fondler taking pictures of girls without their consent, so ended up with this I quite liked the atmosphere, but most of the people out were quite young. Stopped at another place, but took no pictures as the table in front had three gorgeous women and I thought it not adequate . Milan at night, no fucks given to parking: And, a last lonely wine glass to cool off on a warm night, before finally going to bed.

Woke up to a pleasantly cold but dry morning, put the luggage on the bike and made my way to the breakfast table, I needed a coffee and nothing else after the previous night's excesses. One of the Belgium madames was not having it and with a very stern look and a "non non non, monseur il aurait le petit croissant" put a croissant in front of me, so I had a croissant Left late, and was on the road at maybe 10. The next two hours would be some of the most bucolic simple beauty roads I have ever been on. Little traffic, perfect tarmac, blue skies replacing clouds, and green views. I left Lourdes heading east. And the Pyrenees behind me: Half an hour to 45 minutes into it, I stopped to look at a pretty castle, Chateau de Mauvezin. I didn't bother to go in as I wanted to make some progress today, while still spending the morning and some of the afternoon riding on small roads. Couldn't get more French than this. Stopped at Quillan to buy some water, and to see if there was a coffee to be had, but I think this is currently a sad town. Following the hint from @Tango in one of his ride reports, I was headed to the Gorges de Galamus, first riding on some main roads, quite wide to get there. They were quite the biker destination as several bikes were racing back and forth on the same bit of road. I took the hind and didn't pay much attention to speed limits either. Stopped to buy lunch, a peach and a few nuts, from a roadside vendor. Made some progress on a more or less open road And eventually rode through the Gorges de Galamus, the road is just lovely if just a little distance, but it was packed with hikers. Still interesting and I did enjoy it. Having approached the Mediterranean, the bad weather was definitely behind me and it was now hot. I stopped for a late lunch on the shade of a tree, had my peach and nuts, and decided on what to do next. It was now almost 16:00 and I still had some way to go before Carcassone, my stay for the next day would be in Milan. I could split it in two average journeys, or decide to do two proper days with a little bit of epic in between. I chose the second option as this was a biking holiday and I didn't feel like hanging around. Since @Tango knew I was riding near his home he had packed his things and ran away with the wife, far away where I couldn´t have a chance of meeting them, so I pointed the bike to Nice and hopped on a motorway, rode for a few hours with nothing but a stop to fuel and arrange accommodation, the 28º/29º warmth was welcomed after the previous two days weather. I made it to Vence, on the outskirts of Nice, by almost 22:00. Restaurants were closed so before I checked into one of the cheapest options in the area, I had a nice street pizza. For something made in the back of a truck, it turned out very nice. The hotel was old and seemed like a moroccan hotel of the kind that hasn't seen maintenance in 30 years, but the lady at the reception desk was lovely and had reserved me a little corner of the secure parking. Was a little tired, so after a shower I slept nicely with the window open.

You went back, bought the van and have already moved in?

Didn't pop in for his birthday, that's very rock and roll!

Made it to Ericeira yesterday, dropped the bikes and drove the last 300 home to Sofia's. Long day as we rode through a VERY smokey and uncomfortable northern Portugal, riddled with fires all around. Will catch up with work and things today, might start to work on continuing the ride report too. I've fallen behind and now there's too many pictures and things Also now seriously considering getting a stable partner to my GS.

He's keeping it nice and pristine underneath!

Oooh, a T5, will you then tour Portugal and clog all the mountain roads when stopping to look for the best Instagram #vanlife scenic location? It's the thing to do, apparently.

Now in the Pyrenees, travelling back. Bilbao tomorrow, for culture.

I might submit it anyway. But then I won’t be able to accept it

Next day, I woke up with the certainty of having a very rainy day ahead of me. I intend to ride out of the hotel already with rain suits on, since my "main wear" for this trip consist of jeans and a very summery jacket, enjoy a b-road to Pau and then hop on the motorway and cover as much ground as comfortable before stopping for dinner and sleep, this is my plan drawn in resignation to suffer rain storms in a motorway for the majority of a day. Reality didn't go like that, I did get the rain, and in fact put the luggage on the bike, and exited the hotel all waterproofed only to need to access my gloves in one of the sidecases to then remember the bike's key in my jeans. I hate these keys, since you don't need them to operate the bike they end up wherever and never at hand when you need them. After all the carfuffle I am now sweating, so come back in from the rain to take my sweater off. Most other people in that place are hikers, they agreed that rain and warmth is the worst! I ride off, taking very tiny roads, after a short while I spot this place just right for an espresso with shelter from the rain. I walk in, and stand in front of the counter while the girl is very busy talking to someone, then she's very busy answering the phone, then she runs past, completely ignoring me and the other people now in line. I step outside and take a free seat while contemplating the rain. This was the first taste of french hospitality, they're known for it but since this is Basque Country I thought it would be different: A few minutes later, waterproofs back on, and I head out. Finally the girls in line behind me are getting served, could have taken 10 espressos in that time. I head into the hills and following my phone's guidance through very small roads I start enjoying myself, so much so that when the phone goes quiet I continue from intuition. Roads are really small, very muddy and with lots of animal waste from herds of cows and sheep that are grazed here. After maybe 30 or 45 minutes the rain stops briefly and I take the picture above while finally going for my phone safely tucked inside my jacket, turns out I'm almost back where I started! No worries, I had the feeling that's what was happening, and carried on the right way. I climb a little, and stop to admire the views, nice fog! There's fog and muddy roads, those are horses in the distance down in the valley: I've never had tires as good in the rain as these. These are Mitas Touring Force, granted the name can take some improving but on wet greasy muddy tarmac, they're great. If there's no tarmac they're not so great, but that's fair enough. In the next three pictures, if you zoom in you'll see vultures. They're just standing there with their wings open, I don't know what they were doing but that was it as watched from the outside. I shouted, they flew 50 meters and did the same thing. More horses: There are a lot of tiny ponies roaming around, but I never stopped for pictures because they were too near the road and didn't seem to like my presence, and it was just raining too much and I tried to keep the inside of my gloves dry. Up high, clouds were moving fast: Filthy bike: And as quickly as that, the clouds roll in again, same spot: Now almost 2PM and I feel a little peckish, so stop to both figure out where to get something to eat and where to head after. I stop when it stops raining, and it happens to be in the middle of an amazing forrest. Really a very cool place: I give up on finding a cafe, and go to a supermarket, buy a bread and some cheese, and make a sandwich: Someone cut a tree down in the picnic area, it's growing back again: By now I'm enjoying this too much and to hell with the motorway, so decide to follow the Pyrenees a while more, stopping near Laruns to check where I'm going: Where I was heading was through the Col D'Aubisque and the Col de Soulor, very cool roads eve if it was pouring down, again I was amazed how good these tires were on a bike with softer suspension than mine, I don't think I could have had a more confidence inspiring combination. Up at the top, stopped for a coffee and to decide on accommodation for the night, in the direction of France proper but not too far away as the rain was loosing it's charm: Local cheeses in this whole area are amazing, I almost felt tempted to contaminate a whole sidecase in order to buy some. The smell would have lingered in whatever was sharing luggage space for ages I found this small place near Lourdes, about 45 minutes away, and off I went. It was a nice surprise, nobody spoke english but my broken french made up for it. I fool people into thinking I know french, this lasts 10 seconds, then the momentum carries me through the rest of the conversation One of their "guard dogs" doesn't know he's a guard dog yet, and quickly turned into a play mate, a game of fetch ensued and after a while he was broken and ready for a nap at his owners' door: They knew the way to my heart and the madame of the house told me to help myself to beer on the fridge, (or tea if I preferred ) , her husband was cooking and I was to join the two couples they had as guests and themselves for dinner. After a day of wearing rain stuff it felt good to be having a beer outside in a tshirt. The other dog wasn't a friend of mine, though: The gentleman waving in the picture below is quite a character, he is a belgium who used to race (as an amateur, I think), Sidecar Motocross, and has an old Maico 250cc at home (non sidecar). I didn't ask what color it was, though, so he might be a deviant and have a blue Maico He and his wife have been married for 58 years, which is amazing not only on the number of years but also because none of them look to be old enough, I enjoyed their company as both had a great sense of humor and were a joy to be around. I was not, though, prepared to the amount of food. I misunderstood and thought we were going to have a few tapas or a few platters of stuff, so when the guy filled the table (table, I thought was platter as in board) with all sorts of entrees I assumed that was dinner, it was enough for everyone. But no, after I was full came the soup, which was delicious, then the duck magret with a type of patatas bravas, then the cheese, and then dessert when I was about to pass out. I couldn't say no to dessert as Marie, the owners' daughter had made it. She's working as a pastry chef. I had never over eaten so much in my life. I went for a stroll and then retired to bed feeling like I was going pass out. I had heard of the French and their dinners, but had never been in one. Good thing I had work to do as that helped me digest a little while sitting up and working on the laptop. The next day would be a long one.

This is going to be a picture intensive thread, if I ever get to finish it. I planned on doing teo installments tonight but am still out in the street as it’s too nice to go to bed. It’s just the right temperature for cold drinks!

I do too! The moroccans do sardine meatballs, obviously with herbs and a couple of spices. You can’t do that with the tinned ones, but it’s really yummy.

No luck to him, i want to watch a youtube video of him squirming while striking a pose in his chinos.

I’m wandering from bar to bar in Milan. It’s so comfy outside! In a tshirt and it feels like you’re at home.

Do you get fresh sardines there, Bob? Frozen are still good, just wondering

Did you see the twat has bought a Wrangler, Saul? I do love to hate him, and he makes it easy.

Passo della Tenda is closed, I found today as I was going up that to the start of the Via del Sale. I went the long way around also via sort of gravel, but easier. Called the guy in the entry office and asked … I’ll leave it for the proper report, it’s funny