Stevo
Registered user
Story and images by H! not Stevo.
So a few months back Stevo asks me over a few bottles of vino :drinkinpa:if I want to tour Italy on the bike with a bunch of Tosser's.
hmm what to do?
A few months later Stevo reminds me of what I'd agreed to do and we pack the bike and make our way to Dover to meet everyone.
Im of course very nervous as Im quite a shy person! but there were a few Tosser's I was looking forward to meeting.
First of all Team leader Paul, actually I just wanted to see the dents on his pannier from when Stevo had knocked it off when they first met.
There was Brynie who had sorted all our accommodation, Flash of the gap all the way from ireland, bound to be a craic, but I was especially intrigued by Novice- don't leave me!
There he was, fresh in his stitch suit with hi- viz vest - bless!!
The kid didn't look older than 22.!
So I thought the nice thing to do would be to look out for this little bugger...
how wrong was I!!!
From Calais to Nancy we lost Tom, found Tom, got involved in some road rage with Tom,
, lost him again and arrived in Nancy to find Tom there already even after all his red bull stop offs! what?
It was here I decided that Tom was no longer the Novice he thought himself to be and with Bryn's swift texting, we upgraded Tom to intermediate.
Next was a fab night in Lake Como, and we were up early the next day, riding to Pisa with a twist...y or 2!
We are heading out of Como, I check behind..
I check infront.....
we all stop...
but no sign of Tom!
We make our way regardless, rushing through the mountains so we can get to Pisa before the sun goes down over the tower and we miss our photo opportunity. Not to mention we were getting thirsty!!
so off we zoomed leaving Steve, Richard and Gadget in our wake. Think they had to slow down as the bendies were making Richard feel a bit spewy..
At last we arrive in Pisa, Tom mysteriously appeared in our picture!
The next morning as the lads contemplate how many of them it might take to lift Gadgets bike should it fall over...
some dick runs off with Seamus's tank bag and he get's in hot pursuit..
meanwhile we take Tom to Macdonalds for some chips in milkshake, and had a day in the life of Tom...
we managed to stick on Tom's tail for most of the day to Rome, but after 20 or so wee breaks we decided to ditch Tom and get there.
Traffic in Rome was a ******* nightmare, I thought 'SHIT, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!'
we made it safe, but where the hell was Tom?
We looked everywhere...
the Colloseum..
a balcony.. where we stopped for a quick photo before my hangover kicked in and the happy pills wore off...
Mark even check his back box!
then.. we found Tom's bike sneakily parked behind a car...
so finally we all settled into our chalets.
Brynie was rather chuffed with his..
but as soon as Tom found out his was next to ours he swiftly made his way to reception to change to a more quiet location...
however, he didn't move far enough, I still managed to sneak in and break his shower.. he wasn't very happy about loosing that deposit..
Next day Rome to Rimmini, ******* hot hot hot!
so we thought we'd ride some roads a bit more shaded, and um slippery??!! or was it just Gadget that managed to slide back down the hill?
off we go... where the hell is Tom?
I signal Steve.. where's Tom..
I check with Gadget... where's Tom...
We looked on the beach...
but gave up and went drank a few litres of beer and ate pizza- or was that just me?
Its still bloody hot so we decided to leave early for Venice. Its a short ride of a few hundred miles, but still we manage to loose Tom, and everyone else for that matter, except Steve and together we navigated to the campsite... only to find Tom there already.. wondering where the hell everyone had got to.. what???
we checked Venice out for a few hours...
and waved Tom goodbye...
hoping we might see him along the way we made our way to the Alps past temples...
through small italian streets... im not sure we are supposed to be riding on the pavement though?
we get to the Stelvio pass, make it half way up and decided to stop for a rest, Steve thought that mountain rebels were taking seige...
but we had just stopped to see if we could see Tom anywhere..
the boys kept a look out..
whilst the rest of us chilled for a bit...
no sign of Tom yet.
We carry on for a while and get to the top. we stop here so Richard can buy some whistling goffers... and I pose for a quick photo.. maybe Toms up the road??
No. we stop up the road, we are in Austria! We stay for a bit to eat some dodgy sausage...
Stevo contemplated how we were going to get down...
Paul and Steve contemplated staying..
Finally with no sign of Tom we make our way down to our accommodation...
At last we arrive in Granau, knackered. Tom was of course there already, seemingly upbeat... did he do the pass at all???
Next day was the last day before heading home..
lets all ride together... or not!!
before we knew it Stevo and I were trailing Flash of the Gap, who decided since it was just the 4 of us, and it was jolly hot! we should play a game of pull the bike apart.. put the bike together again..
As much fun as that was.. Stevo and I were getting thirsty, so we gunned it to Mainz to get the beers in.
So last supper all done, full of good food and thoughts, we decided to make our way back to the hotel... Tom and all.
Once again, thanks to Paul and all you other tossers for making this trip so memorable and fun.
So a few months back Stevo asks me over a few bottles of vino :drinkinpa:if I want to tour Italy on the bike with a bunch of Tosser's.
hmm what to do?
A few months later Stevo reminds me of what I'd agreed to do and we pack the bike and make our way to Dover to meet everyone.
Im of course very nervous as Im quite a shy person! but there were a few Tosser's I was looking forward to meeting.
First of all Team leader Paul, actually I just wanted to see the dents on his pannier from when Stevo had knocked it off when they first met.
There was Brynie who had sorted all our accommodation, Flash of the gap all the way from ireland, bound to be a craic, but I was especially intrigued by Novice- don't leave me!
There he was, fresh in his stitch suit with hi- viz vest - bless!!
The kid didn't look older than 22.!
So I thought the nice thing to do would be to look out for this little bugger...
how wrong was I!!!
From Calais to Nancy we lost Tom, found Tom, got involved in some road rage with Tom,
, lost him again and arrived in Nancy to find Tom there already even after all his red bull stop offs! what?It was here I decided that Tom was no longer the Novice he thought himself to be and with Bryn's swift texting, we upgraded Tom to intermediate.
Next was a fab night in Lake Como, and we were up early the next day, riding to Pisa with a twist...y or 2!
We are heading out of Como, I check behind..
I check infront.....
we all stop...
but no sign of Tom!
We make our way regardless, rushing through the mountains so we can get to Pisa before the sun goes down over the tower and we miss our photo opportunity. Not to mention we were getting thirsty!!
so off we zoomed leaving Steve, Richard and Gadget in our wake. Think they had to slow down as the bendies were making Richard feel a bit spewy..
At last we arrive in Pisa, Tom mysteriously appeared in our picture!
The next morning as the lads contemplate how many of them it might take to lift Gadgets bike should it fall over...
some dick runs off with Seamus's tank bag and he get's in hot pursuit..
meanwhile we take Tom to Macdonalds for some chips in milkshake, and had a day in the life of Tom...
we managed to stick on Tom's tail for most of the day to Rome, but after 20 or so wee breaks we decided to ditch Tom and get there.
Traffic in Rome was a ******* nightmare, I thought 'SHIT, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!'
we made it safe, but where the hell was Tom?
We looked everywhere...
the Colloseum..
a balcony.. where we stopped for a quick photo before my hangover kicked in and the happy pills wore off...
Mark even check his back box!
then.. we found Tom's bike sneakily parked behind a car...
so finally we all settled into our chalets.
Brynie was rather chuffed with his..
but as soon as Tom found out his was next to ours he swiftly made his way to reception to change to a more quiet location...
however, he didn't move far enough, I still managed to sneak in and break his shower.. he wasn't very happy about loosing that deposit..
Next day Rome to Rimmini, ******* hot hot hot!
so we thought we'd ride some roads a bit more shaded, and um slippery??!! or was it just Gadget that managed to slide back down the hill?
off we go... where the hell is Tom?
I signal Steve.. where's Tom..
I check with Gadget... where's Tom...
We looked on the beach...
but gave up and went drank a few litres of beer and ate pizza- or was that just me?
Its still bloody hot so we decided to leave early for Venice. Its a short ride of a few hundred miles
, but still we manage to loose Tom, and everyone else for that matter, except Steve and together we navigated to the campsite... only to find Tom there already.. wondering where the hell everyone had got to.. what???we checked Venice out for a few hours...
and waved Tom goodbye...
hoping we might see him along the way we made our way to the Alps past temples...
through small italian streets... im not sure we are supposed to be riding on the pavement though?
we get to the Stelvio pass, make it half way up and decided to stop for a rest, Steve thought that mountain rebels were taking seige...
but we had just stopped to see if we could see Tom anywhere..
the boys kept a look out..
whilst the rest of us chilled for a bit...
no sign of Tom yet.
We carry on for a while and get to the top. we stop here so Richard can buy some whistling goffers... and I pose for a quick photo.. maybe Toms up the road??
No. we stop up the road, we are in Austria! We stay for a bit to eat some dodgy sausage...
Stevo contemplated how we were going to get down...
Paul and Steve contemplated staying..
Finally with no sign of Tom we make our way down to our accommodation...
At last we arrive in Granau, knackered. Tom was of course there already, seemingly upbeat... did he do the pass at all???
Next day was the last day before heading home..
lets all ride together... or not!!
before we knew it Stevo and I were trailing Flash of the Gap, who decided since it was just the 4 of us, and it was jolly hot! we should play a game of pull the bike apart.. put the bike together again..
As much fun as that was..
Stevo and I were getting thirsty, so we gunned it to Mainz to get the beers in.So last supper all done, full of good food and thoughts, we decided to make our way back to the hotel... Tom and all.
Once again, thanks to Paul and all you other tossers for making this trip so memorable and fun.
so close and yet so far 
