Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
Literally 20 metres past the cemetery entrance a statue caught my eye, and for the XXth time on the trip I turned around to check it out. I'm not sure what my problem is - anything concerning race cars, bikes, aeroplanes and boats seem to jump out at me as I go past, no matter what speed I'm doing, and I just HAVE to stop. Obsessive-compulsive, maybe? Who cares?
It was interesting, and the oke's name sounded vaguely familiar. I later researched him and found out that his hometown was on top of the hill above the lake, and there is a nice museum there. Blast and bugger. I would have liked to see it, it's so out-of-the-way that it would take a lot of effort to get there again. Piero Taruffi was quite the boykie - he won numerous important bike and car races and championships back in the day, including the Mille Miglia. Kind of like an Italian Mike Hailwood.
This is Piero on his BSA (WTF??) at Monza
I didn't know it then, but that wouldn't be the last I'd see of Piero Taruffi on the trip. Stay tuned.
Tuscany is extremely scenic, and even more so in late summer, when everything is shades of brown. I travelled on SS and SR 2, which runs north parallel to the autostrada a bit further inland. I'd had enough of trying to pay tolls and besides, this route is absolutely spectacular, if slower. SR 2 passes through scenic places with names like Acquapendente, Buonconvento, and the beautiful city of Siena. Not that I explored Siena - I was on a different mission, and I've since been told by several people that I'm an uncultured baboon for not doing so. Next time :ricky:
Typical springtime scenery in Tuscany
At a place called Poggibonsi, where I also had THE best sarmie I've ever eaten - at some random petrol station nogal - I split off onto SR 429 and later SR 436 to MONTECATINI TERME, which is about 40 k's northeast of Pisa. When I rode south in 2008 I had spent a few days with friends who lived maybe one k from he leaning tower. We'd gone there on bicycles after dinner ie after 9 pm, and it was spectacular. I had been to Montecatini on that trip too, and picked it as my overnight spot because....I could, I suppose.
Montecatini is bisected by a railway line, and I wandered around like a non-GPS equipped fool (I prefer to call it hard-core navigational boffin) for a while until I found a crossing. Two blocks later I found a small family owned hotel and checked in. Very reasonable, E35 for a single room that was clean, with balcony and ensuite bathroom.
The front desk was covered with all kinds of foreign money under glass, and I added a R50 note with the lion's head to the non-English speaking owner's collection. He was very chuffed, made growling noises at me and smiled from ear to ear. Friendly oke.
The hotel at right:
At this hotel I gained some more travel wisdom: the size of the bathroom is DIRECTLY related to the price. Back at Cassino, where I'd paid E75 for the night's stay, the bathroom looked like this:
Very nice, and spacious. You could call old mum or order a pizza while taking care of business too, which struck me as sheer luxury.
In Montecatini, E35 worth of bathroom looked like this:
Don't get me wrong - they were both spotless, with all the hot water a weary traveller could want. It's just that in Montecatini, shall we say, you could.....accomplish two of the three S'es simultaneously. (If you're not familiar with old SADF slang, that means SHIT-SHAVE-N-SHAMPOO. )
And if you're STILL not catching my drift - you could take a shit and a shower at the same time in this one :evil6:
Not that I did, you understand, but I had a sit-down shower just to prove the point. I did NOT use the drinking-fountain next to the toilet in either one. Too much effort and a bit stupid, frankly, having to bend over that far to get your mouth to the tap. Besides - it sprays, and most of it goes up your nose. A k*k design, if you ask me.
My old Ovamboland landmine-dodging habits of never riding the same route twice are still ingrained, but I HAD to go ride route SS 12 again. In 2008 it was the best piece of road I did all trip. It didn't disappoint this time, either. On the initial climb into the foothills I stopped for petrol at the same time as some FIAT 500 club, from the looks of it. I saw about a dozen before the petrol station, some with four people in them, and a few getting petrol and 2-stroke oil. Very cool little cars, but I wouldn't be accepted as a member. There is NO way I'd fit in the bloody thing. It comes up to barely above my hip, FFS.
Various views along route SS 12:
As I said, things jump up and wave when I go by, and this MX track across a valley caught my eye:
Then this kid on a KTM 350 EXC rocks up. Nice bike, with number plate. I asked him in Swahili if he rode there - might as well have, for all the English he spoke - and he smiled very broadly and said "...SI".
He was impressed by the mighty 950, and I was very impressed by his tricked-out two stroke with a number plate.
Some time later I stopped and watched a bunch of people launch gliders from an incredibly scenic little airstrip in the mountains:
I started talking, or rather HE started talking to me, to the oke in the red shirt. His name was Adriano, and when I told him where I'm from he said"...oh yes....I have been to Gariep many times...." I didn't know it, but apparently Gariep is gliding central in SA.
Through the mountains, I passed through MODENA, and as if by PFM, as I was wondering where the Ferrari factory was, I went by it at 130. What to do? Grab a handful of brakes, pull an illegal U-ie of course, and two minutes later there I was:
I'd lost track of the days, and thought it was Monday. I wondered what was going on, the roads were practically deserted once out of the mountains, I thought it must be some kind of public holiday because clearly NOBODY was working at Ferrari that day.
It was interesting, and the oke's name sounded vaguely familiar. I later researched him and found out that his hometown was on top of the hill above the lake, and there is a nice museum there. Blast and bugger. I would have liked to see it, it's so out-of-the-way that it would take a lot of effort to get there again. Piero Taruffi was quite the boykie - he won numerous important bike and car races and championships back in the day, including the Mille Miglia. Kind of like an Italian Mike Hailwood.
This is Piero on his BSA (WTF??) at Monza
I didn't know it then, but that wouldn't be the last I'd see of Piero Taruffi on the trip. Stay tuned.
Tuscany is extremely scenic, and even more so in late summer, when everything is shades of brown. I travelled on SS and SR 2, which runs north parallel to the autostrada a bit further inland. I'd had enough of trying to pay tolls and besides, this route is absolutely spectacular, if slower. SR 2 passes through scenic places with names like Acquapendente, Buonconvento, and the beautiful city of Siena. Not that I explored Siena - I was on a different mission, and I've since been told by several people that I'm an uncultured baboon for not doing so. Next time :ricky:
Typical springtime scenery in Tuscany
At a place called Poggibonsi, where I also had THE best sarmie I've ever eaten - at some random petrol station nogal - I split off onto SR 429 and later SR 436 to MONTECATINI TERME, which is about 40 k's northeast of Pisa. When I rode south in 2008 I had spent a few days with friends who lived maybe one k from he leaning tower. We'd gone there on bicycles after dinner ie after 9 pm, and it was spectacular. I had been to Montecatini on that trip too, and picked it as my overnight spot because....I could, I suppose.
Montecatini is bisected by a railway line, and I wandered around like a non-GPS equipped fool (I prefer to call it hard-core navigational boffin) for a while until I found a crossing. Two blocks later I found a small family owned hotel and checked in. Very reasonable, E35 for a single room that was clean, with balcony and ensuite bathroom.
The front desk was covered with all kinds of foreign money under glass, and I added a R50 note with the lion's head to the non-English speaking owner's collection. He was very chuffed, made growling noises at me and smiled from ear to ear. Friendly oke.
The hotel at right:
At this hotel I gained some more travel wisdom: the size of the bathroom is DIRECTLY related to the price. Back at Cassino, where I'd paid E75 for the night's stay, the bathroom looked like this:
Very nice, and spacious. You could call old mum or order a pizza while taking care of business too, which struck me as sheer luxury.
In Montecatini, E35 worth of bathroom looked like this:
Don't get me wrong - they were both spotless, with all the hot water a weary traveller could want. It's just that in Montecatini, shall we say, you could.....accomplish two of the three S'es simultaneously. (If you're not familiar with old SADF slang, that means SHIT-SHAVE-N-SHAMPOO. )
And if you're STILL not catching my drift - you could take a shit and a shower at the same time in this one :evil6:
Not that I did, you understand, but I had a sit-down shower just to prove the point. I did NOT use the drinking-fountain next to the toilet in either one. Too much effort and a bit stupid, frankly, having to bend over that far to get your mouth to the tap. Besides - it sprays, and most of it goes up your nose. A k*k design, if you ask me.
My old Ovamboland landmine-dodging habits of never riding the same route twice are still ingrained, but I HAD to go ride route SS 12 again. In 2008 it was the best piece of road I did all trip. It didn't disappoint this time, either. On the initial climb into the foothills I stopped for petrol at the same time as some FIAT 500 club, from the looks of it. I saw about a dozen before the petrol station, some with four people in them, and a few getting petrol and 2-stroke oil. Very cool little cars, but I wouldn't be accepted as a member. There is NO way I'd fit in the bloody thing. It comes up to barely above my hip, FFS.
Various views along route SS 12:
As I said, things jump up and wave when I go by, and this MX track across a valley caught my eye:
Then this kid on a KTM 350 EXC rocks up. Nice bike, with number plate. I asked him in Swahili if he rode there - might as well have, for all the English he spoke - and he smiled very broadly and said "...SI".
He was impressed by the mighty 950, and I was very impressed by his tricked-out two stroke with a number plate.
Some time later I stopped and watched a bunch of people launch gliders from an incredibly scenic little airstrip in the mountains:
I started talking, or rather HE started talking to me, to the oke in the red shirt. His name was Adriano, and when I told him where I'm from he said"...oh yes....I have been to Gariep many times...." I didn't know it, but apparently Gariep is gliding central in SA.
Through the mountains, I passed through MODENA, and as if by PFM, as I was wondering where the Ferrari factory was, I went by it at 130. What to do? Grab a handful of brakes, pull an illegal U-ie of course, and two minutes later there I was:
I'd lost track of the days, and thought it was Monday. I wondered what was going on, the roads were practically deserted once out of the mountains, I thought it must be some kind of public holiday because clearly NOBODY was working at Ferrari that day.
eepwall: ???
