Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day 15 - L'Aquila, Italy to Florence, Italy
Its the last day of riding for Slash and Viper today and we have to get the bikes back to the depot in Prato by 16:00. There's just 278 miles between us and our goal and its autostrada most of the way.
Its starts off a little chilly but soon warms up to the low 20's. We get some good miles done early on and the Satnav is telling us we should get to our destination with a couple of hours to spare. With this in mind we take a leisurely coffee break after we've ridden round the services a couple of times and Slash gives us a little pirouette for good measure.there's a small critiquing session around the relative merits of everyone's bike and I think honours are even ( Triumph just edging it slightly on exclusivity and cool factor )
More motorway miles follow with lunatic Italian drivers and we even see the results of some of their folly when we pass a lorry accident on the other carriageway. There were some cows involved but were not entirely sure how. About 20 miles outside of Florence it starts to rain and we have to stop for wet weather gear. The next 30 mins is some of the worst weather ever encountered. The heavens open up with forked lightning and torrential rain. There is another accident and we have to pull off to take shelter as visibility gets so low and it is just too dangerous.
Back on the road its time to exit the autostrada and pay the toll. We've had a good system for tolls through the 7 countries so far but the Italian one is automated and not very bike friendly. On this occasion there are a couple of cars in front of us and one is having difficulty paying. The next thing we know, the barrier behind us comes down with an alarm going off. Except that Warrior isn't quite all the way in and the barrier comes down towards his handle bars. He frantically tries to prevent this like a Titan holding up the gates of hell. We eventually extract him from his predicament but never see the barrier move again. We're charged 30 Euros each for the pleasure of using the autostrada for the last 200 miles and head off to find the depot. By now our arrival time before 16:00 is looking touch and go! After a little more automated barrier wrangling from Hawk to get us into the industrial estate we arrive with about 12 mins to spare - easy! Slash has a bit of a moment as his bike transitions from rough wet concrete to wet highly polished warehouse floor. The BMW boys park outside as they still have over 1000 miles to go. Then a frantic hour spent unscrewing, unbolting, unpacking, repacking and finally bidding an emotional farewell to our trusty steeds and Hawk and Warrior. A manky old apple had done the journey with us all the way from Istanbul. Hawk took charge of it and promised to take it all the way home, well what's left of it. A phone call and a frenetic taxi ride later and we we're standing in the foyer of a small hotel where we are told they'd made a c*** up and there was no room. After a bit of Slash moaning they gave us use of a computer and 20 Euros for our troubles. Hotel 2 worked out apart from not being able to use the shower until after 9pm as it had only just been grouted. So we scuttled off to find a bar to spend our 20e .Nothing tastes so good as a free beer.
The rest of the evening comprises of pizza, beer and a jolly walk along the river to the Ponte Vecchio. We get talking to a couple from Nottingham who are very enthusiastic about architecture and get back to the hotel for 3:30 where we have to disturb the night porter to let us in. He tells us we're the last ones out so we are the champions!
We believe Hawk and Warrior to be somewhere near Genoa for the night washing their pants.
- comments