Fiastrone trip.

hoo, boy... where do I even start with this one.

Le Marche; this is a story of a time of turmoil, opposing forces, and great upheaval. But also one of a common, unspoken language of camaraderie, friendship and roadside fettuccine.
Those who know it can still ride motorcycles with no drama and have the sort of good time that seems to escape so many people these days, so caught up are they with politics and pointless power dynamics; the poor fools.

After the debacle that was putting "Corsicaworld" on indefinite hold for various reasons (and just to be clear, totally unrelated to the aforementioned poor fools), this came as a welcome reversal of fortunes.

I had started thinking about this trip a good while back and organized what turned out to be a really cool weekend away, counting on the fact that my friends would want to go ride (a reasonable assumption, you'll agree!). But some bad mojo got in the way and I ended up alone, or so I thought.

Disappointed though I was, I decided that if on one hand no longer having friends to go ride with would be close to the worst thing that could happen, on the other hand the absolute worst thing that could happen is that I stop riding altogether, so, I decided to go anyway, by myself.

There is a saying in Italian "meglio soli che male accompagnati" (better alone than in bad company) and that's what I thought as I learned that no one was coming. And just as I was done thinking that, three other people showed up on three old-school choppers and we all rode away together.

This, more than perhaps any other recent trip I've been on over the last couple of years, was a return to a way of motorcycling from a simpler, purer time with just a hint of nostalgia and rose-colored glasses all 'round.

Look at those deathtraps... lemme tell ya, those fellas ride those things hard. Had I been on a similar machine I don't think I'd have been able to keep up. Well done gentlemen.

I found a new place to go see, planned the routes, and found a rather special campsite. Those who came all had a good time, and I think it could be something we could do again at some point, definitely one to keep in our roadbook.

This whole area was badly affected by a series of strong earthquakes less than a year ago. Besides from the tragic loss of life and the obvious, devastating damage to buildings and entire towns, there is also a more insidious type of damage, creeping through the sprawling countryside: so much of the road infrastructure has been affected, and repairs are going to take forever. We came across several roadblocks and just beyond them you could see piles of boulders, sometimes collapsed bridges, gaping cracks in the road... all fairly unsettling.

Re-routing became a real orienteering test, but we managed. I really hope this place recovers fast.

Here's a few more photos, thanks to everyone who came along and here's hoping those who stayed home can go ride next time: