My third trip to the Italian Adventure bike rally really brought home the real difference between me typical riding which is local and long distance touring and what real riders can do on TN and NC mountain backroads when they really want to get somewhere in a hurry.Suffice to say it’s a whole different ballgame.At what Moto would describe as a sporting pace through mountain up and down switchbacks and blind hairpins,you need to be really paying attention or you find yourself on the wrong side of the road or scraping a rock wall as the shoulders are few and far between.Forget about the spectacular views,you need to be looking at the road surfaces of in front of you all the time.We did a 200 mile tour on the first day and my bmw riding friend took the second day off for a 100 mile sightseeing ride.If you go to this rally it would be wise to take some track lessons beforehand,I have never done that so I was by far the slowest rider even with the the fastest bike,a Stelvio.There were a few Aprilia Tuaregs,a couple700 Yamaha advs,a hHonda adv.Triumph adv,Mark the leader rode a modern Stornello withknobbies.If you have ridden the Harley friendly one way switchbacks to Mt Rushmore,imagine those with 2 way traffic and you will see what I’m talking about.All in all a great experience and confidence builder in a spectacular area with cool mountain air.
