Lucky Bastard’s M/C Tour#2 – The End

It had to happen at some point but the Lucky Bastard’s Motorcycle Tour #2 came to a brilliant but tiring end soon after the Mugello GP. My flight back home to the States was 9am Tuesday, so we had to be back in London by Monday night, it was already Sunday evening by the time we had left the Italian track.

We left late to avoid traffic and get our final fill at the wonderful Alpinestars hospitality but within a 1/4 mile down the road we ran into lines of cars and motorhomes that lasted many miles. I knew of a back road that would meet up with the Futa Pass so we headed the opposite way to the sheep and found the virtually empty and truly magnificent road to Bologna, once again riding the open road and just lovin’ being on a motorcycle.

From there we headed for Milan and then Lake Maggorie where we would camp for the night but by the time we got there, bedded down it was around 3am. Big shame we had to be on the road early as we’d found a sweet camping spot, right on the lake, close to a cafe and fairly private.

A good morning Cappuccino and pastry woke us up a little and then it was back on our bikes for the long 1,400km (875miles) ride back to London. The fastest and most direct route looked boring so first we hit the Simplon Pass, then cut across to another interesting piece of wiggly road on the map and found another incredible motorcycle road, the Grimsel Pass, a crazy series of mountain corners that’s as spectacular to look at as it is to ride.

My riding buddies Alex and Seth were riding as well as ever and just loved the flowing corners and dramatic scenery, it was a quite a find which we all enjoyed, that is until a idiotic Sportbike rider popped out from behind a slower motorhome to pass and directly into my path, how we missed each other I’ll never know, it was millimeters, both of us swerving the opposite way at the last possible moment.

That was the first time something like that had happened to me, nearly getting mixed up in another riders mistake who was on my side of the road and it took a while for me to calm down, recompose and re-group, it was a very close one.

Anyway, still alive and well we filled our tanks, our bellies and left the brilliant passes Switzerland behind and got on the fast motorways and attempted to ride to Calais, but it was a disaster.

It seemed as though the most interesting and technical roads were helping us keep our concentration and awake, the minute we hit the long boring straight roads it was as though we’d taken an overdose of sleeping tablets and I personally had all on just keeping my eyes open.

The three of us pulled in at a motorway service area, got another tank of gas and passed out for 20mins in the French sun, we were all feeling extremely tired, Mugello’s non-stop action, a week of little sleep and the warm air with full bellies tipping the scales.

At that point i didn’t know how on earth we were going to be able to make it back to London, we were in the South of France, it was early afternoon and still had over 1,000km to ride, this was the low point. Alex did his best to get Seth and I back on our feet and revved up and I had an argument with a Frenchman who opened his car door onto Alex’s panniers and then just left his door leaning against them, I was also now awake and ready to hit the road, as well as his smug and argumentative face.

We rode close together for the whole motorway journey, didn’t take any risks, just rode through tank fulls after tank fulls of gas, going through France, Luxembourg, Belgium and then back into France to catch the Channel Tunnel to the UK.

It was very boring and hardly seemed fitting to a magnificent trip but if it had been up to me and we’d rode wiggly roads on the map all the way I’d probably still be in Switzerland somewhere.

Arriving at the Channel Tunnel just before mid-night we were soon on a train and with another couple of bikers who had epic days of riding also. One guy had recently bought an Italian bike just to ride down to Mugello to watch Rossi on the Ducati! Crazy!! Brilliant!! He’d rode back from Mugello that morning and despite having 30+ years on me looked fit as a fiddle and not fatigued from his journey at all. The other guy had rode his Harley from Denmark, hardly a short trip and both guys were telling us all kinds of tales about their travels, it was great to hear bikers who loved their bikes, the travel and were just getting on the road and were doing it.

A freezing ride into London was all that was left, Alex’s home, where he knows the road like the back of his hand and had us back at his place in no time, we had fun dancing through the center of London in the dead of night and enjoyed the virtually empty streets. 4 hours later I was back on the road, they were now slammed with London traffic but I still managed to make my Yamaha drop with my mate Martin from Warrs and get a lift to the airport where I just made my flight and caught up on some much needed sleep…Epic.

TOP 3 MOMENTS

Lucky Bastard’s M/C Tour #2 (Named because everyone I tell where I’m going/what I’m doing says.. ‘You lucky Bastard!’

Jamie’s

1. Stumbling upon the Pico de Europa in Northern Spain and riding one of the most magnificent roads I’ve ever ridden on, done on reserved energy I didn’t even know I had – Bloody fantastic

2. Meeting up with Max and going from a stinky adventure rider to a glitzy Monaco beach party and back to a rather less stinky adventure rider overnight – Good clean fun

3. Riding with my best friends Alex & Seth and hearing their screams of delight when we hit roads that are beyond words – Memories forever

Seth Goler

First bike trip after breaking my back at T12 in August, supposed to be easing myself back into things but this trip ended up being pretty full on!

1. Erzberg rodeo hare scramble, despite a rainy race day this was the event i’d always been blown away by the videos of, and it didn’t disappoint when we arrived in the town of Eisenerz. The first few days were the qualification process with nearly 2,000 riders competing, and some 3,000 taking part in a ride-through parade of the local town, supported by the Mayor. Everything from motorised beer kegs and mobylettes, to quads with fully-sized stuffed tigers on made it truly memorable. Otherwise, the 500 riders with 1000-yard stares who qualified for the main, totally destroying bike clutches, brakes and forks in the process and a very real sense of camaraderie with the crowd made this a very special occasion. No spectating stands and fencing here, everyone gets involved (ropes and all) to move the riders up the Styrian pyramid of the Erzberg mine. Of the 500 who started; only 9 finished.

2. The Stelvio pass toward Italy from Davos, the Swiss side in particular, including the 1 mile of gravel which was curiously there to spice things up. This, or any one of the countless mountain passes we rode, any of these immaculately surfaced, beautifully cambered rider-focused roads will stay in your memory for life. They make you remember why you chose to be a motorcyclist.

3. Mugello Moto GP, the racing in the natural bowl is spectacular, but to have the fans camping inside the circuit creating the most incredible experience by night was something else – revving motors, burnouts, explosions, music, food, drinking, dancing and everyone behaving as friends. Amazing.

Alex Coffey

The new BMW R1200GS was packed up and ready to go and heading to Zurich to join the Lucky Bastards Motorcycle Tour #2. Leaving the rainy streets of London on Tuesday afternoon, travelling through thunder and lightning, the rain stopped long enough for me to get a few hours sleep in the gorgeous French town of Pont-a-Mousson, before meeting up with Jamie and Seth to start the adventure.

1. Ripping the Futa Pass from Bologna down to Mugello, everything was hooked up and corner after corner linking together, flowing through the mountains. Last year it was dark and wet and went on forever, but this year it was over before I knew it and wanted to go and do it again. The huge heavy GS becoming more agile and nimble by the mile.

2. Arriving at Lake Maggiore and finding the perfect spot to camp, it was very late when we arrived and we had to leave too early, but waking up to a beautiful spot like that is most definitely worth the long ride.

3. Descending the Stevlio Pass, after 650 miles of pouring rain, the Italian border meaning not only sunshine, gorgeous scenery and some of the most delicious mouthwatering dishes in Europe, but also the most beautiful twisty roads any biker can dream of. I learnt more on those 49 hairpins of how to handle my new bike than weeks of travelling around London streets could ever teach me.