Participation to the Milano - Taranto motorcycle rally in Italy, July 2007 (you can click on most pictures for full size)
The start After reporting to the organisers, we received a bag with papers. In this bag, very important, a paper with the
starting/departure times. Also a pass was included for the hotels & dinners. During the first trip, I would start at
00.36h. This first trip – at night – would take us from Milan to Imola a distance of 376km’s. I had no experience with
riding at night, because even during my holidays, I prefer driving/riding during the day. So I did not know what to expect.
Fortunately, from a few other riders I was told that the Dutch participants would join forces and ride together at night.
After the start, the group would wait for the other riders. And so, a group was formed with Kees, Roel, Marc, Floor, Nel,
Marijke (for those not familiar with Dutch names: Nel and Marijke are both women) and yours truly. Also, I was warned for
re-fuelling at night. Most fuel stations gave you this option, but only with cash money. Notes of 5, 10 or 20 Euro were
necessary. In Italy, it is (nearly) impossible to use a bank pass or credit cards at night at petrol stations.
11: start of the Velorex
12: Benelli 500 four cilinder (1978) with sidecar
14: Cees and Annet with their 1962 BMW R50 sidecar and 15: Jos and Hendrika with their 1953
Moto Guzzi Falcone sidecar
Plenty of Vespa's....
The first night’s trip from Milan to Imola, 376km’s After the start, we left Milan as a group. On many locations groups of Italians were giving us a rousing send-off and
were applauding like we were a bunch of heroes. Leaving town, at one of the many roundabouts, we saw a serious accident.
One of the Italian participants was on his back on the tarmac. An ambulance had arrived already. The rider’s vintage Gilera
was a write-off. Our unfortunate fellow rider was not given priority by a car, as he was overlooked. He had to go to
hospital and was kept overnight. Later we were told, he had no serious injuries and would recover fully. Sad, as he had
ridden less than 15km’s and was already out of the "race". Another rider got into an even more serious accident.
This man was a diabetic patient and probably became unwell during the night. When he was found, he was flown to hospital by
trauma helicopter. Later we heard his injuries were very serious, as he hit a tree, but that he had a good chance of recovery.
I did not see this second accident, as it happened behind us. Fortunately, no other accidents happened during the week to
follow. We rode and rode during the night and had a good tempo, when all of a sudden, Marc’s Aermacchi racer started to
misfire. At some point, I saw sparks coming out of the exhaust of this bike. Shortly after, Marc had to stop. Within an
hour he was back with the group. Some ignition parts had been changed and got the engine running again, but not much later,
he had technical problems again.
Refuelling and running dry During the night, we all filled up the fuel tanks. Fortunately, we had enough banknotes of 5 and 10 Euro. At 04.00h
we had a break in a dairy factory to have something to eat and drink. At around 7 o’clock in the morning, we were near
Castle Franco Emilia and Marcello, another Italian friend met us rode his BMW R1150 along with us. After riding through
Bologna, he left our group to go to work and leaving Bologna, the hills start. At some point, my bike run out of petrol.
I was really fed up with the situation, but there was not much else to do, than to wait for the service van. It took about
20 minutes and immediately, I rode on, but I had lost the group. Then I met 2 riders with sidecars and together we rode
into Imola. We had trouble finding the hotel, but when we finally arrived, tired and sweaty, I forgot to hand in my card
with departure times. It cost me 450 penalty points. Great start!! There would be plenty more penalty points later during
the week.
Click for large format
Click for large format
The card with the departure times which I forgot to hand in after 'a busy night'.
The other side. No penalty points (yet)...
Despite asking several times, we had great difficulty finding the hotel in Imola.
Only time I saw the participants riding by was when I stranded due to an empty fuel tank. :-(
These cellphone films were made in Pietramala during the stop to have breakfast. From
here it was another 50km's to the finish of the day in Imola
dinner in the hotel in Imola
left-to-right: Janette, Hendrika and Jos. Lot's of fun and great stories about the nighttrip
lhs Joop
Imola - Recanati, 369km The next morning we first had breakfast and after we collected the motorbikes from the large parking cellar.
53: Moto Morini 175cc Briscola (1956)
Parking of Hotel Donatello. 2 Technical support vans in the background
Marijke (lhs) & Nel, both on an Aermacchi 350cc
The trip to Recanati was without any problems, the weather was good, and the roads
were dry. The route led us through hills with many winding roads, curves in all sorts. It was great!! Finally we arrived in
Recanati. On the central square we had a fantastic reception. After this we went to the hotel and parked our bikes behind it.
A few vans were parked in such a way that it would be difficult to pinch a bike at night. Some participants had to work on
their bikes seriously to keep them running. They got much of their dinner served outside. Hotel Gallery seemed a right labyrinth
for us, or was it because we were tired? It was impossible to use all elevators to all floors. Finally I found the right
elevator to the 3rd floor. In general, I noticed that the elevators in Italian hotels are all very small. I found this
strange for *** to **** hotels.
One of the many culinair stops. Unfortunately only 30 to 40 minutes max. to eat and drink
Left-to-right: Roel, Nel, Kees
In the afternoon, the engine of Nel’s bike seized. Fortunately, she was very alert when riding
and immediately she pulled the clutch, preventing to skid. Even Kees (100kg’s) was unable to push down the kickstarter.
First conclusion was that the main crankshaft bearing had seized. Even our technical staff was unable to repair this. The
bike locked to a lamppost and mechanics Lex and Jan were called to inform them where they would find the bike. Fortunately
for Nel, her Milan-Taranto was not over yet, because some motorbikes were passed on to others. Marc’s bike did have serious
problems, but so far the bike was still running. Finally, Floor took the yellow racer and Marc borrowed Joop's spare Moto Guzzi.
Nel's bike locked to a lamppost. I don't have to explain how Nel felt :-(
In the evening, dinner was served outside on the central square, under the arches of a large
building. During the day, the breaks with the excellent Italian food & drinks were mostly organised by local motorbike clubs.
Here in Recanati, arrival & dinner were organised by the (local) "Moto Club Franco Uncini". The Italians on our table were
in a happy mood. They drank plenty of wine. I felt better to not drink any wine at all and I enjoyed the water "with gas"
(San Pellegrino) very much.
Motoclub Franco Uncini
The tables for dinner: outside!!
Culinair participants, Yvonne and Theo talking to an Italian
Next morning, view from the hotelroom in Recanati
Jos and Hendrika with their Guzzi sidecar
Walter en Hedy from Switzerland and their 1949 BSA A 10 Golden Flash 650cc sidecar
Joop on the links, next Marijke (80), Floor (81) and your webmaster (82)
137: Walter (Moto Guzzi 850 T3, 1977), André (136, Moto Guzzi V7 Sport, 1973)
(Left). Next morning: Detlef, pleasant German, smoking his pipe near his Motobi
2C (1972/2 stroke). In previous years, he was accompanied by his daughters, riding their dad's bikes. But after some, not too
serious accidents caused by fools standing on the road, so they could not be avoided, they gave up: too dangerous. Detlef
managed very well. He would turn up at the strangests moments. Also, he had a secret weapon: a metal container, shaped like
a large bottle. It would hold 5 liters of fuel. It kept him in the group on more than one occasion. You would smell Deltlef
from a distance: blue smoke from his 2 stroke bike, or the toffee smell from his pipe during the stops ;-)
Recanati - Castropignano, 363km The departure from Recanati took place from the same square. Today’s destination was Castropignano. In the morning all
went fine, but heavy clouds gathered above the track, but it was still dry... Again, during the breaks the Italians presented
us their very tasty snacks & specialities. I know I have mentioned this a few times, but as it was so good, I will mention
it a few more times. After lunch, Marijke, Nel and myself rode out of a village at low speed. All of a sudden it started
raining. Large drops of rain came down. We had to ride down a steep hill with a few tight curves. Before anyone knew what
happened, Marijke went down with her bike. Nel and I stopped immediately. Fortunately, Marijke did not hurt herself and the
three of us tried to put her bike upright. We succeeded with much trouble, as we skid all directions. The rain had turned
the street into a skating rink. The rain, mixed with dust, sand, oil and dirt made the road feel like it had black ice. We
warned all bikers behind us to ride down the hill very carefully so no further accidents happened. Next we called our
technical friends to repair Marijke’s bike. At first glance it seemed like only the clutch handle was out of position. To
make sure the mechanics could find us, I rode back to show them the way. Later they found out that the gear lever had broken
off and the fuel tank had a leak, because of the fall. Our sportive female rider had to give up. The two couples Nel/Marc
and Floor/Marijke were not very lucky. Two of their four bikes did not make it to Taranto. Later, Nel put the petrol tank of
her own bike on to Marijkes bike. This way she made it to Taranto. Floor had to abandon his own bike and finally took the
yellow Aermacchi racer (which had plenty of technical problems). Marc borrowed the spare motorbike from Joop, a vintage Moto
Guzzi. He made it to the finish in Taranto on this bike.
Through Pescara.... Worst had to come yet. After the service van had stopped with the ladies, I carefully drove on. It was extremely
slippery, but stopping was not an option. With a group, we rode into Pescara after some time. Imagine a very long stretched
town along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. We rode on the centre line of the road, because on the right of the road, where
we should be riding, the rain formed huge puddles and they all had white "foam" on top. At some moment, I was
waiting for a red traffic light. The light turned green and I pulled up. All of a sudden a women appeared from behind a truck
and stood right in front of me. I used both front and rear brake, and when I noticed this was not sufficient I put both feet
on the asphalt. The bike slide to the left front and with my legs on the ground I got the hot exhaust against my leg. Finally
I stood still, but the woman was gone. I proceeded with extra care. At one of the following traffic lights a guy on a nice
Moto Guzzi ignored the red light and thought, "they will stop for me". No way. He had to make an emergency stop and
immediately went down. Not too much damage. Finally the rain slowed, but it still looked very threatening. From time to
time large drops of rain came down and it stopped again. Together with Joop and his wife Janette – both very experienced
Milan-Taranto riders - we rode on and made some extra speed. It looked like Joop wanted to beat the rain. We managed by
riding as fast as possible to Castropignano. We were riding on the SS647 and fortunately it was no longer slippery.
At one point we looked down from the hills and saw a large dam in the water, the
Lago di Guardialfiera that we had to cross. After that some 30km’s to the hotel. When we arrived, we parked the bikes
on the terrace of the hotel, which was completely covered. Almost immediately after, the sky opened and the rain came
down really heavy. All riders after us arrived soaked to the skin, or perhaps even soaked to the bone.
Rhs, this photo, taken by another participant, shows the large dam in the Lago di Guardialfiera on
that particular afternoon. (Click on the picture to get a better view on the dam).
After the awful trip, the dinner in Castropignano tasted very well! View from the dining room
to the covered terrace with the bikes
starter
another starter
Left Janette, just about visable Joop, Yvonne and Theo, rhs two Germans Arne (BMW R100 GS) and
Wolfgang ('68 Moto Guzzi V7)
From left: Jelle, Cees, Annet, Hendrika, Jos, Wim, Annie
