Pathfinder2: un hors-programme

When I originally started thinking about this trip, I had intended to do it solo both as a way to do some much needed motocamping meditation on my own, as well as to test the new route for this year's CMT with a small bike; the idea being that I would take the Triumph to the CMT5 and I wanted to see if it was feasible.

However, over time the plan evolved as I talked about it with Witold, and it took shape almost by itself, as it often happens with these things; in this particular case it was W's idea of trying to go off the beaten track as much as possible that really helped in making the most out of the planning phase. The inspiration came to him from this offroad 4x4 event called "per antichi sentieri", and we tried to do something vaguely similar.

Obviously by eliminating almost anything to do with such candy-assed ideas as "safety" our organization is much simpler and more streamlined. Hooray! (If that last sentence made you chuckle, I recommend you read the excellent article I stole it from, and marvel at the lunacy of Project Pluto.)

At this point this trip became its own thing and you'd have to be crazy to do what we did, on a bunch of roadsters: CMT5 will see us along a far more civilized route.

The Honda and the Yamaha were absolutely perfect bikes for this trip: lightweight, tractable and with decent tires, they allowed us to do something like we did during the Stealth Trip 2, but without the wide-eyed terror.

The day really was all about hanging out and riding through these mountains we love so much on tiny bikes with minimal luggage. And it was minimal! I left the tent at home, in favor of this shelter that my awesome sister made for me. Witold shrunk everything down in a small waterproof pack and yet had everything he needed and nothing he didn't. We also had some extra gas, 2lt. just to give us a bit more range, definitely worth the additional load on the Yamaha.

Riding across familiar territories at a much slower pace may seem irritating at first, but if you can quiet the ego and rid yourself of its impatience you can quite easily understand that this is actually a meditation aid: if you can allow your psychic frequency to drift until it matches that of a higher cosmic one, riding like this is a good way to help you stay with it, so you can reap the benefits of communing with the collective subconscious. Besides, what these little bikes lacked in terms of displacement, we more than made up for with the size, and heft, of our manly attributes.

We begin our ascent on the westernmost bastion of the Apennines entering the Lucretili park through blindingly bright psychic landscapes, unto righteous triumph:

Perhaps not surprisingly, we weren't able to go exactly the way we had planned, there were ravines, a pack of dogs, mud, rocks and -worst of all- locked gates that forced us to re-route a couple of times.

Still, it was a lot of fun and the bikes honestly didn't leave much to be desired in terms of performance: they certainly have it where it counts!

I am adding this experience to the mental enchiridion of mystical paths across valleys and mountains that we have compiled over the years; you never know when we might be back around these parts.

As for the camp set-up, the new shelter works exactly as I wanted it to, and doubles as the luggage roll too, which is really convenient; cheers!