I guess I'll need to catch up to day 1 then. Not unusual for me on this trip, moving at a different pace..
I started my trip on Sunday afternoon already, which would be day -3 by roadtrip logic, I guess. With public transport links from my town being so compliant to morning flights, I was kindly allowed to stay at the gear.fi halfway home at
@Brotan. A minimeet with some other gear members in the area was had and after that I realised that I've forgotten my riding jacket at home.. Oh well, at least I got to test drive the JalopLexus again. I mean, who needs sleep anyway.
Bussing about towards Helsinki
And several hours later, driving back home, with someone else's car
Engage warp speed
In the morning of day -2 it was time to visit the Fermans for a short change (and a long walk), before continuing to Turin, out of all places. My bike loves its home country so much that it had decided it wanted to stay there earlier this summer.
Switzerland from above is always amazing, when the weather is clear enough. I guess Turin was a bit busy, as the plane was cruising really slowly for a good while, giving me even more time to enjoy the view.
Couldn't unsee CarBoil, while waiting to exit plane
As is typical of me, I was Burning up straight from landing.
My panniers, tank bag and most of my travel gear was with
@nicjasno, because of that previous trip cut short and I was traveling with hand luggage only. Fortunately I had enough space in the backpack to cram my riding jeans in there, so I could at least wear shorts. It was properly scorching, even if the temperature was quite moderate by Italian standards. Covered walkways everywhere made a lot of sense, walking around town.
I had a couple of hours between flight landing and the service shop opening, which I spent wandering around parks and nearby suburbs, instead of old town, museums or such. I'm strange like that (I was planning on going to the
National car museum, but with their very Italian opening hours I would've had ~20 minutes there). This was quite nifty discovery though.
The sun was against my documentation attempts
Happened across original Fiat plant as well, on the way to the shop
Correct cornershop found
Full of MY BRAND
Nice touch
After a lengthy wait and many discussions via Google translate, as of course Italian was the only available language, I was ready to set off to Turin Traffic
Being in pessimist mode after technical issues, I booked a stay for the night somewhat close to Turin. But at least that gave me plenty of time to plan an actual route for next day.
Room upstairs, bike just below the stairs
Nice little hiding place
Start of day -1, some octanes added in the morning, before a shortcut stint on the autostrada.
Could've been a slightly slower shortcut, had I been on four wheels, or even had my panniers (that went on for at least 6km).
After Milan traffic was cleared, the view opened nicely as well. Passo San Marco, already getting near to 2000m elevation mark at 1992m.
Made it to my next overnight stay in the middle of Jaufenpass.
Checked in quickly and as it was still early in the afternoon I thought I'd head to the top of the pass as it was right next door anyway. The ominous weather provided a nice backdrop and a slight worry, as all rain gear was also included in the stuff I'd have to wait another day for, still.
Quite a NAIS view indeed.
Even though it sort of looks like it's raining so heavily that forests are peeling from the hill.
I was originally planning on nipping to town to pick up drinks, snacks etc for the evening and the next day, but that plan was cut down with new technical issues. Rear wheel bearing had gone, somewhat literally.
Being the end of day -1 already, I was supposed to meet up with more people next morning, but now I was browsing through some forums, to find a correct bearing model and if any could be sourced nearby, as well as nearby shops to call in the morning, that might have time to change them. Fortunately I was in the German speaking region of Italy by now, so I could ask for help with calls from our crew.
But I could've chosen a worse place for a breakdown.. ?
Great sauna as well. And morning buffet was nice enough to warrant documenting as well
Small buns be small