We were up early, breakfasted and then we hit the road, Grizzly heading for his motorcycle dealer (Duilio Moto), me for Ducati on the outskirts of Bologna. It was about a 20 minute ride for Grizzly, 50 for me.
I arrived and parked in a nearby car park, then made my way to the main gate. The guard said to wait for the tour guide to collect us. By the time they, two young ladies came to collect us, there were 14 waiting. Names ticked off we were led into the museum, where we were relieved of €10 and given a headset to wear, as the guide, Donatella, was mic'd up. She took us around the museum, explaining the significance of certain exhibits, the very first Ducati, Mike the Bike's 1978 TT winner and various superbike winners, Including those of the King, Carl Fogarty. Finally, there is the MotoGP hall. I took plenty of photos and like others, they will appear on flickr at some point. Given time to take photos at the end of the tour, I was eyeing up a Multistrada bike that had completed a world tour. Donatella came in and was explaining that the guy who rode it, relied on Ducati owners clubs around the world to put him up for the night, supply fuel, etc. I explained what Grizzly and I were doing. She seemed genuinely impressed.
Photos taken, it was time for the factory tour. Unlike Ferrari, this as a proper factory tour. We were led first through the area where crank and camshafts are machined, the only parts made on site. Then through the entire assembly line, engines, engine testing, chassis assembly, right through to seeing the bikes being fired up and tested on the rolling rode (Dyno). Six models in production, 10 hours to complete one bike. That was more like it, seeing the workers (men and women) screwing engines together or fitting them into the frames. Definitely beats Ferrari.
During the tour, Grizzly texted to say he was outside. The guy had fitted him with new brake pads in 10 minutes and charged €40. Not sure how good/bad that is but Grizzly was a happy man once more and was keen for me to stress how pleased he was with the chap.
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| Mike 'The Bike' Hailwood's 1978 TT Winning Machine |
With the tour over, I made my way to find Grizzly and we were soon on the road again. A few miles down the road, we had to make a right turn at a double exit on the dual carriageway. First pass, I missed the exit. No matter, we could loop over the top and come off on the other side. No poblem, except I missed that too, which meant going all the way back down the dual carriageway, almost to the point we had joined from the factory. Back we went for a second go. And for a second time I missed it! Bear in mind, I have no voice direction so have to keep glancing down at tomtom and it can be a bit slow to show the exits. I waved Grizzly alongside and asked him to lead us out of this nightmare, as he has voice on tomtom. Over the top we went and passed the exit again! I just laughed. Even with sound, Grizzly still missed it, so away we went all the way back down and up the dual carriageway for pass 3. This time I took the lead and this time I took the earlier exit, still WRONG! Not so bad, I thought if we came at it from another angle it might be easier. As it turned out we had to loop over and attack it from the same angle. But this time I got it right and punched the air in celebration!
It wasn't long before we were away from Bologna and hitting some more twisty roads. As we turned towards a hill/mountain there were a few spots of rain and the clouds above looked decidely unfriendly. We stopped and put on the waterproofs. As luck would have it the rain failed to materialise, though as we climbed we did find ourselves enveloped in the cloud, the summit being almost fog like. The descent was entertaining and spectacular in equal measure as we approached damp hairpin bends, with the view below obscured by the cloud, also below us! Soon though we were on the flat again and back in the sun. A very hot sun at that. We were fairly near Pisa now, so didn't worry too much, though the heat inside the suits was rising. We stopped to photo a Route 66 restaurant on the corner of the road, before riding parallel to what I assumed was a roman aquaduct, (later research suggests 1800s). And then we entered Pisa. Traffic everywhere, the slow moving, stoppy, starty kind. The temperature was something like 29 degrees, inside the suits, it was somewhat higher and rising! We were as wet now inside the suits as we had been outside in Germany!
Eventually though, we reached the camp site, booked in and made ourselves comfortable in our 2 bed chalet! Cheap and cheerful, just for a change. A quick brush up and it was off into town.
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| Up in the clouds! |
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