The 2009 European AdvRider rally

[GiorgioXT]

Just some introductory pictures of the first days in Dolomites


The group at base of Mt. Antelao


Another long line of bikes ...


Hillclimbing...

And as always we have some "suprise events" to animate and amuse the group...


shredded LC8 clutchs...


Africa Twin wheel bearing


DRZ that fly (down)


The usual muttparked bikes ..


but also good views


and challenging terrains...



Stay tuned , will arrive also the others...

[Gadget Boy]

[Simon Smith]

Looks like fun.

[Joerg]

Originally Posted by Simon Smith

Looks like fun.

Yep, I would even say: This looks like a very normal European AdvRider meeting ... I wonder how they manage to get through the remainder of the year without the help of the other FFs to repair their bikes

Compare 2005:


and 2006:


Giorgio -- where are the Polenta pics?? You cannot just meet there and not have Polenta on the first evening!

[h17]

[T-REDZ]

Keep it coming please.. keep it coming..!!!

[GiorgioXT]

Saturday afternoon and evening arrived the most of the lot, so Sunday off we went.

the direction was west. to the Boite Valley and Cortina d'Ampezzo, the firsty dirt was the ascent to Rif.Scotter


directly at the base of mt.Antelao
then we proceed to Cortina, climbing (by a paved , but really steep road) at Rifugio Cinque Torri


Front of us the Croda da Lago

We tried also to go further ,

but was too rough. h

[GiorgioXT]

From Cinque Torri we come down and up the opposite side of the valley...
The road to Rifugio Dibona is easy and soon we are under the walls of Tofana


its a big group , 24 bikes ... at Rifugio we got a good meal , but its getting colder and some snowflake appears ...
surely will appear some food pictures..

From here we go up at Rifugio Duca D'Aosta , with a large but steep dirt trail

[GiorgioXT]

I have problems writing with my old portable... tomorrow evening will be at home and continue the report.
Let's say that it was hard. the bad winter hitted hard on roads and trails.
But it was fun, fun , fun ... both for the ones that stayed in dolomites with me and those who went to slovenia and then were guided by the outstanding slovenian friends.

Thanks to all :it was a real pleasure having you aboard!

Next time : light enduro bikes !

[Blackbert]

aha, here it is. thanks, introduction looks promising.

[kejago]

[ATAK]

Keep it coming please.

Ad

[Possu]

Pumpy & myself arrived home today about 2pm having spent last night in Deal, just north of Dover, at my Dad's place.

We'd set off on Thursday 18th at 0830. Timpo had arived the night before & Clive (Strobingred) had arrived earlier that morning. We met up with ChrisJK, Louisdut, Shep532 & Steve, a friend of Louis' just north of Dover. We cleared Calais about 1530 French time & set off for Reims, about 170 miles south where we planned to spend the night. Took a while to find rooms for all of us but we managed. Once we'd eaten, we wandered around a hotel car park checking out a group of Frazer Nash cars on their way to South Tirol also. I didn't take any pics but am sure others did & will post them up in due course.

We set of the following morning & headed southeast via Strasbourg & the Black Forest for Lindau in Germany, located at the eastern end of Lake Constance & close to the Austrian border. We eventually found rooms in a large traditional German house on the outskirts of town.

Just about to set off the following morning for Pieve di Cadore:




En-route, we couldn't resist taking this pic


We arrived in Pieve slightly later than planned having been caught in slow traffic on the Brenner Pass. We headed for Giorgio's place & met up with Riderbob from the UK & Luis from Portugal. Giorgio took us to our respective accommodations that he'd booked on our behalves. Ours was in the mountains about 11km from Giorgio's.

I'll post up a video compilation once they've been edited. Here's a selection of pics from the week:



Roel & Tom at the top of the ski run. To the bottom left of the pic is the boulder field that we crossed on the way up:


Top of the ski run, looking in the other direction:


We visited this site in 2006, collapsed remains of some sort of military fort:


Stunning views in the distance & ChrisJK in the foreground:


Movement was spotted in the debris:


Closer inspection revealed it to be nothing more than a juvenile specimen of the rare "Short Haired Burrowing Scouser":

You can tell it's a juvenile as it's yet to reach full plumage.

Bit of info:


Another fort:


From the top:


We covered miles of of gravel trails like this:


This 3 mile long trail took us from 1,800 metres to 2,327 metres:


You can just about make out the trail:


From the top:




Riderbob burnt out the clutch on his 990S, so he set off on Giorgio's spare XT600 Tenere to fetch a new clutch kit plus oil & filter from the KTM dealer in Asolo, about 65 miles to the south towards Treviso & Venice. I went with him on my SE as the XT didn't have a GPS fitted. We returned late that afternoon, Timpo set about replacing the clutch etc with some assistance from myself. Somehow, Bob had managed to break up 5 of the cork friction plates? No pics of the repair but others have.

Serious set of hairpin bends:




Pumpy & Timpo:




Pete (Shep532) in action:


Trail down the other side:


For our last day's riding the trails, Giorgio was busy & arranged for Paulo, a trials riding friend, to show some of us the harder trails around Pieve. Paulo rode Giorgio's XT600. I didn't take many pics but others did, hopefully they'll post them soon.

Would be easy to spend a summer up here:




Some of the locals:


Steve (aka Wurstel Fantino - not on Advrider yet, not allowed to disclose how he came by this name - what happens on the Rally stays on the Rally or so Louis tells me ) dropped his 660 Tenere down the slope. Took just a few minutes to recover it with a couple of straps:



Down by the lakeshore:




Geese & Goslings:


Until I've sorted the video out, that's all from me. Had a really good time, met some great people, rode awesome trails, ate excellent food - all the usual ingredients for one of these European Rallies.

Big thanks to Giorgio for organising everything. Perhaps he'll make it to the UK for some Welsh mud one day.....

Rest of my pics here:
http://possu.smugmug.com/gallery/871...76319585_7aabW

[Wildman]

[Louisdut]

Great Rally

Thank you Giorgio for all your hard work sorting this rally

I had a great time thank's all who attended (can't remember all your names) for your great company on/off the trails

5th Euro Adv Rally Dolomites from Louis on Vimeo.

Originally Posted by Possu

Steve (aka Wurstel Fantino - not on Advrider yet, not allowed to disclose how he came by this name - what happens on the Rally stays on the Rally or so Louis tells me )

Back to the real world now may have to think of an explanation for Mrs Louisdut (Nicky) on that one