Motorbiking
"Biker" for me usually means motorbiking, though I also have a couple of mountain-bikes... see Trail Bike
My current motorbikes are a Honda CBR600RR ABS 2017 and a Kawasaki Ninja Z250SL.
Previously I have owned: Kawasaki ZX4-RR (Ninja anniversary edition), Honda CRF300 Rally, Honda CBR600RR 2005, Honda CBR600FW, Honda VF750F, Yamaha FJ600, Suzuki GSX750EX, Yamaha FJ750, Yamaha XJ900, Kawasaki Z750 and I passed my riding test on my Kawasaki KH250.
See also my Motorbiking web links
The beach at the lido was filling up as the tourists emerged, meanwhile replacement tyres were being fitted to my hired Z1000SX at a chic and friendly Honda dealer in the centre of Riva del Garda - the local Kawasaki dealer has gone on holiday! Tyres sorted, I’ve taken to the local hills and limestone cliffs to scrub in the new Dunlops. This is not the South Downs, nor even Provence so a quiet day is relative and my lunchtime stop was amongst the butterflies in the cool of the forest at just over 1000 m. altitude.
Passo Manghen (2047 m.) turned out to be one of the most challenging mountain passes I’ve ridden in quite a while. The route up from Castello Molina di Fiume rides steeply through a forest of tall pine trees. The road is narrow and the hairpins tight. The south road is more open but still steep and scary.
On to Passo Broncon (1616 m.), disappointing scenically but some fantastic riding. A route to keep the rider guessing: no stacks but number of 270° hairpins amongst a challenging variety of curves.
Read more: Passo Manghen 2047 m. - Passo Brocon 1616 m. - Passo di Sommo 1341 m.
My ride to Riva del Garda, the town at the head of Lake Garda, started in Cuneo in Piedmonte. Breakfast in the loggia of the hotel looking over to the Alpi Maritimi, clear above the morning mist in the Po valley. Then another long hot bash across the plain, passing towns whose names I see more usually on wine lists: Alba, Asti and Mondovi, etc.
The Col de Tende links Nice with Piedmonte, following the rocky gorge of the river Roya; a route familiar to the Romans but a new route for me. The head of the valley is a famous tunnel. Opened in 1882, it’s 3.2 km long and running between 1321 m. on the French side and 1280 m. altitude on the Italian side. You miss the scenery so after passing through the tunnel I doubled back up the hairpins of the Roman route, past the modern ski resort at 1400m. to the pass at 1870 m. It’s a natural boundary: the topography changes at the col from the deep gorges and ravines of the Mediterranean side to gradual opening out, almost like a fan, to the plain of the river Po.
Z1000SX 2017 taken charge of... checkout ride around Marseille.... ready to roll to Austria for GLME Summercamp 2017.
That's the statue of Davide at Pointe Rouge, Marseille beach.
Not sure about the Kawasaki paniers, as I'm thinking now, they'll stay in Marseille and I'll use a tail bag as I usually do. I can't get that much in them and they're a liability for filtering in traffic.
GLME 2017
- Colle di Tenda -1871 m.
- Riva del Garda
- Passo Manghen 2047 m. - Passo Brocon 1616 m. - Passo di Sommo 1341 m.
- Lago di Garda
Subcategories
Alps Biker 2016
I'm riding light for a week on the mountain roads of the Alps. No laptop, although I do have my SLR camera but photos will have to wait till I'm back in Marseille..
I left Marseille for a long ride north via the Col de la Croix Haute (1179 m.) to Saint-Gervais under Mont Blanc. A bit of rain towards the end of the day which cleaned the Provence dust off my white leathers and boots but didn't soak me through.
