Riding season is upon us!

It’s been a while since I’ve written, but that doesn’t mean that motorcycle things aren’t happening.  Winter was spent cleaning 2017’s grime from our gear, shopping for and replacing worn out gear, researching new farkles…

After riding a K1600 GTL through Italy last year, we decided that we wanted a smaller, more nimble bike. So we added a S1000XR, keeping it in the BMW family. It’s 250 pounds lighter than the K1600, but still tall enough for Stephanie (I wish I’d taken a picture of her sitting on the back of a KTM Super Duke 1290 GT – her knees were close to her ears).

Justin, an owner of Eurosport Asheville,  put about 3,000 miles on the bike (primarily off road) so it was already clad in adventure garb when we bought it. We just added a top case and swapped out the tires for Pirelli Angel GTs.

For the first trip of the year, I met up with friends in Murphy NC and tooled around very wet twisties for a few days. Next up is the K1600 TTD event in Stecoah NC – hoping for sunshine this time as we put the K1600 GTL through its paces!

Stephanie put together a video of Gavia and Stelvio passes. It’s a long video, so I won’t be hurt if you don’t watch it all (I can’t speak for Stephanie since she did all the work),  but at least check out the sections around the 1:00 and 24:45 marks.

On the road again (the southeast twisty ones for now)!

The Party’s Over

Home

We made it back to our east Tennessee hills. Over the next few weeks, we’ll edit and post video and more pictures. HUGE thanks to John and Stacy for holding down the fort, Bob and Ruby for transportation assistance, and Peggy for plant-sitting!

We had a wonderful time, saw amazing architecture and art, experienced incredible terrain (and twisties), made new friends, drank great wine (and meloncello), ate fabulous food, and at the end of the trip we somehow managed still fit in the same clothes. We’re already trying to figure out how to go again!

Day 27: 17 days, 17 years – Still getting full body laughs – Limone sul Garda to Milano

Have you ever laughed so hard, that you full body was involved?  I mean, from your head to your belly to all of your body?

I have been fascinated with the cattle here – wondering if they were beef cattle or dairy cattle to make the amazing cheese throughout Italy.  I kept asking him to stop so I could take pictures.  Kevin’s mind – thinks differently.  As we were rolling today and I was talking about the cattle, here’s what I hear:

Kevin: If I had those 2 cows, you know what I’d name them?

Me: No clue.

Kevin: Peace Prize and Alexander Graham.

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Kevin’s cows – Peace Prize & Alexander Graham

 

I am always amazed how his mind works.   Continue reading