Touring Europe on the KTM 890 SMT – Part Two
Grindelwald to San Gimignano
With Wayne Vickers
See Part One here (link) – See the KTM 890 SMT Review here (link)
Day Four
Grindelwald – Lauterbrunnen – Susten Pass – Locarno – Como – Bellagio – Sarnico
Map Link (~400 km, seven and a half hours)
Big day this one. Biggest of the trip. I took off early and ducked up the road from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen for a peek at the insanely pretty little town. Wedged in between the narrow Lauterbrunnen Valley, the name literally translates to ‘Many Fountains’ which seems apt.
There’s 72 waterfalls in total in the valley, many of them emerging mid-cliff-face in what looks almost CGI-like scenery. Even in summer the fall in town was quite something.
From there it was a case of backtracking over a large section of the roads I’d done the evening before. What a chore… Really? I have to do the Susten Pass? Again? Bummer…
Clear morning, on a dry, near deserted mountain pass. It was a tough start to the day. I enjoyed that section a lot. Moving back and forth between ‘play time’ and ‘let’s chill and soak up that scenery’ modes again and again.
At one point in the morning as I was heading through a valley, I flicked on the GoPro to see if I could capture the scenery. I’d just started talking, wondering if it was going to show up ok as I was riding into the sunrise when an almighty boom rocked the valley and an F18 Hornet lifted off a few hundred metres to my right from a runway I couldn’t even see!
Cue significantly more swearing and exclamation on my part and just as I was regaining some composure a second one lifted off right behind him. If I hadn’t captured it on GoPro no one would believe me. Having a quick scan on Google maps it must have been Ambri Airport as I passed Quinto.
Not long after that I jumped into a 17 km tunnel where the temp rose to 38 degrees inside, which was a little intense! From there I headed to Locarno, on the northern edge of Lake Maggiore for a late breakfast. Cream filled croissants and iced frappe by the lake wasn’t a bad way to do brekky…
And then I took off for Lake Como and Ballagio. Obviously those locations are talked up a lot and I’m sure would be nice places to hang out if you could be based there for a few days, but… they were a bit of a let down for me.
Maybe because the previous couple of days were so amazing, but the roads were super tight, narrow, slow and crowded. Every time I stopped there was barely elbow room from a tourist posing for a duck faced selfie.
Bellagio in particular was filled with folks who had very high opinions of themselves… no thanks. I was pretty quick to move on.
Sarnico on the other hand. Yeah. That was more me. Way more relaxed, far fewer tourists. On the south western end of Lake Iseo, I took in the sunset at a laid back little bar by the lake edge with a gin and tonic. Or maybe three.
Day Five
Sarnico – Desenzano del Garuda – Sirmione – Bologna – Rimini
Map Link (~350 km, five hours)
Another glorious clear day dawned as I headed east to my first stop at Sirmione. A lovely little stop on the Southern end of Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake. The historic town itself is gated if you will by the Scaligero Castle from the thirteenth century, but the settlement goes back much further.
Recorded as far back as the third millenia BC in fact. Folks have been enjoying it for a while then… Get there early if you can. Even in the 30 minutes I wandered around it started filling up with tourists.
From here I headed to Bologna, which was probably my favourite Italian city of the trip. I would have liked to stay here a night or two and soak it in. One for next time.
I rode straight into the heart of old town and felt instantly immersed in its charm. Such an amazing feeling city. Beautiful open piazzas surrounded by cafes and bars full of bustling activity. They were preparing for a concert of some sort in Palazzo d’Accursio which a bit of Googling tells me is a pretty common event.
Home to the world’s oldest University, the University of Bologna, founded in 1088, it’s also head office to many noted manufacturers and when you extend out to the surrounding Emilia Romagna region those include Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani and of course Ducati.
So there’s fairly rich motoring history throughout the area. Modena is just down the road. As is Imola. But we were headed towards Misano… And so legged it towards Rimini.
Rimini itself, the only coastal town on my trip, is mostly a relatively ‘new’ seaside town. In the sense of most of the historic buildings having unfortunately been destroyed over the years by wars. There are some remnants, including some Roman artefacts and buildings including the picturesque Tiberrius bridge.
The first bathing establishment was apparently opened in 1843 which explains the ‘unfamiliar to most Aussies’ sight of thousands of beach sun lounges and umbrellas lined up on the beach.
I managed to catch up with Nick Selleck from Maschine for dinner. Nick and his wife were over there also dropping into the MotoGP in between tour groups and we shared a beer or four with a few friends for a great night. Thanks for letting me join the fun Nick. If you’re interested in a guided bike tour taking in some of the stops I did, check out their website.
Day Six
Rimini – Misano MotoGP – San Marino
Map Link (~100 km, one and a half hours)
Day six was less about riding and mostly about MotoGP. I had a sleep in! It was now Saturday which meant Sprint race day and I was keen to get amongst it. They sure love their local boys over there and the crowds are super vocal and energetic by comparison to our pretty laid back Aussie crowds.
I had a great view from the stand at turn 13, but it is worth noting that the ticketing didn’t allow me to walk the whole track until after four o’clock by which point I planned on being on my way.
I may have managed to sneak through for a wander all the way around to the general public area outside of turn 11 though… Out on the track, the KTM fairy-tale didn’t materialise despite the boys giving it a red hot go.
Dani had been fast all weekend and despite nibbling at Pecco’s heels for a podium managed to bring it home in fourth, with Binder behind him in fifth. Jack was struggling a little unfortunately and could only bring it home in 15th. Dani’s status only continues to grow as far as I’m concerned. What a legend.
Hot day, plenty of fluids required and the bars behind the stands were pumping. For those who love a latte, just be aware that plenty of places throughout the region just don’t ‘spoil’ coffee by adding that much milk.
Occasionally they do, but It’s mostly espresso over there. An Americano is about as close as you’ll get, which is what we’d call a flat white. First world problems right there Wayno…
I left the track just after the Sprint race and made my way to San Marino, which as a republic, is the fifth smallest country in the world behind the Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru and Tuvalu. I spent the late afternoon taking in the capital buildings on the hilltop of Monte Titano. Quite the views from up there actually.
Then I found my digs at nearby Verruchio. Lovely little village with some sort of town festival going on. Great local atmosphere. Not a bad way to see out the day with a band playing, some fresh fried local fish and a beer or two watching the sun drop over the Italian hills.
Day Seven
San Marino – Urbino – Arezzo – Siena – San Gimignano
Map Link (~300 km, five hours)
It was into Tuscany proper on day seven. The weather gods were smiling on me again as they had been all trip. Consistently high 20s to low 30s and clear blue skies. I took some backroads early in the day and found a lovely little section that had the locals gathering in the middle. And the section between Urbino and Arezzo was very nice. Great surface, nice and flowy.
Arezzo and Siena were both lovely. Quintessential Tuscan towns with beautiful central piazzas. More croissants, gelato, and it was quite warm again here. The Powerade was copping a flogging too.
You could easily base yourself out of any of these towns and alternate in between a day sightseeing and then carving backroad corners the next. Hard to find the perfect Tuscan pic, but lovely scenery everywhere.
San Gimignano was the highlight of the day though. As a small village it was originally named Silvia, but had its name later changed around 450 AD. At that point it was renamed after the bishop of Modena, Saint Geminianus who intervened and managed to spare the castle from destruction by Attilla the Hun’s followers. Subsequently the Church was dedicated to the saint and a walled village grew up around it.
Known for its towers – fourteen of which still stand in the town today, a remnant of a time when families would build them as a symbol of their wealth and power and even have their own private armies within. At one point there were 72 of them! That must have been something.
Arriving in the afternoon and spending a few hours wandering around soaking it all up was a delight. Along with more gelato. Always the gelato. We passed our most southern point here today, about 25 km before we hit Siena. From there it was to be mostly North bound back to Austria.
Days Four to Seven Gallery:
Grindelwald to San Gimignano
