A story of Steve

[Deleted Member I]

So this was the plan.

Meet the gang in Dover and we were going to do Italy for 10 days. Something about football.

Here's the gang.

There was the ride captain

There was Steve

Stevo

Stevie

Stephen

Stefan

Esteban

Stefano

Steffen

Stiofáin

Stepanie(s)

AM I Steve?

Oh .. then there was Bryn

Charlie and Ewan came too!

So that was the gang.

 

[Deleted Member I]

Day 1 - Dover, England to Nancy, France

With the bikes strapped to the ferry, we headed into the lounge and started to suss each other out. The ride captain gave out our uniform for the trip and told us about the 10 days ahead. I felt good .. surely these guys won't leave ... little did I know

The ride to Nancy was pretty straightforward and we arrived in good time at our lovely accommodation.

 

[Deleted Member I]

Day 2 - Nancy to Lake Como

It was raining .. I heard about people that ride their motorcycles in the rain, I never thought I would have to do it. I was told it's fun so I got packed and was on my way.

First "adventure". Signs says closed .. actually it said something in French and I guessed it said closed. But I am that half full kinda guy (or should that be half empty... I never took the course )

Stiofáin got impatient and said he was going to kick the bloody tunnel open ... I think he was just going round the back to take a pee

As it turns out the tunnel was open and something else was shut
So we made it over to Switzerland ... but not before we had a briefing from our road captains

There was something about we shouldn't ride in a group and making sure the distance between you and the bike in front was from over here to over there. The only measurement I know is the length of my penis .. and from where they were pointing .. .that's a lot of penises

So just to be sure I made sure I kept a distance that meant I couldn't even see the other riders. That must be safe

So on we went .. next stop was to pick up some Stoli Vodka at the Swiss border. I wasn't sure why we would want to buy Vodka just before the french border .. I tagged along .. nothing to lose, I was on holiday.

We picked up the vodka and we were off again .. next stop ... to pick up some porn

Stevo seems happy

I think this is going to be an "interesting" holiday


So on we went into Italy for our first night by the lovely Lake Como.

Not too shabby!

 

[Deleted Member I]

Day 3 - Lake Como to Pisa

Oh dear .. this is where it all goes wrong.

I thought it was only those B**tards on the GO DO ONE tours that would do that to me

I wake up early in the morning to come down for breakfast ... what do I see ... Steve/Stevie/Stefan all making a break for it.

And then they were all gone ... b****** left me

 

[Deleted Member I]

What do you do when the Gang leaves ... you get out your magic GPS and you hitch a plan

well .. actually I went back to bed

Some sights on that lovely rainy day

 

[Deleted Member I]

So off I went to discover Pisa. Not before riding some really nice country roads and hitting this feature.

My magic GPS did its thing and I manage to catch up to the group at the snack stop.

They were all ready to go .. and I was all ready for a snack
This is a holiday .. NOT A RACE!

As I was sitting eating my ham and cheese (why is it I am always having ham and cheese sandwiches on holiday ) the heavens opened again. I thought I wait til the shower passes ... it was a long wait

Finally caught them up in the mountains. They had slowed down to eat, someone was making an omelette .. maybe it was a ham and cheese one

This gang was sneeky. The word got out that I had caught them.

and then they were gone

BUT I caught up with them at the campsite.

Stevo, Stephanie, Stiofáin had already got the beers in ..

So were Stephanie and Stephanie

So I had a quick shower and it was off to see the tower. As they say .. when you are a tourist, you MUST do the most corny thing you can imagine

Saving the leaning tower must be one of the best!

Ahhh ... happy gang all together again (or should that be .. they can't leave me that easily )

 

[STUBBS]

a great read so far get typing your not a novice anymore

 

[blobbs]

Thats the strangest looking ticket I've ever seen

 

[Stevo]

Thinking up 'The Story of Steve'

The Dali Lama - deep in concentration.

 

[Bryn]

Nice write up Tom

Well worth the promotion from Novice to Intermediate ...keep it going and we may have to consider another climb up the ranks

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

Have you got tips in Trip write ups from Waldin and Steppers

Nice going so far Tom

Did them boyz not know you were proper hardcore and it was you they should have been listening too....

you should have shown them your trip stickers and told the plonkers to Do One

 

[Deleted Member I]

Have you got tips in Trip write ups from Waldin and Steppers

Nice going so far Tom

Did them boyz not know you were proper hardcore and it was you they should have been listening too....

you should have shown them your trip stickers and told the plonkers to Do One

Hold your fire! ... not got to the day I "almost" shite my pants

Still very much a Novice

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

Hold your fire! ... not got to the day I "almost" shite my pants

Still very much a Novice

What happened did they make you wear a Safety vest?

 

[Deleted Member I]

What happened did they make you wear a Safety vest?

That was a high quality safety vest!

BUT I think there will be a lot of angry Italian motorists looking for a Mr. Bellis

 

[Deleted Member I]

So what day is now?

Well after a night in downtown Pisa watching some fireworks .. it was time to move the main attraction .. ROME!

The ride must have been really good .. I don't have any recollection of it. I remember being left behind at Pisa but arriving in ROME first ( ... ok Bryn ... if not for that stupid turnoff .. I would have been first )

So instead here are some photos of my Christian pilgrimage.


There was the old cinema where the great Stefano would battle to the death ..

You can tell Italian economy is not doing so well ... the floor of the whole cinema had been nicked

And it seem Rome is a refugee camp as well ...

Or was that Ken's tent?

Even Stevo was disappointed ..

There were Churches ..

and more churches ..

and I was told this was quite important
not sure what's all the fuss about ...

I think we were all churched out .. so we did what we did best .. eat and drink

oh ... another nice tourist pic .. can you tell where?

 

[Deleted Member I]

So another day .. another ride ...

Rome to Rimini

Having been leaving late everyday .. I decided I needed to change and not be left behind. So I got up nice and early and set off from Rome to catch up with the rest of the crew .. HA! They can't leave me behind now

After riding out of Rome .. I still couldn't catch them .. where were they?

Further and further I go .. and still I couldn't catch them

So I decided to head to Rossi's cafe for lunch ...

Then as I head into Rimini .. I found them ... already settled in and eating

So I checked into my room, which DIDN'T have a balcony

The accommodation seem familiar but I am not sure why?

I then went to find the rest of them ... and it seems they ended up in a refugee camp!?

But it didn't seem to bother them

We then did what we do best again ..

Everyone was paying deep attention to our ride captain .. there was something about how they would make their quick escape tomorrow.

The talk took a while .. even the sun went home ...

Stevo and Stefan weren't quite sure they were riding zig zag formation or attack formation?

Stiofáin and Stefanie listened intensely but I don't think they understood what Stevo and Stefan was talking about ... I think they just haven't ridden in a group before

hmmm .... I feel I would be left behind again

 

[Deleted Member I]

To the beautiful city of Venice they say ...

Bryn was so excited ... he was showing us how he used to be a trained matador

 

[Deleted Member I]

Venice was a funny old place ... the surrounding area was a bit industrial and run down. Although some of the road side "tourist" entertainment was interesting ... I will let Stiofáin post his picture

I always wondered how you get into Venice as it was a city underwater?
Now I know ... by a very big bridge

That goes into a very big bus stop and eveyone then has to walk into the city ..

Then there were canals ...

After canals ..

I thought they did a good job here, and it looked exactly like how I saw it in Vegas

Vegas ..

Venice ..

Stiofáin got a bit sea sick and had to rest against a wall

We then found the mos miserable restaurant on earth to have our dinner ...

As you can see .. everyone was not that impressed ..
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With food in our tummy .. off we went to find the St Marks Square (little did I know that it was actually called San Marco instead)


Stevo and Stephanie went to visit the seat of learning in Venice ...

Whilst Stiofáin only wanted a pretty picture

We decided to take a waterbus to get us to St Marks Square after Stevo bought a map and realised that it was a long long way to walk. So I was distracted on the bus by more pretty scenes.

This one was slightly out of focus .. I don't know why

Then we got there ...

I thought it wasn't as impressive as Vegas but everyone else thought it was great

Then it was back into the bus to find a bridge ... this time the buses were really packed. I think it was rush hour. At the second stop, some gippo looking c**ts got on the bus and surrounded me. Before I knew it I found one of them with their hand in my trouser pocket. I know I am well hung .. but I would have preferred his female companion to be down my trousers ..

And then I realised they were the world famous Italian pickpockets. So I shoved them out of the way and walked to a less crowded part of the bus. Luckily I caught them early and I lost nothing. The Gippo c**ts got off at the next station and gave me the finger ... .. I wish I had more psychopathic tendencies and threw them off the boat .. but sadly I am just your regular nice guy

So that little episode put me off the rest of the day. Even when we got to this famous bridge where ice cream ads are made ...

I was a bit tired of the canals now ..

So we all sat down in a busy square and had beer

 

[Deleted Member I]

Venice to Grainau!

This was the day of days .. the one where I thought I wasn't going to make it

It all started innocent enough with the gang leaving me behind

The route set by our ride captain started nicely enough ...

That was the Tonale Pass .. the first and only nice one of the day

I have no more pictures of the other passes because I was so scared the whole day I didn't stop once. I really really really really wanted the picture at the top of the Stelvio pass but I couldn't find a nice spot to park

So here is me with a false smile at the top of Gavia Pass. Everyone talks about the Stelvio and how tight and scary it is ... well b****ds the lot of them for not telling you about the Gavia that you need to do first before you even get to Stelvio

YES THAT'S AS HIGH AS THE STELVIO!!!

WITH TARMAC THAT IS NEARLY AS WIDE AS THE ROAD TO ZUMI

I have to say that I was very lucky that they had just laid brand new tarmac on this thing

After reviewing my GPS I realised that I had gone beyond the point of no return. It was the Stelvio or back down the Gavia

So here is the top of the Stelvio ... the only picture that my shaken hand could take.

At the top I felt the need to rest for a while if not forever .. I had contemplated on calling out BMW assistance to take me back down the mountain
Especially when Bryn rang me and told me the way down was "more interesting" than the way up (I want my mummy)

BUT as always I found a way to peddle the bike to our evening destination ... at least riding by yourself there are no photographic evidence

Just as a side note .. My first big trip abroad was to Garmisch a couple of years ago and I did the Fern pass. I remember it scared the life out of me

But after a day at the Gavia and Stelvio .. I just blitzed it (ok ok maybe not blitz in the 100MPH sense but 20mph is still pretty fast! .. a bit of an exaggeration never hurt anyone )

 

[Deleted Member I]

The final day

Grainau to Mainz.

An easy autobahn day after the scary day. The gang decided they wanted more adventure and decided to take the "Long Way Round"

Stiofáin had the best adventure of the day .. he called out a recovery truck. As I always said .. it's not an adventure until the recovery truck turns up.

Here it is ... the glorious BMW unreliable and the unstoppable (uninsurable) 1200GS

Then it was our final supper with the gang .. lots of recalling of heroics and general bs'ing

But for me .. it just seems a blur and it was all over