Stella Run? Euro Ride? Honeymoon? – I’ll let you decide

[bandit1250gt]

One of the best ride reports I have read, excellent job. Please keep them coming.

Cheers

[Steve T]

A few one liners that sort of slipped out during the Euro hike:-

From a large thighed German dyke on our first night at Koblenz, at around dark o’clock at night:-
“You are not alone here!”
Wonder who and about what she was shouting at / about? :whistle:

To be read in your bestest Essex accent:-
“Oh, your older than I thought you’d be, seeing as you ride a F800GS”

From the same orifice as the above comment, this time directed at Hudders:-
“Your quiet, aint you!”
If you have met Hudders, you can imadgine the response to the above observation. What followed had my sides aching for the rest of the night.

Steve T

B)

[boboneleg]

Nice one Steve, great report so far.

Sorry we missed you all at the Bokki but the less said about our experience there the better

[jackdaw]

Lovinh this mate. Some great pics. Very envious

[HUDDERS]

Great write up Steve, some cracking pictures

[wianbiggar]

Good stuff Steve - can't believe we were only a week after you guys on a lot of the same roads!
Looking fwd to the rest of the Saga!
Ian

[africajim]

A few one liners that sort of slipped out during the Euro hike:-

From a large thighed German dyke on our first night at Koblenz, at around dark o’clock at night:-
“You are not alone here!”
Wonder who and about what she was shouting at / about? :whistle:
Well, we were drunk, as usual! Yes it was Fiona and myself! Bloody Germans, no sense of humour! LOL!

To be read in your bestest Essex accent:-
“Oh, your older than I thought you’d be, seeing as you ride a F800GS”
Ha ha! She was a hoot! :laugh:

From the same orifice as the above comment, this time directed at Hudders:-
“Your quiet, aint you!”
A bit of an understatement that! LOL!

If you have met Hudders, you can imadgine the response to the above observation. What followed had my sides aching for the rest of the night.
The "she wee" story almost had me wetting myself, what a star!

I'm sure there'll be plenty more one liners, just can't remember them at the moment!

Steve T

B)

[Steve T]

Thanks for all the positive comments folks - nice to think that my measly efforts are finding an audience

Hudders - as you may have noticed I have used one or wo of your pictures - hope thats OK with you (should have asked first I know)?

Bob - would have been good to actually meet you, and possibly have a more "adventurous" trip to Italy than I did . . . . . . read on . . . . .

[center]The "Stella Day" . . . . NOT[/center]

Ahhh, Bardonnecchia

Sounds like something you’d slurp, dunnit :whistle: ?

The whole idea for this trip was the ride up to the Col De Sommieller, or the Stella as it’s known.
Jim has done this trip to Italy and up the hill on numerous occasions (about a dozen now I think) and Hudders did the “hill” a few years ago on his Africa Twin, so the plan was for me to traverse some dirt on the way to the top, get badge/sticker/shed loads of photo’s, then commence bragging rights to who ever would listen when back at base camp!

Once we’d ensconced our selves at the camp site, we mounted up again and headed into Bardo for some of Italy’s finest ice cream – well, that’s what I think it said on the shop front where we bought a variety of flavoured water & cream mixes. A wander up & down the main street looked like a scene from some kind of Mad Max cross Cowboy western movie, with row upon row of large trailies tethered up were horses should have been. Eclectic was a big word I heard used to describe the very varied mass of metal arrayed along the streets, so eclectic the scene was!
Friday, cos that’s wot day it is in Stella Land, was crawling to a close, but not before the campsites restaurant and bar got a good seeing to! Seeing as we’re in Italy, pizza’s all round – get it - round – pizza’s?????? Moving on.
Many local ales were quaffed by those that quaff ale, with local vino rouge! chasing it a close second. This led to much hilarity as both blood alcohol levels and voices rose. Great to put some faces to ABR names – you know who you are and I now know where some of you live!
The Essex crowd were well oiled before we finished the pizza’s , so when the Highland contingent started in about the ale, things got louder :woohoo: .
A couple of the previous mentioned one liners slipped out during this session, which just led to a rowdier and rowdier party atmosphere – Superb night was had by all.

Saturday dawns bright and warming. Jim had arranged to ride the Jaffreau! with some Essex gezzers, Hudders and Fiona were resting their glutimusmaximus’s. I had no real plans for the day, but I was determined to ride the local roads and see the local sights that the hills and mountains in this area hold. So by early O’Clock I was up and away, heading out of Italy and into France – approx 400m from my tent door . The road behind the campsite climbs steeply – more blooming hairpins – and gives a fantastic view down to the campsite and Bardo in the distance – see the picture in an earlier post. I wended my way towards Briacon via some small and entertaining roads, but went away from the town initially, so’s I could ride part of the Route De Napoleon - or maybe it was the Route de Grand Alps - not sure which, but it was fun. More hairpins and sinuous roads entertained me till I came to the Italian border near Claviere, where I promptly turned round and did all the bends again, only downhill this time. I carried on to the outskirts of Briacon, took some photo’s, slurped some fluids, then about turned again and headed back towards the campsite, stopping for a cuppa en-route . . .






Here we see a British geezers bike resting in the shade . . . as was it's owner

130713HillView.jpg (247.19 KiB) Viewed 2083 times

Who'd have thought, two "T" plate Brit bikes on a tiny Italian road in the middle of no-where!

Before the campsite I headed up some dirt track that turned out to be a dead end – well it was for me when some Shelia tried to part me from some cash just so’s I could park my bike under a tree. Some very nice views and rock formations up this little dirt track . . .



Back at base and it turns out that the 10am start Jim had been planning for his ride was in fact an 8am start for those with the maps . . . . .so he rode up the Stella on his Cross Tourer, on his own, cos he could .
Simon and Fiona had WALKED into Bardo for another ice cream, so I was left sipping coffee on my own when Gary rolled up on his 660 Tenere. Spent the next 2 hours chatting with his good self and Paul on the veranda of the bar. Good to meet you guys (Paul for the 2nd time).
Jim eventually rolled back into camp in the afternoon, covered in what looked like cement dust. The Cross Tourer had done the “hill”, only leaving behind some tyre tracks and the lid off of Jims tool tube :whistle: . . . . . and his water bottle that had been held there in :laugh: !
After a de-brief about Jims ride to the top (or as near as he could get with the “Thug”) I decided that I’d reconnoitre the route through Bardo and up to the village of Rochemolles, with a view to doing the “Hill” early the following morning, when the temperature was lower. I got as far as Rochemolles, but my nerves were shot! I’d been confronted by a bus coming the other way, a Mad Max German on a HUGE outfit that filled more of the road than the bus. Add to this the local motocross club seemingly using the road for a “Run Wot You Brung” ride out, I was bricking it!
I don’t mind testing myself against tough tracks and challenging rides, but I’ll be b#ggered if I’m going to get myself punted off of an edge by a loony local whilst I’m tackling an incline! :blink: :sick: :dry:
No pictures from this part of my day – as already said, my nerves were shot. So, no Stella ride for me then – Hey Ho, still having a rocking time in a different part of the world from the one that I normally wake up in!

TTFN till tomorrows drivel,

Steve T

B)

[Steve T]

Another one liner that I've just remembered, this time from Hudders to my goodself as we took our first stop up on the Petit St Bernard:-

"Thought you'd lost it back there!"

Me - "You and me both"

Imagine if you can your taking up up hill right-hand hairpin whilst riding on the wrong (right! :blink: ) side of the road, selecting first just as you turn onto the appex of the hairpin . . . . . only to find no drive when you let out the clutch and open the throttle :woohoo: .

Not the best time to find neutral, I can assure you.

Down stamps the right boot to keep the bike from toppling . . . .

Bang down with the left hoof to force 1st gear into play . . . . . and away we go, bum cheeks gripping the seat like they want it for lunch :sick:

Still, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

Steve T

B)

[andyruss]

Loving this report. Great pics and writing. Keep it coming!