4200 km in 20 days

[Jo]

As already mentioned earlier here, it was my goal to put my 1974 3c in a condition suitable for long-distance trips. Last autumn I did the Pyrenees, now said 4200km in 20 days were on the plan. But first things first ...



On the Ascension Day weekend, I took the old iron to a Laverda meeting of the LCO (Laverda Connection Oberpfalz), which covered a good 1100 km:

After Pentecost it was supposed to go on a 10-day tour to the Alps with two other friends. Start in the Bay of Cologne in the direction of the Carnic Alps, then via Friuli and Julisch Ventien to Trentino and the same further north on unused routes back again.

The route was planned via Ansbach, Salzburg, Venzone, Follina, Breganze to Trento. There we wanted to spent two days and visit Monte Bondone, Monte Baldo and some other beautiful places. It should then go back to the Rhineland via Agordo, Ovaro, Großglockner, Gerlos and Kiefersfelden.

Unfortunately, the three of us couldn't start as planned, Bernd, my friend with his BMW R100 "Rüthing Special" was caught by Corona shortly before and was out! Half of the tour was designed in such a way that we wanted to do the tour we did together in September 2017 that had fallen into the water (and snow) again under better conditions. Well, no other chance, only two starters in the grid .


Anyone who knows me knows, that for me it doesn't work without pictures ...



Day 2 - Rossfeld mountain road:

Day 3

The third day started in the pouring rain south of Salzburg. It was still raining in Radstadt, but not as heavily:

We were lucky that around noon, just before the Nockalm Road, the rain stopped. After I wasn't able to enjoy this part of the rainy (and snowy) tour with Bernd in 2017 quite as relaxed, this time the conditions were much better because the road here was partly already dry.

Nockalmroad



On the third day of driving we took up quarters in a nice agritourismo in Venzone:

Good night John Boy


To be contd.

 

[The Sock]

Can't wait, Jo.

 

[chrisk]

Good night John Boy


To be contd.

Good night Laura

 

[Jo]

Day 4

From Venzone we headed south via Sella Chianzutàn and west again towards Forcella di Pala Barzana. Unfortunately, the road behind Poffabro was closed, so we had to drive down boring roads and tunnels from the plateau and up again to get back to our originally planned route at Lago di Barcis.

In the Piancavallo area we'd to cope with very small, narrow streets with a lot of grit and sand, narrow bends with poor visibility, you could hardly get into 2nd gear. But you got something in return. Our plan was to go down and up the southern edge of the Alps several times:

Piancavallo


After the spot shown above, the road was closed again, but this time we drove on. After a short stretch, it finally seemed to be over. A gang of three workers with various road construction machines, including one who milled a 30cm wide channel in the road, a dump truck and an excavator at work, we knew we couldn't get past this.

However, the driver of the dump truck motioned for us to come closer. So we rolled towards the back of the excavator (the driver hadn't seen us yet). When he saw us, he maneuvered his vehicle over the excavation of the channel cutter to the right, so that there was a appr. 50cm wide alley for us to pass.

In Germany, the foreman would have snaped at us whether we couldn't read (and follow) signs. But this is how they reacted here. When I passed the driver of the excavator, I briefly shouted "Salve" and "Grazie" into his cab. This is Italy as I love it!


It continued down into the valley and then back onto the high plateau of the Nevegal near Belluno:

Nevegal



From there over the Passo San Boldo down to Follina, where our fourth day of riding ended.

Follina (east of Valdobbiadene)




Day 5

On day 5 we started towards Valdobbiadene, the famous Prosecco area. Village after village is lined up there, but so pretty and lovely that it didn't bother us at all to trundle for the first half hour at only 50 km/h.

After crossing the Piave, we started the ascent to the Monte Grappa high plateau.

Small streets, which would be considered tarred dirt roads in our country, have official status here as "Strada Provinciale" (pic already shown):

Once at the top you are in a different world. We took a short break in the rustic Trattoria Da Miet, only to face another road block afterwards. After a brief consultation with a few racing cyclists, we ignored the closure this time as well.

The descent from the high plateau didn't seem to want to end, after countless hairpin bends we finally reached Bassano del Grappa.


As befitting our position, we took the next break on the piazza in Breganze, where my Laverda immediately felt at home again. In the Caffé Centrale the same lady did service as on my last visit to the 70th Laverda anniversary three years ago.

From Breganze we went up to the plateau of the seven communes via the hamlet of Laverda, past one of my favorite spots, the Campanile di Piazza Campana:

Then via Asiago to the Kaiserjägerstreet, 30km of epic tarmac, all in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear, this stretch would make for a brilliant qualifying session. If they'd set up controls up there, they would have made a nice sum that day!

A last stop at the Belvedere to enjoy the view of Lago di Caldonazzo (left) and Lago di Levico:

Then to this day's destination, our accommodation in Trento, where we planned to spend two nights.



To be cont'd ...

 

[Beucars]

Epic ride, love it! Most people do 20 km in 4200 days...

 

[rowdypat]

Fabulous Jo

 

[mauricejota7604]

Oh wow that's what its all about !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Vince]

It puts a quick spin up The Old Rd into perspective, an amazing ride.

 

[Paul Marx]

Lovely ride.
I plan, God willing, to ride down there in a years time. But on a 750, more suited to riding small roads.

Paul

 

[T.C]

That is beautiful Jo, very lucky indeed.
Living the dream

 

[ozijotati]

Awesome work Jolike TC said living the dream

 

[Jo]

Day 4

From there over the Passo San Boldo down to Follina, where our fourth day of riding ended.

Passo San Boldo isn't very attractive from a driver's point of view (the hairpin bends are in tunnels and the one-way traffic is controlled by traffic lights). But because it is a very unusual construction that makes you wonder why on earth was it built? Well, as is so often the case, the military was behind this. Austria/Hungary and Italy fought each other here in WW1. There is a Wikipedia page that describes all of this well:
Passo San Boldo

 

[Paul Marx]

Passo San Boldo isn't very attractive from a driver's point of view (the hairpin bends are in tunnels and the one-way traffic is controlled by traffic lights). But because it is a very unusual construction that makes you wonder why on earth was it built? Well, as is so often the case, the military is behind this. Austria/Hungary and Italy fought each other here in WW1. There is a Wikipedia page that describes all of this well:
Passo San Boldo

It was built very rapidly by the Italians to get men and materials up there to counter the Austro-german alliance.

Paul

 

[Jo]

Thanks to all!



Day 6

Originally, we thought about relaxing the day in Trento, but then we decided to do a smaller tour of Monte Bondone and Monte Baldo.

The route from Trento to Monte Bondone via Norge or Vason, also known as a mountain racetrack, is quite a stunner. The serpentines can mostly be taken in 2nd gear, which makes driving a lot smoother.

When approaching the Monte Baldo we came through this small village - here I lit a candle for the god of speed:

I'll report whether it's of any use ...




After the said village we passed this place:

Some route layouts can hardly be designed better:

We stopped for a break at the Rifugio Bocca di Navene:

It lies on a ridge, east of Lake Garda, west of the Adige Valley. I was here for the first time in 2008 and again later with my family - simply a beautiful place.

We left the Monte Baldo massif at Avio and turned north again towards Rovereto. East of Rovereto lies the fascinating hermitage of San Colombano:

Then continue via Serrada in the direction of Lago di Caldonazzo. On a downhill serpentine stretch before Calceranica al Lago, I noticed that the clutch cable felt “soft” when shifting down. The cable had given up the ghost:

Thankfully I'd a spare cable with me, so the whole thing was done in half an hour:

To be cont'd

 

[Paul Marx]

Thanks to all!



Day 6

Originally, we thought about relaxing the day in Trento, but then we decided to do a smaller tour of Monte Bondone and Monte Baldo.

The route from Trento to Monte Bondone via Norge or Vason, also known as a mountain racetrack, is quite a stunner. The serpentines can mostly be taken in 2nd gear, which makes driving a lot smoother.

When approaching the Monte Baldo we came through this small village - here I lit a candle for the god of speed:

I'll report whether it's of any use ...




After the said village we passed this place:

Some route layouts can hardly be designed better:

We stopped for a break at the Rifugio Bocca di Navene:

It lies on a ridge, west of Lake Garda, east of the Adige Valley. I was here for the first time in 2008 and again later with my family - simply a beautiful place.

We left the Monte Baldo massif at Avio and turned north again towards Rovereto. East of Rovereto lies the fascinating hermitage of San Colombano:

Then continue via Serrada in the direction of Lago di Caldonazzo. On a downhill serpentine stretch before Calceranica al Lago, I noticed that the clutch cable felt “soft” when shifting down. The cable had given up the ghost:

Thankfully I'd a spare cable with me, so the whole thing was done in half an hour:

To be cont'd

I always fix a spare cable, fully lubed, onto the one that's in service. Saves taking the tank off. Since I've been doing that, I haven't broken a cable.
The DAM kit also saves getting your fingers dirty and hands burnt on a hot engine. A 10 minute job.

Paul

 

[Tippie]

What a fantastic inspiration, I am sure many of us get very itchy reading this, and your pics....wow! Northern Italy really is one of the best motorcycling places. Thanks Jo.

 

[pf1]

I love a dirty old 3C covered in touring muck.

 

[Jo]

I always fix a spare cable, fully lubed, onto the one that's in service. Saves taking the tank off. Since I've been doing that, I haven't broken a cable.
The DAM kit also saves getting your fingers dirty and hands burnt on a hot engine. A 10 minute job.

Paul

That's a way I thought about also Paul - rather than having the spare cable in my luggage anyway it could also be already in situ as you describe.

What a fantastic inspiration, I am sure many of us get very itchy reading this, and your pics....wow! Northern Italy really is one of the best motorcycling places. Thanks Jo.

Thanks Lee, much appreciated!

I love a dirty old 3C covered in touring muck.

Dirty she still is indeed - picture to follow later ...

 

[Jo]

Day 7

From Trento, which was our southwest turning point, we chose the route back via Redebus, Valles, Duran, Cibiana and Ciampigotto. Destination on that day was planned to be Ovaro.


I've always liked Agordo, also this time we stopped here for a short break:

The sky over the Duran is still blue, but something is brewing in the east:

Serpentine at the Sella Ciampigotto:

Not far from there a rustical mountain spring:

We had to put on our rain gear for the last hour, but hey, that had only happened once on this long tour before - so nothing to worry about.



Not only in Pisa there is a leaning tower, but also the Campanile in Prato Carnico:

When we arrived at the destination hotel in Ovaro, we were a bit perplexed though because there wasn't a soul around. Upon closer inspection we found a handwritten note on the reception desk with names and keys. However, what was worse, the restaurant was closed as well. That was surprising as we had explicitly ordered a table in the restaurant when booking, which had been confirmed.

Now I'm probably not the only one who feels a certain reluctance after the shower to start again, especially when it's raining (and when it's beer time).

Our luxury problem was exacerbated because many other restaurants in the area were also closed on Mondays. We then found a pizzeria on the route to the Zoncolan, whose kitchen turned out to also be closed when we arrived, but whose landlord agreed to prepare a reasonable portion of pasta for us. I thought that was so great that I asked him his name - it was Christian. I made it clear to him that his name would be “Salvatore” in addition for us. Christian also sold us some of his good house white wine, which we then took to our deserted hotel and let the evening end there.

To be cont'd

 

[Jo]

Day 8

On to day eight of riding we started with the Monte Zoncolan, the mountain on our doorstep. Here the west side is quite narrow, the view from the top is magnificent and the better developed route on the east side was quite fast.

Then we went over the Plöcken again, which we already knew from the way there (due to the closure of the Nassfeld Pass), in the direction of the Großglockner.


The Großglockner is very impressive, without a doubt. They charge 28€ for it, but more disruptive we found it completely overcrowded. Perhaps this was due to the rather quiet and low-traffic areas we'd visited in the previous days. In any case, we didn't stay long and made sure we got on.

A little side note:
When I got back to my Laverda after taking some pics, there was a group of other motorcyclists with a self-proclaimed expert leading the way.
Expert: Laverda triples were well known for the fact that the middle cylinder would always overheat, the colour of my headers would confirm that.
I replied that I'd bought these headers used and that they came already whith this color.
Expert: And after starting, one cylinder after the other would always start working deferred.
I'd to disagree again, mine runs immediately on all three cylinders. After don't being right two times in a row, he walked away grumpily...



These stunning curves are still waiting for us:

From the Grossglockner we wanted to go to Kufstein/Kiefersfelden via the Gerlos. If you take the route over the Krimml waterfalls at Gerlos, you will have to pay another toll of €7.50 again. The Austrians already know how to do it ...

Otherwise, this day also had bridging passages that dragged on, but there were always some that were very appealing to drive. When you finally got past the Postbus and the queue of cars behind it ...

Shortly before Kiefersfelden, my speedometer stopped counting, but the speed continued to be displayed.

At the next destination hotel we had two shandys on the table right after arrival - we just managed to get our helmets off!


To be cont'd