Mugello 2018 - Tour 1 Ride Report

Day 10 – Mon. 4th June
A lovely morning to pack up tent and head to Barolo for a dirty big steak and some of their best wine. The first 100 miles or so were fine (apart from riding over that Lombardi bridge in Genova the week before it collapsed. I’ve always hated that bridge as it looked really dodgy to me all the time) and the weather was good. No surprise that it was about to change and not for the better. Just as it was about to pour down there was a rest stop just ahead so in I went. I needed my morning ablutions and it was one these “place your feet here and hope for the best” ones. Shit, literally! I’ve seen a lot of them but always avoided them. (why do they still exist?) There was also a disabled toilet at this stop and it was a proper seat so in there I went. Prior to this I phoned my misses after I stopped and the phone was still in hand so I placed it on the corner of the sink and did my necessary business. Once I finished I donned my waterproof trousers and headed out in to heavy rain for another 200 miles before I would reach Barolo. After about 5 miles I had a panic attack and checked the pocket I keep my phone in and it wasn’t there! More panic ensued! 10 more miles passed before I could turn off the autostrasse to do a u-turn and go back to look for my phone. I got there and no phone on the sink and no-one there knew about it. Shit! Now what do I do? For some reason I re-checked the pocket my phone sleeps in and it still wasn’t there but I’d slipped it into my side pocket on the same side of my jacket and all was well! Panic over but I’d just ridden about 30 minutes extra in pissing rain. Lovely! Arrived at Barolo after c. 200 miles of pissing rain and got a room in the local hotel I’d stayed in before. I had a walk, in the rain, around the village then did some (free) wine tasting and bought six bottles to put in the pannier for the journey home. A nice dinner, washed down with a bottle of the local red, and then to bed and hope that the weather tomorrow is better.
 

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Day 11 – Tues. 5th June
I rise to nice weather but checking the forecast informs me that more shit weather is travelling my way, fast, from the southwest. That’s a real bummer because I’d planned to ride the gorge du tarn down to Millau and meander north but after 200 miles of shite weather yesterday the thought of riding into more shite weather, for all day, didn’t impress me. So, instead, I headed north and managed to stay ahead of the weather front (just) all day but it was chasing me hard. I stopped for the night at Bethune and the place was fine but nothing there to encourage me to go back. Granted I didn’t go into the town and stopped close to the peage (maybe that’s why).
 

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Day 12 – Wed. 6th June – 780 miles

Usual early start and I am at the tunnel before everybody else. Not much to say about today as it was just a slog to head north. I thought about stopping at my lassie’s house in Dalkeith but the weather was fine and I felt OK so I continued the last 180 miles to home. I arrived home and my misses wasn’t even in to welcome me!
The trip had its high points and also its low points; definitely not one of my best or most enjoyable but the weather was unusually bad that summer compared to other years when I’ve ridden over for the Mugello MotoGP.

One of the problems of going on tour by yourself is that there are no humorous exchanges with riding buddies that can make ride reports more entertaining and enjoyable. Hopefully, this one wasn’t too boring and I’ll try harder for my 2018 – 2 tour one. (Spoiler alert – the weather was much better and, therefore, a lot more enjoyable!)
 

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A good RR buddy.
It looked a great trip. We had a great time in Ravenna & San Marino on one of our Italy trips.
Lovely area.
BTW, Your TC looks great, I sold my 2010 to buy an LC in 2013, seeing your motorcycle and looking back I am asking myself: why?

You are certainly in the running for "best beard of the day".
 
Just clear this up for me; have they banned camping at the circuit completely? I know it was always a bit crazy with engines on stands being run until they blew themselves to pieces but it was no worse than the Sachsenring and at least it kept all the nutters in one area.
 
Just clear this up for me; have they banned camping at the circuit completely? I know it was always a bit crazy with engines on stands being run until they blew themselves to pieces but it was no worse than the Sachsenring and at least it kept all the nutters in one area.

Hi Andy,

Only if you're arriving my bike! Campervans and motorhomes still get in no problem and that really pisses me off as it's a bike event! I saw a wheelbarrow going really fast up a hill with an engine in it! Pit bikes still arrive by motorhome and scoot about like nutters. I emailed bookmoto but they never gave me an answer. I don't know what's happening this year but, much as I love going here, I'm going to give it a miss until I have my own campervan in 2020.
 
A good RR buddy.
It looked a great trip. We had a great time in Ravenna & San Marino on one of our Italy trips.
Lovely area.
BTW, Your TC looks great, I sold my 2010 to buy an LC in 2013, seeing your motorcycle and looking back I am asking myself: why?

You are certainly in the running for "best beard of the day".

Thanks for your kind words.
I tried a 2013 GS LC but it had the lighter flywheel and didn't appeal to me; I'll stick with my TB TC GSA.
 
Hi Andy,

Only if you're arriving my bike! Campervans and motorhomes still get in no problem and that really pisses me off as it's a bike event! I saw a wheelbarrow going really fast up a hill with an engine in it! Pit bikes still arrive by motorhome and scoot about like nutters. I emailed bookmoto but they never gave me an answer. I don't know what's happening this year but, much as I love going here, I'm going to give it a miss until I have my own campervan in 2020.


This seems to be the way that more and more circuits are going and it makes it difficult to get away straight after the racing if everyone is leaving at the same time and you’ve got to ride or walk back to your campsite before packing up.

Go to the Sachsenring where it’s only a 5 minute walk from the circuit campsite to the main entrance :thumb2
 
This seems to be the way that more and more circuits are going and it makes it difficult to get away straight after the racing if everyone is leaving at the same time and you’ve got to ride or walk back to your campsite before packing up.

Go to the Sachsenring where it’s only a 5 minute walk from the circuit campsite to the main entrance :thumb2

At Austria MotoGP last year they emptied all bike / car parks before they'd let the campsites empty.
 
Good report and some great photos - thanks for sharing it with us. :thumb2
 
We saw you in Scarperia last year, one of my Scottish friends was talking to you. We parked in the 'secure' bike park up near the entrance and had to carry all of our camping gear into the circuit then lock the bike gear in the luggage in case it was stolen from the tent. Not ideal as we also expected to camp next to our bikes. We used the DFDS ferry from North Shields to Ijmuiden, which is OK on cost if you can fill the cabin berths. We went down to Switzerland for a few days then back up the RDGA after we left Mugello, but the top half above Briancon was still closed with snow.
 
We saw you in Scarperia last year, one of my Scottish friends was talking to you. We parked in the 'secure' bike park up near the entrance and had to carry all of our camping gear into the circuit then lock the bike gear in the luggage in case it was stolen from the tent. Not ideal as we also expected to camp next to our bikes. We used the DFDS ferry from North Shields to Ijmuiden, which is OK on cost if you can fill the cabin berths. We went down to Switzerland for a few days then back up the RDGA after we left Mugello, but the top half above Briancon was still closed with snow.

I remember that too! It sounds like you had a great trip as well! The likes of the Col d'Iseran doesn't open before the second week in June, at the earliest. I love it at Scarperia but I'm not going this year because of all the hassle last June. I hope to get a campervan next summer so my misses and I will go in that which is a real shame because it's bike racing for, primarily, bikers.
 
Ironic isn't it that bikers aren't welcome at the campsite at Moto GPs?
I was chatting to Giacomo Agostini after the Valencia Moto GP this year. He shook my hand and said how nice it was to see someone going to a motorbike race on a motorbike.
 
Ironic isn't it that bikers aren't welcome at the campsite at Moto GPs?
I was chatting to Giacomo Agostini after the Valencia Moto GP this year. He shook my hand and said how nice it was to see someone going to a motorbike race on a motorbike.

It is ironic isn't it; and it's really annoying too!
You met the legend Giacomo Agostini!!!! I'm not worthy.
My wife and I were there too but we flew over and tried to get trains but ended up in taxis - transport both ways was a nightmare and the weather was pish!
I have, however, shaken hands with Graziano Rossi - I know he's not a Giacomo but his boy's done not bad.
 
I remember that too! It sounds like you had a great trip as well! The likes of the Col d'Iseran doesn't open before the second week in June, at the earliest. I love it at Scarperia but I'm not going this year because of all the hassle last June. I hope to get a campervan next summer so my misses and I will go in that which is a real shame because it's bike racing for, primarily, bikers.

When we were returning from Mugello we thought it would be a bit of a laugh to ride around the road closed signs and try to get over the Col d’Iseran and at first all seemed well with a few bits of mud and debris on the road that we easily rode around then the snow at the sides of the road got deep and all of a sudden we hit a solid wall of snow about 10’ high :blast

It was particularly annoying because we could see the ski lifts at the top probably only 1/2 mile in front and it cost us an extra 50 miles or so because of our misguided sense of adventure :D
 


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