UK Monster Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - Europe by cake

MrsC_772 · 06-07-2016, 08:58 PM

Day 6 - Thursday 30 June

Ursa and I left the Visconti 9 ish, for the long slog down the motorway to Bologna and then Cattolica. The Milanese equivalent of the M25 in rush hour will never be on anyone's list of great rides. Fortunately Ursa (newbie to continental riding) put her "London head" on, and we made some progress filtering past the queues. (The idea of riding in central London scares me far more than dealing with the Italian tailgaters of the A1 and A14!)

First fuel, coffee & water stop at Piacenza services (Italian motorway coffee fortunately living up to my positive recollections) and we were already getting hot and bothered. The plan was to stop next at the Ducati factory (where if nothing else, there is always good aircon). However, nature called, and we stumbled on an oasis in the desert - namely the services about 25km before Bologna (Secchia Ovest?) We walked into what felt like a particularly posh John Lewis or Waitrose food hall, piled high with gourmet delicacies, artisan beer in bottles, luxury toiletry gifts. As Ursa put it - "this is even better than Tebay on the M6!" But as we were heading for Bologna, with limited luggage space, and only stopped to spend a centesimo, we bid arrivederci to the mirage.

Arriving at the Ducati factory (taking Ursa's Edna back to her birthplace, just as I'd done for the first time with my 696 in 2012) we were delighted to be able to get on a factory tour (the first time in my 3 attempts at doing this). Judging by the production lines, clearly the Scrambler is still a top seller, with a new bronze framed version much in evidence. Also an awful lot of X diavels & Multistradas (Multistrade?) The current generation of Monster doesn't seem nearly so popular (well, they shouldn't have given it ugly plumbing, should they). Lots of emphasis on the amount of testing they do before letting every bike out of the door to customers (suspect Multistroodle owners might have something to say about that).

Next on to the recently revamped (or should I say dumbed down) museum. Side rooms now more like white boxes - very art gallery, but then the 916 is a work of art. Less explanatory text, fewer bare engines & technical info, more emphasis on road bikes (including a classic Monster in its rightful place). Ok, we might not all be interested in Taglioni's drawing board, but it still seems a shame to have removed a lot of history from the museum.

Back on the road, and it was getting unbearably hot. Having earlier found the "better than Tebay", we now found a services with Leicester Forest East levels of glamour (or lack thereof) for more water and an ice cream, with no proper seating area.

After the last 100km or so slog to Cattolica, we arrived at the Luxor beach, and obtained the code for the underground carpark. Bikes safely tucked up for the night, and aircon in the bedroom cranked up to arctic, we then retreated to the hotel pool to cool down (you couldn't actually hear the steam coming off me as I went into the water, but it wouldn't have suprised me if you could). Ursa managed a couple of smug-girls-in-pool selfies of us, before we got changed and headed out for dinner.

I must have been developing heat exhaustion, as I was feeling absolutely shattered, slightly queasy and headachey. I managed a plate of penne arrabiata before heading back to the hotel for an early night.

06-07-2016, 08:58 PM	#6
MrsC_772 Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Farnborough Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 712	Boiling hot and Bologna Day 6 - Thursday 30 June Ursa and I left the Visconti 9 ish, for the long slog down the motorway to Bologna and then Cattolica. The Milanese equivalent of the M25 in rush hour will never be on anyone's list of great rides. Fortunately Ursa (newbie to continental riding) put her "London head" on, and we made some progress filtering past the queues. (The idea of riding in central London scares me far more than dealing with the Italian tailgaters of the A1 and A14!) First fuel, coffee & water stop at Piacenza services (Italian motorway coffee fortunately living up to my positive recollections) and we were already getting hot and bothered. The plan was to stop next at the Ducati factory (where if nothing else, there is always good aircon). However, nature called, and we stumbled on an oasis in the desert - namely the services about 25km before Bologna (Secchia Ovest?) We walked into what felt like a particularly posh John Lewis or Waitrose food hall, piled high with gourmet delicacies, artisan beer in bottles, luxury toiletry gifts. As Ursa put it - "this is even better than Tebay on the M6!" But as we were heading for Bologna, with limited luggage space, and only stopped to spend a centesimo, we bid arrivederci to the mirage. Arriving at the Ducati factory (taking Ursa's Edna back to her birthplace, just as I'd done for the first time with my 696 in 2012) we were delighted to be able to get on a factory tour (the first time in my 3 attempts at doing this). Judging by the production lines, clearly the Scrambler is still a top seller, with a new bronze framed version much in evidence. Also an awful lot of X diavels & Multistradas (Multistrade?) The current generation of Monster doesn't seem nearly so popular (well, they shouldn't have given it ugly plumbing, should they). Lots of emphasis on the amount of testing they do before letting every bike out of the door to customers (suspect Multistroodle owners might have something to say about that). Next on to the recently revamped (or should I say dumbed down) museum. Side rooms now more like white boxes - very art gallery, but then the 916 is a work of art. Less explanatory text, fewer bare engines & technical info, more emphasis on road bikes (including a classic Monster in its rightful place). Ok, we might not all be interested in Taglioni's drawing board, but it still seems a shame to have removed a lot of history from the museum. Back on the road, and it was getting unbearably hot. Having earlier found the "better than Tebay", we now found a services with Leicester Forest East levels of glamour (or lack thereof) for more water and an ice cream, with no proper seating area. After the last 100km or so slog to Cattolica, we arrived at the Luxor beach, and obtained the code for the underground carpark. Bikes safely tucked up for the night, and aircon in the bedroom cranked up to arctic, we then retreated to the hotel pool to cool down (you couldn't actually hear the steam coming off me as I went into the water, but it wouldn't have suprised me if you could). Ursa managed a couple of smug-girls-in-pool selfies of us, before we got changed and headed out for dinner. I must have been developing heat exhaustion, as I was feeling absolutely shattered, slightly queasy and headachey. I managed a plate of penne arrabiata before heading back to the hotel for an early night.