June 28 - Polizia Performance Award

Early in our ride today, Charlie and I received Performance Awards (speeding tickets) from the Polizia (Italian Police) - here is what happened.  We had just completed our first pass and we were driving through some small village.  Charlie was leading, I was next, and then there were a couple of bikes from another group that had working their way through our group as they were able.  We were just about out of town and Charlie and I passed a couple of cars before starting the next pass.  Unfortunately, there were 2 Polizia on motorcycles parked to the side of the road and when they saw us pass, they quickly went in the middle of the road and waved us (Charlie, myself, and 1 bike from the other group) over to the side of the road- busted.  The officer didn't know a lot of English but he could get enough out to get his message through to us.  We had to show them our driver's license and we both have International Driving Permits as well.  They also wanted to see the registration papers for the bike; we found them under the seats.

At the start of the tour, Charlie warned that getting tickets here can be expensive $200 - $300.  While we were getting our papers together, he again mentioned the possible costs.  Too late to worry about that now.  The officer than came over and €60 (about $65) - wow that was a relief.  Not nearly as bad as I expected.  He took the cash and wrote each of our "rewards" which was a time consuming process.  He did Charlie's first.  Before signing it, Charlie asked what we did wrong even though we both had a very good idea.  He said the fine was only for speeding.  He could have given us a ticket for illegal passing (overtaking) but he did not.  After the paperwork was done, we were on our way to meet the rest of the group that had pulled to the side of the road a little ways up ahead to wait for us.

Charlie has been giving tours in the Alps for 15+ years and this is his first ticket while leading a group.  We were so close to being out of town.  Where we got waved over was right at the end of the city speed limit.  Other sports cars including a Lamborghini and Ferrari went speeding through and no actions were taken on them.  It felt like a set-up for motorcycles but there was no doubt we were guilty as charged even though they didn't even have radar to really know how fast we were going.  Oh well - part of this adventure!

The rest of the day included more wonderful riding in the Dolomite's.  I have included just 1 photo from the ride today as I know many of them look the same after time. I have also included 1 video showing the clouds move in as we were at the top of a mountain.  While this area is very beautiful, I run out of words to try and explain it so I will move on.

I thought tonight I would provide more information about the group I am riding with. There is a total of 9 bike and 10 people on this tour including Charlie.  All of us are riding BMWs of some sort except Alan who is riding a Honda.

• Charlie is our tour guide and the person that runs Moto-Charlie.  He operates this as a side business during the slow period of his consulting business.  Charlie lives in New Hampshire.
• Dave, Joe and Craig are from the Atlanta area.  Joe and Dave are brothers and Craig is Joe's son.  Dave (age 60) works for Lockhead assembling military aircraft.  Previously he worked for several airlines.  Joe (age 58?) is employed by Delta where he is a machinist.  Craig (age 30) is an Engineer.  This trip was partially to celebrate Dave and Craig's milestone birthdays.
• Martin, Patrick, and Alex are from California.  Martin and Patrick are friends and Alex is Patrick's girlfriend.  Patrick and Alex are riding 2-up.
• Mark is a retired school principal at an alternative school and lives on the east coast.
• Alan is a semi-retired web developer on lives on the east coast.  Alan knew Charlie before this tour - not sure how.
• and me is 10!

Here is our group photo taken on June 30 overlooking Lake Garda.

The weather today turned out pretty good.  The forecast called for rain much of the day but it turned out OK.  There were several spots we had hoped for better views but they were hidden by the clouds.  We did get rained on pretty hard during the last 20+ minutes back to our hotel.  I had my rainproof riding gear on and was completely dry when arriving at the hotel; more about my gear in a later blog.  Some others that have to add a rain proof layer of some sort chose not to and they were soaked upon arrival.

Tomorrow we move to the Lake Garda area of Italy which is south of our current location.  Based on comments from Charlie and my experience from the previous tour, I would expect the next day or 2 to be a bit more relaxed and with easier riding than all the mountain passes we have done the past several days which I have thoroughly enjoyed.  We stay at our next hotel for 2 days.