Oh, boy, how good it feels to be back on the road, specially on roads like the ones we are riding here. I’m writing this post one day after everything happened, but yesterday was such a complete day, I didn’t have time to do it.

Let’s start from the beginning. Yesterday was an early rise, because we were doing what we call here a Monster Ride. A long, long day on the road. So the alarm sounded at 05:45, got everything ready, had a shower, put the luggage on the truck, had breakfast, and back on the bike, ready to leave at 07:00.

We left Bolzano in one big group and soon started to climb to first highlight of the journey: “Passo Rolle”, at 1.984 mts. An amazing starter. It’s a beautiful road that climbs to the top of the mountains, so you are riding among pines and big trees, smelling the wood, and feeling the morning breeze. Really nice. On top of the mountain is a ski resort, a cafeteria and a hotel. So we had a real italian coffee on top of the mountain, overlooking the valley. An amazing experience, believe me. After the coffee break, we split the big group in the usual three groups, and off we went. What a difference 5 cms can make (and I’m talking about my bike !!). The FatBoy feels completely different with the new suspension. Is much higher, and now I can go way faster in the turns, with no fear of any part of the bike touching the ground. So we went down the mountain pass on the other side, enjoying turn after turn, and kept going direction Bassana del Grappa and San Giorgio in Bosco,where we stopped for lunch. Pasta, obviously.

After lunch we had a boring stage of 100 kms on the motorway, but it was well worth it because that way we had have time to enjoy a road that is now directly on my top 25 roads. I’m sure that the person who draw the road between Bologna and Firenze is a biker who lives nearby, and decided to create his own playground. Is either this or he is Valentino Rossi’s grandfather. It’s the P65, and is a road that you have to ride before you die. It takes you into Tuscany, a really nice area, and the road goes zigzaging all the way to Firenze. Nice smooth curves that you can normally take without touching the brakes, just playing with the gears and moving your bike one side to the other in a joyful dance….What a road !! And you get 100 kms of that dance…

But even the best things have to finish eventually, so we went into Firenze. Have you ever imagined how could be driving at hell? Don’t have to. Just come to an italian city and you’ll experience it. Damn !! Cars and “motorinos” everywhere, going on every direction with no aparent order. It took us a while to get to the hotel (we missed one turn of the route on the GPS, and that forced us to go downtown…hell in earth !!). By the time we got to the hotel it was almost 19:00….and a bus was coming to the hotel to pick us up at 19:30 to take us to Firenze’s HD dealer, because they have organized us a party. Tough life a biker’s life….

So, we had a quick shower, and off we went again !! Italians might not be the best drivers of the world, but they do know how to party !! The Chianti Chapter, and the Firenze Chapter were there for us. The dealer was open, so people can buy T-shirts (something handy after 3 weeks on the road…), and they had a big BBQ going on. Tons of food, and even more liquids….. We had a never ending supply of wine and beer, and a bit later they started with shoots of rum and peach….man, that thing can kill anyone !! And they were drinking it as if there were no tomorrow….Obviously that deadly combination (chapters, food, alcohol, Harleys…) led to the typical burnouts, pipes breaking the silence of the night and all that standard late night stunts you can think of. It was a crazy party, and we had REAL fun !!!!!

Fortunatly, the day after was a day off, so people can rest and recovered from the excesses…

Take care out there, my friends

See you on the road !!