Day 5 of Riding – May 23 – The Final Ride

Today’s ride was very different than all the previous rides for several reasons.  First there were only 5 motorcycles riding today: Manny, Todd, Marc, Gerald and myself.

Tom and Jim, along with their wives, are traveling in Italy for another 10 days so they want to ship their motorcycle gear home so they don’t have to deal with it for the rest of the trip.  They planned to ship it via DHL but figuring out the logistics to make it happen was more complicated than they planned so they spent the morning in Bolzano at working with DHL to get it all arranged.

Mohammed and Zahra wanted to go the Harley Davidson shop in Bolzano so they did that today.  I think the number of passes and corners did them in yesterday.

Roads on today’s ride were also very different.  First, we took the Autostrada (freeway or motorway) south out of Bolzano.  This is the first time we have been on any major roads this week.  This is a toll way so you get on ticket when you enter and then pay a fee when you exit.  The first stop was Lake Garda.  This is a large, natural lake in northern Italy that is a frequent vacation destination for many.  The lake is very large; 31 miles long, 11 miles wide at the widest point, and 1,400 feet deep.  Some of the area around the lake is  developed with lots of restaurants, hotels, etc. while other parts are left natural.  Manny knew a great place to stop and take photos (just one of the many benefits of having a tour guide when traveling in a foreign country)! 

 

After riding along the lake we headed back for the mountains.  The road we did next was the highlight of the day.  It was a narrow (1 lane) mountain road but there was 2 way traffic so you have to be careful but the road was a wonderful and challenging ride.  Typically the rock wall of the mountain was on the right and the guard rail on the left.  Of course there were many twists and turns keeping you on your toes but it was a wonderful ride. 

We stopped to see if one of Manny’s friends was home.  The friend is also a tour guide with Edelweiss.  Unfortunately he was not so we continued on our way.  We found out later he was actually by Lake Garda where we had been earlier and actually saw us going through town.  Weird!

We stopped for lunch and had what?  Pasta of course!  However, this was not ordinary pasta; it had Carbinara sauce that was wonderful!  Manny knows the person who makes the sauce fresh daily.  It may have been the best meal on the entire trip!

 

We continued on our way back on several other roads and eventually got back on the Autostrada to get back to Bolzano.  We parked in down town Bolzano and Manny showed us some of the shopping area as well as the fresh fruit market.  By 6:00 we had the bikes full of gas again, back in the garage at the hotel and the ride was officially over. 

 

At 7:00 p.m., before dinner, we signed the final paperwork, completed a survey of the trip and our guide (which I gave most things a very high rating!) and got our very expensive T-shirts.    Manny said the t-shirt is what we paid for, the trip was free!  We had our final dinner today and some of us (myself, Mohammed, and Zahra) will not be joining the group for breakfast as we are planning early departures.

 

Tomorrow (Friday, May 24,) I will be driving back to Munich and then flying from Munich to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam back to Minneapolis.  I have a tight connection in Amsterdam of just 1 hour 10 minutes.  I hope all goes well and I make the connection so I can get home and sleep in my own bed!  I will have been gone for 2 weeks and it will feel good to be home again!