Familiar SurroundingsAt 6am on the 24th August 2001 we wobbled off down the road and headed
south, not knowing when we would be back. The bike had the aerodynamics of
a HGV but handled remarkably well considering we had 70kg of luggage as
well as the two of us. We had always planned to do 60mph maximum, no matter
how good the roads, any quicker and you miss things going on around you and
there is no point using juice too fast, as there is a long way to go! We
bought our one-way ticket for the ferry to France. It was strange seeing
Dover's White Cliffs fade into the distance as we crossed the Channel to
Calais. This was all so familiar, the ride to the South of France in great
weather, we had done so many times before. We didn't hang around much and
headed straight for the Cote d'Azur and onto Italy. The weather was already
35degrees. We had fitted a synthetic sheepskin cover to the seat to take
the heat out of the black vinyl. It allowed us to cover more miles in
comfort. We planned to be off the road by 4pm each day, to allow time to
find somewhere to stay.
Riding the length of Italy we decided to use the Autostrada, which was
cheap and much quicker that the minor roads (south of Sorrento they are
free). We visited Pisa, Rome and the ancient ruins of Pompei and rode the
picturesque Almalfi coast. This was to be the location of our first
puncture. After forgetting our pump (which was back at the tent)it was soon
sorted when I asked a guy at a hotel for the loan of a pump and he produced
a compressor! This soon had us back on the road. We headed south east from
Sorrento for Brindisi. The petrol stops were further apart and what is the
poorer part of Italy was certainly different from the north with its
vibrant, larger cosmopolitan cities.