Growing up in a home without motorcycles, Max Biaggi didn’t even see a racetrack until he was eighteen years old, but as soon as he saw the Vallelunga circuit near Rome, he immediately fell in love with the sight, smell and sounds of racing.

With the help of his Father, Max started 125cc Sport Production racing and decided he’d put everything on the line in pursuit of his dream – becoming a motorcycling world champion – several years later Max and Aprilia would become 250cc world champions.

Now, after competing at the top fight of motorcycle racing since 1992, Max Biaggi opens up and lets you into his life away from the racetrack as he prepares for another season of World Superbike racing with Aprilia and the RSV4.

From the snow covered mountain tops of Italian Alps to the muddy trails of the humid Malaysian mountains, through days of baking sun on the back-roads around Africa to the driving rain of the Yorkshire Dales, its safe to say that I’ve ridden in just about every climate and weather condition that you could think of in my Durban gear.

From the first moment of putting on the Durban Jacket and Pants to then taking them off after living in them for over three-weeks in Europe, the Alpinestars adventure gear has felt nothing but comfortable, protective and ready for anything I ride into.

When I go away on trips I hate carrying loads of stuff, it just weighs me down, of course you have to carry the bare essentials but I detest having to carry any more than really necessary, I especially don’t want to be taking different types of riding gear for different weather conditions.

After learning the hard way, I’ve now got it down, a few simple items and the job is sorted, I can pack my bag with a few riding essentials and know whatever I ride into, its OK, the job is covered, my gear can handle it and thankfully I’m not going to get soaking wet and be shivering myself to sleep ever again.

Here are my favorite things about the Durban Gear

Jacket: There are so many great things about the Durban jacket!

My Stuff: The Durban jacket has loads of pockets, I’m able to carry my smaller more personal items close to me (Phone, Passport, Wallet, Toll Tickets etc) in the chest pockets as well as bigger items (camera, food, maps, etc) in the waist pockets. All have been easy to open and close, and I’ve ridden with total piece of mind that my things are safe and secure. The huge pocket on the back can carry anything you zip out of zip off or even even carry something else if needed – very handy and I didn’t notice it when loaded.

Getting Hot?: The sleeves allow you to totally regulate your own temperature, so if the zippered air intakes and rear air exhausts aren’t cooling you down then the detachable sleeves will. They have also got a multiple fit adjustment allowing a tailored fit to your own arm size.

Safety: Comes with lightweight & fully removable CE certified elbow and shoulder protection and a high visibility reflective stripes and if you want neck support it accommodates the Bionic Neck Support also.

Thirsty?: It has a 2 liter bladder pocket – now you can drink and ride!

Dry?: No problem as nothing is getting passed the ultra-lightweight and removable Paclite® liner, this liner kept me warm and dry in every riding condition.

Weight: Thanks to it well designed construction which uses weight saving materials throughout, this jacket will never weigh you down.

Pants: Hard wearing and robust

100%: 2 external 100% waterproof pockets keep things dry no matter what conditions you are riding in.

Support: The pants come with a removable bib and braces which I just love wearing as they keep you snug and secure as well as warm and dry. The Articulated rear panel offered further comfort and ease of moment which I find is absolutely essential when you are riding your motorcycle.

Comfort:  These pants are lightweight and extremely comfortable, especially in the knee area thanks to the Vector knee construction and lightweight knee protectors, which give great freedom of movement and ease of maneuverability.

Physical: No problem, just get down and get riding – these pants can handle any water-crossing, freezing mountain hilltop and driving rain as well as sweltering temperatures and intense heat – the air intake and lightweight removable Paclite® Shell keeps you dry as well as allowing you to regulate your own temperature.

Robust: The most hard-wearing areas are made from leather or Superfabric® for that extra abrasion resistance.

Adventure: Made to go with a Adventure/MX/Enduro and Touring style riding boots, all you need to do is decide which works goes best for you…
Sum it up: I’ve been all kinds of places and ridden over 15,000miles in my Durban gear and its still going strong – apart from in need of a good wash, its ready to go and be my trusty companion on my future motorcycle adventures.

Photos by: Luca Merli – Italy

Austria – Switzerland – Italy

The final part of the Lucky Bastard’s Motorcycle Tour #2 is here, it is the final event of the tour and the final search for some cracking motorcycling roads as we go to our final destination – Mugello, Italy.

Seth and I stayed in Eisenerz for a couple of days after the Erzberg Rodeo as I had hurt my back and needed to recover, plus we needed to do laundry, Seth had worn his pants and t-shirts both ways while my dirty washing bag was starting to move, make noises and try and walk off by itself.

Luckily we found a brilliant and very old guest house (Alpinclub-Eisenerz) just outside the center where the owner Regina more than looked after us, plus allowed us to clean all our clothing and re-charge from the dismal weather we’d had to camp in for the past 3 days. After that would we set off to Switzerland (Where we would meet up with my good friend and riding partner from part of my Lucky Bastard’s Motorcycle Tour #1 – Alex) and as we went we looked for the most interesting roads to get there. We did but even though the roads were great, they were also well used, full of trucks and cars, and really made the day’s ride a long and difficult one.

However, the weather had turned, it was now glorious and it was great to be back on a motorbikes, seeing sights and clicking by more miles. The highlight of the day was reaching a mountain top, seeing a spectacular view of waterfalls, valleys and meeting a pair of bikers from the UK who were also on a LBMT of their own! We rode up and down the amazing bends of the Gerlos Alpenstrasse before crossing into Switzerland via Lichtenstein.

We were heading towards Zurich but didn’t make it and bedded down in a small place called Murg which was near a lake and looked on my map as good as anywhere. As it turned out it was a great place to stop for the night as the closed campsite (it was after 9pm) was right on the water, so we snuck in and set up camp, the night sky and morning sun rise was just fantastic.

Unfortunately I cannot share photos of the guest house and day, night or morning as my SD card failed as I downloaded in the morning and I lost all photo’s, totally gutted and hugely disappointed… it hurts to think of all the good memories lost

That morning I spent many hours uploading video footage while my friend Alex rode through 650miles of pouring rain from London to arrive in Murg and meet up with Seth and I. Oh yes, now the LBMT#2 became 3 riders and all good friends! Sweet!! – Switzerland to Asolo in Italy was the plan for the day and the roads we had planned out gave us all reason to feel excited even before we had done a mile.

Poor Alex had ridden in pouring rain from the second he set off from London, the dark skies, driving rain and even thunder and lightening had followed him all the way, when he did ride out of it, he’d stop for gas and it would catch him up and by the time he got going again he’d be wet riding once again.

Finally just outside of Zurich he got away from the wet stuff and as he arrived in Murg, it was dry. I was making full use of the campsites wifi and was uploading loads of huge files so Seth and Alex had to sit around for a while and wait, by the time I’d finished it was pouring once again, Alex had brought the weather with him….

So, for the first part of the day it was a wet one but soon as we jumped off the motorway and towards our first mountain pass of the day, the roads were thankfully dry and we could peel off our wet suits and dry out.

The first pass was Flüelapass which is a 2383 meter climb which took us high and towards out first sight of snow. There were many other bikers on the road, mainly coming the other way so we knew it was a great biking road and loved by many, at the summit we saw a guy with the largest yellow tank bag I’ve ever seen, he struggled to reach the bars!

After a quick stop to high5 and take a picture it was on to the next pass, the Ofenpass a great series of uphill corners that at the summit it is 2149 meters and a wonderful sight welcomes you as the view of the snow capped mountains in the distance and the motorcycle hanging above the cafe is sure evidence that this road was made for bikers.

There wasn’t that much on the road, some cyclists, few cars and the odd bus which mainly took the weaker cyclists to the top and dropped them off so they could free-wheel down the other side, the rest of the traffic was motorbikes. Again it was high 5′s, huge grins and another summit photo before we were off on our way again and on to the premier pass of the day, possibly in existence…the Stelvio Pass.

At the base of the Stevlio on the Swiss side is a tiny and narrow village, a sharp right in the middle of town with a sign high up hardly makes you believe this could be the famous road, half a mile up the road and after already a few aggressive corners, there was no way it wasn’t, look up and see the road switch back and forth you soon realized that you were going to be climbing and corning for quite a while.

Once out of the trees the road did open up a bit more, but not much, it was corner after corner and they weren’t fast corners, more like hairpin bends, up hill hairpin bends at that. For some reason the dry and sticky tarmac turned into a gravel road, only for a mile but it was enough to easily fall down, which I nearly did after getting on the gas a bit hard out of one of the corners, the back-end kicking out more than a bit and getting my full attention.

Once we were back on the good road, it climbed, climbed and climbed high up the mountain, when you got a chance to glance down at what you had ridden, the view was just spectacular, it was hard to believe that you just come up such a road, it look more like a wiggly string of spaghetti.

Almost at the summit you leave gorgeous Switzerland and step into Italy and at the top of the Stelvio you are welcomed by glorious Bormio sign which is covered in signatures, stickers and people who have reached the summit of this magnificent road before you, bloody brilliant! so we added out mark and enjoyed the moment together, our stupid grin had just got bigger.

The ride down the other side was even more treacherous, sharper hairpins, 49 or 50 in fact, very narrow and steep. You’d think it was a single track road but it’s not, cars, bikes and even the odd van and cyclist will be heading your way but no one is traveling fast, it’s a slow road and one that must be taken carefully as if you get it wrong, the small wall and dramatic drop would only end one way.

At the bottom and with the snow capped mountain in the back ground we all stopped for one last photo, I somehow managed to balance my camera on some rocks, stick it on the timer and a cracking photo came out with our 3 great machines and 3 very happy friends all smiling inside and out, a fantastic photo with awesome memories.

The ride from then on to Asolo was a gentle one, we left the Stelvio behind but it will be forever with us and arriving late in Asolo we showered and then ate at a local Italian restaurant where we all told tails of our motorcycling adventures of the day and fell asleep with smiles on our faces.

Asolo to Mugello – ITALY

Waking up in Asolo is always a happy time, firstly because of the fact I’m at Alpinestars HQ,  then there is an amazing bakery just down the road which has amazing choice and causes instant drooling. On top of that Alpinestars have Tetley Tea if you don’t want an Espresso, the sense of motorcycle history is all around and the sun always seems to come up, it the perfect start to any day.

After sleeping next to Alex on a shared bed (I was in my bag) packing up our gear, taking what was possibly our last good shower until we returned home (we’d stayed the night at an Alpinestars apartment),  the boys went into old Asolo center on top of the hill while I got into motorcycle talk with Gabriele. By the time I met up with them it was just before lunch, they’d already had ice cream and looked very settled outside the cafe and in the Italian sun.

As soon as Alex spotted some Pasta being eaten, lunch was then ordered, which we guzzled fast and then we all hit the road in a flash, it was a late start to our riding day in which we had to cover many miles, especially if we wanted to fit it in all before sun set.

A man came up to me as I parked the Tenere and said the bike looked incredible and like one from the magazines, tested, dirty, ridden and enjoyed, I told him he was very right, we agreed it look superb as an Adventured, Adventure bike. Gabriele on the other hand wasn’t as sure, he was left with a big dirty mark outside his office doorway, the overnight storm had washed some of the Erzberg orange dirt off – leaving a big dirty puddle as it cleaned the muddy bike off a bit.

It’s never easy leaving such a beautiful part of the world but we were soon off and now heading for Venice. Of course we took the back roads all the way, through Castelfranco and then out onto the glorious little island of Venezia. If you have never been to Venice, it’s well worth the trip, few make it onto the center by their own wheels but there is a big motorcycle park on the island, but a small motorcycle is better suited to Venezia than the 2 huge Adventure bikes and a Sport Tourer as we found out.

A quick stop for photos, see a few sights and top up with gas it was full steam ahead to Bologna and the fantastic road we’d all be talking about, discussing and getting excited about all day, for Alex and I it was more like all year as Bologna is the start of one of the most magical motorcycling roads in Italy, even the world.

Getting to Bologna was a pain in the ass, the road we’d chosen was littered with traffic and many Trucks, we opted to turn off for quieter roads and more fun, we got them but then got lost, still it was better coming up on loads of lorries and hearing ‘clear, clear’ clear’ through the ScalaRider intercom that all three of us were hooked up to.

At the end of the day it all worked out and soon we were in the dead center of Bologna, we cut through all the buses and cars and then on to the narrow streets where we rode amongst the motorbikers of the city, riding through ancient archways and on the cobbles, it was brilliant.

Coming out the other side of the city we took small roads and lanes than looked right and the first major junction we came to a blue sign across the road said ‘Futa’ – left, this way. Happy days, it was a straight run into the magnificent hills of the Futa Pass.

As we left Bologna behind we got many a riding lesson from the locals and picked up many tips of how they get around this city on 2 wheels and it reminded me a lot like London, Alex’s home turf. Motorbikes, Scooters, Mopeds, they all work here, even an old man on a motorized wheel-chair was faster than some of the cars, the center of Bologna was old and beautiful, a wonderful city and the home of Ducati, the Futa Pass being their local test track and the road we would be on in a matter of minutes.

As the busy traffic fades, the Futa Pass starts, the twists and hills give instant motorcycling freedom and it is the Futa’s brilliant demands that give you great satisfaction to ride. No two corners are the same but many are similar, the speed and rhythm to corner is a long dance that only gives you a chance to catch your breath as you slow down for villages, traffic or the locals residents as you click by the miles and towards the summit.

Sat at the back of the pack the visual was just brilliant, I watched as my buddies nailed the turns while the crisp ScalaRider intercom allowed me to hear the joy and excitement coming out of Alex and Seth’s mouths while they were riding the non-stop corners of the Futa Pass.

We stopped off once again at the Summit, of course to get some photos but to also chat about the road we’d just taken to get us to that point as the Futa’s corners are just the best. As soon as I saw the look on Alex’s & Seth’s faces I knew we were all thinking the same, that was amazing, so much fun and quite possibly the best road we’d ridden together so far. On top of that my 2 riding partners had improved their own riding skills tremendously, each helping bring the other one on and I tried to offer some help if I thought they needed it.

All of it had come together, now we were riding the Futa SP65, all enjoying being on a motorcycle, all having the time of our lives and doing it safely and smartly.

After the obligatory photo the three of us breezed down the other side got our 1st look of Mugello from above and soon picked up our 1st Mugello race circuit sign, just perfect.

Having lucky enough to have been to Mugello a few times, I knew of a good Italian place to grab food and recharge our batteries whilst telling tales about our riding day. Many good times had been had today, we’d ridden some fantastic mountain roads in 2 days and now we were at Mugello for the MotoGP, no one could take the smiles off our faces, not even Seth’s as he got hen pecked for having fun.

After filling our tummies we headed for the P2 car park, it’s just outside the track, has some security and is floodlit for most of the night, last year Alex and I got robbed in our sleep there, we hoped for better this time. To be extra careful we put our tents up against the hedge, made a tight triangle out of the three tents and then put our bikes in between the tents. After that we tided ropes and bungees around the bikes and back to the tents and then locked ourselves in the best we could from the inside.

Ear plugs were needed as the MotoGP beer tent was open and pumping loudly, security dogs were barking and a high-speed train was ripping past at all times of the night just a short distance away.

By morning it would reveal that our fears of robbery were correct as our bungees and ropes from around the bikes had been removed, the side of Alex’s tent was un-clipped and pulled up to expose his fly sheet and then that was tampered with. Seth’s tent was un-zipped and his door way partially open and thankfully they’d left me alone, either beaten as they couldn’t quickly penetrate our camping security or disturbed.

In the morning we were a bit down about the fact we’d been f*cked with again in the dead of night but soon it was back to smiles after it was confirmed that nothing was missing, we had a delicious chocolate croissant & Cappuccino at a local cafe bar and Alpinestars came through with passes.

Once we got our bikes and valuables inside the track and only left our bare essentials in the tents we felt 100% better, it was our own victory and the weekend was just beginning, Mugello MotoGP here we come……

After the MXGP, it’s on to Erzberg in Austria for an extreme Enduro. The only thing between me and the next awesome event is about 1,500miles (2,400km) and a few countries to ride through, all good, I’m riding a wonderful motorcycle and don’t need to be there until Thursday morning.

So, looking on the map, the best way for me was to go back the way I came, hardly a problem seen as I’d ridden in on the BEST motorcycle road I’d ever ridden, however there was another way around the Picos de Europa National Park so I intended to go and find out more about the wonderful place.

The same beauty was on show as I rolled up to Riaño, only this time it was sunny, really sunny and looked even more gorgeous than before. So this time I switched sides and rode the other way around the National Park and I was instantly stunned by the views, the beauty and again, motorcycling roads from the gods.

Instead of climbing high and into the clouds, this road mainly stayed low cutting through the hillsides and it seemed like I was going down hill most of the time. Once again the corners were non-stop, coming at me like never ending computer game, but this was no game, it was real and the sights combined with the amazing corners was like a dream, just magnificent! And joins the the other side of the park as my #1 road = 1st! (sorry but they are both truly brilliant, wonderful and very special).

With all of the amazing sights around me it was easy to glance up and, take a look and find yourself missing a corner and facing trouble so my eyes were focusing on what was coming up as this wonderful road left no room for error.

Once out of the National Park, I didn’t go straight to the main road, instead I switched and ran across the the N-621, again on a brilliant road but there were a few more cars but the views were spectacular all the same. Once I hit Santander I was well behind my schedule of getting to Austria so I hit the fastest roads I could find and clicked by the miles, I wasn’t bothered as I’d had more than my cornering fix for the day so I didn’t care about hitting the Peage, anyway my mind was still switching left and right although I was going mainly straight for hour after hour, tank of gas after tank of gas long after the skies had gone dark.

My bed for the night was well out of Spain and into the south of France, finally bedding down next to a country road and grinning myself to sleep. Once again I’d found a very special motorcycling road and felt very fulfilled and extremely lucky.

Next stop is more loads more twisties in the South of France then onto Monaco where I’ll be meeting up with a buddy of mine who I used to race 250′s with, he is a lot faster than me, hence the reason he lives in Monaco and how I now spend most of my time sleeping in a tent, I hope he let’s me take a shower at his place as I am starting to wiff a bit….

The next morning I took off an hit the French countryside, the sun was blazing and it was a gorgeous day to ride a motorbike. My plan was to be in Monaco later that day so I spent a good few hours going here, there and everywhere, taking roads with lots of bends in them and staying off the main roads as I knew I’d have hours on the Peage later and be surrounded by cars, trucks and lots of maniacs.

Somehow I came across a cave, it was wonderful to see and ride through, my best tunnel yet, hope the photos give you a feel of what it was like, after it was more and more french countryside before hitting the motorway and trying to get to Monaco before it came dark.

I just managed it, hours and hours of motorway riding, oh how boring and it was also busy and I had to be careful as some car drivers just used their vehicle as weapons and couldn’t care less you were on a motorcycle.

Anyway, finally in Monaco and I met up with my old 250cc buddy who is now the current World Superbike Champion, Max Biaggi and his gorgeous family. I’ve not seen him for about a year and in that time he’s had a son, Leon, who looks like a champ already.

Thankfully he let me use his bathroom so with a quick freshen up we headed off to a friends beach party as Monaco was celebrating the start of the summer….how lucky, one minute I was on a motorbike, smelly and I was thinking of where i should get a cheap bit of grub and the next I’m at a flash party with free food and drinks!! HeeHaaa!

Max let me stay at his new apartment (which he has not even stayed in yet as it’s being refurbished) so I slept on the balcony and enjoyed the views and atmosphere of the unique place. Next morning I was awake before sunrise and hit the roads early to get in some serious miles of 2-wheeled fun before meeting Max for Breakfast and updating MotoGeo.

After a tasty Cappuccino & croissant  I left the glitz and glamor of Monaco and headed off to Asolo Italy, the home and HQ of Alpinestars and where I’d be meeting my old home town friend Seth who is still in a bit of recovery after he broke his back in a MX fall last year.

For sure it scared him and after the accident, he sold his bikes and went back to a normal car life. But after seeing how much enjoyment I have been having, riding here there and everywhere, he couldn’t stand it any longer and bought himself another motorcycle, a BMW sports tourer in fact. So, Seth set off from Holmfirth, England on Monday and by the time I arrived after my rather boring motorway ride to North Italy, he was waiting for me with a huge smile and many stories of being back on 2 wheels once again, brilliant. That night we ate fresh Pasta and planned the next stage of the journey, a 500 mile journey to Erzberg, Austria.

Next morning it was gorgeous weather in Asolo and made even better when Alpinestars donated some brilliant sports touring gear to Seth, a special Birthday present to him and one that really made him feel better after having a rather rough 12 months.

The day looked like being a cracking one and as we headed off to Austria, the vibe was good. Then the tables started to turn, firstly because of the route we’d picked was riddled with traffic – Trucks, cars, Motorhomes and some motorcycles that didn’t like to pass anything. It was a struggle and no matter which way we went, many others seemed to be on the road ahead of us and if that wasn’t bad enough, it then started to get cold, then turned windy, then came the rain.

Next was a road closed sign, a diversion that took us high up into the hills, behind trucks and traffic, around many slippy corners and after being on the road for 3 hours, got lost more than a few times, we’d hardly gone anywhere, got soaked and were slightly down beat.

Next was a fuel stop and a re-think, a new road picked that took us into Austria and this road was brilliant, again, many switch backs that went high up into the mountain but we couldn’t ride it they way we’d like as it was very slippy and was raining.

At the top we met loads of other bikers on the Austrian boarder, they all looked rather stunned, we hoped it was because of the awesome road they’d just taken but in our conversations with them it was because of the terrible weather they’d gone through in Austria and Germany to get to the boarder, oh dear.

We rode into Austria and it was no lie, almost immediately it was pouring down and wasn’t letting up. By the time we took shelter by some trash in a super market car park we were more than soaked. The roads were terrible, loads of standing water and the car drivers weren’t slowing down much so we decided on staying put for a while and see if it would brighten up a bit.

2 hours later there was a break in the clouds so we took off but really just rode straight into more bad weather and as we’d still got 300+ miles to go, it was a case now of just getting on with the job and trying to get to Eisenerz (Erzberg) or close.

It was a sketchy ride, HGV’s were on the road with loads of Caravan’s and the spray coming off these vehicles was immense, the ride wasn’t one we’d like to repeat, it was hard going and slow.

Eventually we called it off around 9:30pm, we were now only 30miles away but it was now dark, riding in the wet at night wasn’t something I wanted to endure as we were both hungry, tired and in need of some hot food and hopefully a better bed than our planned camping.

The stop was in Amont where a very friendly man wearing lederhosen outfit helped us get food and a room in a local guest house which although smelt a bit off, had terrible bed sheets, we had to sleep next to each other, plus the heating didn’t work was almost like the Ritz compared to the thought of pitching our tents and shivering to sleep.

Next morning the weather had improved quite a bit, the roads were still damp and it was spitting with fine rain but that was 100% better than yesterdays conditions and we rode a great rode all the way to Eisenerz where the first sign we saw was a picture of a motorcycle and the iron mountain looked straight at us. Mega, we’d made it, at times yesterday it was difficult to imagine ever getting here but it was a joyful sight seeing the town for real instead of a name on a soggy map and the iron mountain looked increddible, the excitement of the Erzberg Rodeo beings from here, what a proper good do!

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The plan, 3 big Motorcycle Events in 3 different countries in 3 weeks – Ride, Ride, Ride and then watch motorcycle Racing!

After setting off late, getting lost in central London, struggling to find my way out and then rushing to make my 2:10pm ferry to Calais, I just made it. Not only that, I’d not only been parked up 2 seconds when they waved me on and straight to the front on the ship, now that’s the way I like it!

The sun was out in the UK, you could hardly believe the terrible weather we’d had at Silverstone just a few days before and it followed me all the way to Viva La France.

When I got off the ferry I needed gas, prices are crazy in the UK so I thought it would be better to wait until I got across the pond but I went 35miles in the wrong direction trying to find a station so I’d of been better filling up in the UK as it turned out.

Anyway, I’m in no big rush and only tripped myself up so who cares, I was soon pointing in the right direction and heading….errmm somewhere.

I’d not really made a plan so I headed for Caen, then would head South to Fler, Laval etc..

The roads were all brilliant, even the Highways were like riding in the countryside and the Super Tenere just made easy work of the miles and being loaded up to the max.

My thoughts were to ride as far as I could and then just before it turned dark I’d look and find a safe place to set up camp, hopefully I’d be somewhere quiet at this point, but oh no as it turned out I wasn’t, instead I was in the center of Caen. By the time I’d got out of this beautiful old city, the night skies had turned dark and to add to my difficulties it then started to rain and I was on the back foot.

As soon as I got out of the city and into the country I pulled off on a small road and started to look for somewhere to set up camp and get my head down, my choices were limited but I found a spot of grass in a little village and went for it.

As I pulled over it started to pour down and man did I get a soaking, so did all my gear and the tent was wet, inside and out, not the best start to my 3 weeks of camping. To make matters a bit worse I was quite close to a small road, cars kept flying past and scaring the cr*p out of me as I lay in my sodden bag. Finally I fell a sleep but was woken up on several occasions by either a sheep, car, dog or my own scary dream where I had where all my gear washed away in a flood!

When the morning light came I prayed for sun and the chance to dry out my gear so as I dismantled my tent I hung stuff on the nearby fence to dry in the breeze. My mistake was not seeing the barbed wire, so when I threw the top sheet of my tent over the wooden fence a huge rip sound soon followed, then by a few British swear words.

Once on the road, the next few hours were spent looking for someone to repair my damaged tent but after going from one place to another, I was having no joy so ended up buying some adhesive tape from a caravan shop, lets hope it doesn’t rain again for a while….

Anyway, with that all behind me the rest of the day has been spent riding some awesome roads, getting lost because of the small map on my tank doesn’t even have half of the places I keep riding through but who really cares, I’m generally heading in the right direction, I think.

I’ve just popped into the my most detested place on earth – McDonald’s (in Rochefort) – as I was told they have free wifi (They do!) as I wanted to update my site and upload some photos for you all to enjoy the ride with me.

After updating and uploading I got back on the road, it was around 8pm and for the life in me I couldn’t find a fuel station with someone working there, the only way I could get fuel was to put my credit card into the fuel pump machine, no big deal you might think but my American bank card doesn’t have the ‘chip & pin’ system so I was buggered, no gas for Jamie.

As I was riding on thin air looking for fuel stations and after visiting several it was all no joy, all closed so in a desperate attempt for help I stopped and asked a nice lady if she could help me as she was outside her house in her pink slippers. Soon her husband was outside and a whole conversation started with three people who spoke different languages. No French for me, apart from Yes, No and Thank-you, zero English from the French couple, but somehow with a lot of hand signals and yes and no’s we all knew what we were saying and I payed them ca$h and in return they drove down to the local gas station for me and put the same amount on their ‘chip & pin’ credit card! Amazing!!

So with a full tank of gas, I set off and ended up in Talmont, a small place on the coast where I couldn’t resist stopping, drying out my gear, fixing my tent and by the time I’d done that it was coming dark so I decided on spending the night there, great idea, it was beautiful, the stars were out so I opted not to put my rain sheet on my tent and slept under the stars.

All good until rain drops on my face woke me in the morning and by the time I’d packed all my gear away I was soaked once again, mega.

I stopped off at a near by Patisserie were I dried off, got some b’fast and planned my route ahead. While I was there the owner showed me around, explained he also had a BMW motorcycle and then started speaking English to a customer. It turned out she lived just down the road and was from Wigan! Bloody hell, I come half way around the world and I meet someone from just over’t hill.

Back on the road a loaded up with food for the day it was a long and wet ride to Spain where my worse problems were caravan’s and huge trucks kicking up bucket loads of spray. Rain continued all the way to Bayonne, where it finally backed off and remained dull and cloudy until Santander.

I’d been on good roads all day, lots of traffic and to be honest I was feeling exhausted but the road I’d been wanting to ride all day was now in front of me so I filled up with fuel and set off on my 140km journey.

With-in minutes of setting off I was energized, excited, thrilled and forgot about being tired, wow the Parque Nacional Picos de Europa/N621 put a smile on my face which still remains. Corner after corner, beautiful and interesting sights everywhere and total motorcycling bliss, I have to say it is the BEST motorcycling road I have ever ridden, and I’ve ridden quite a few.

My GoPro mount broke early into the ride so I rode a lot of it one-handed to get some shots for you, I hope they show how amazing this road is, over 100km of constant cornering that took me high up into the mountains, into think fog and down the other side where the corners didn’t seem to end.

Eventually I popped into a local town for food but I’d arrived to late and the only place open served Chinese. Now I’ve nothing against Chinese food, but I’d ridden all the way to Spain and my first sample of food was Chinese, seemed quite ironic.

After food I started to look for a place to spend the night and ended up next to a small stream near some woods and fields, the stars were shining, a full moon was out and I smiled all night long dreaming of the road past the Parque Nacional Picos de Europa.

During the night I was awoken by the bright full moon that shone down on me and the Tenere, it was a gorgeous night and I felt lucky to have found a quiet spot with just the trickle of water as back ground noise, this was replaced by birds tweeting in the morning, not a bad wake up call – beats the Seagulls attacking the skip that I had in the Isle of Man for 2 weeks.

So then it was on to my final Spanish destination, La Bañeza which was all but 50km away and an easy ride through some small villages to get there. On my way I couldn’t help but notice huge photos of motorbikes at a Repsol fuel station, it turned out to be a car wash and a great motorcycle promotion if ever I saw one.

Arriving in La Bañeza filled me with joy as I’ve only ever seen this place on YouTube as they have a crazy street race every year which makes the Isle of Man look quite sane. Check it out! Especially the crash around 4mins in:

Eventually I found the MX track, it’s right next to the town who are obviously motorcycle crazy and after picking up my Media pass I set off and ventured out to see some more Spanish villages and get a feel for what goes on outside of town. One small road lead to another, tiny narrow roads that are in need of repair eventually took me to Tabuyo Del Monte where I stopped (in fact the road stops!) and I got off my bike and started to take some photos.

It’s a old town, full of character where an old man wanted me to follow him for over a mile through fields until we arrived at his shed that was full of goats. He opened the  shed door and about 600 goats came flying out, not what I was expecting!

i decided on staying the night here, it was very idyllic and feels like a million miles away from the crazy and dirty Motocross track where I’ll be spending the next few days so I thought I’d enjoy it while I can.

Sorry, I didn’t have a press pass this time, so no racing shots, instead I just hung out with the 45,000 others and snapped a few pics along the way.

If you haven’t ever been to a Supercross event, then I recommend going, you won’t regret it

www.supercrossonline.com

After asking me if this was a joke while rubbing her eyes, and later telling me that just be before I spoke to her, Ely thought I was going to tell her that I’d ruined Christmas dinner but I was going to serve it to my folks anyway, made the whole thing quite a laugh, but thankfully she did say ‘YES!!!”

The truth its no joke, I really do want to marry my angel Elinor and call her my wife, that’s why I asked her, the ’54 Piston ring only came about after a ring I’d liked and photographed while in Italy, was heavily disliked by Ely as she said its for an old-woman, this meant rather than mess the whole ring thing up, I proposed with something close to my heart – motorbikes!

Why did I do such a thing you might ask? Well, because I’ve never enjoyed being around anyone so much in all my life, we have great fun together and I’d like that to continue all our lives, plus anyone who can give birth to our gorgeous son, Giacomo, make Guinness Pie, likes camping and puts up with and actually supports my constant obsession for motorbikes, makes Ely the one for me.

My folks were over joyed, so much so that my Mum took off her Mum’s wedding ring and gave it to me to pass onto Ely on our wedding day, just perfect, keeping the family close and welcoming t’ USA lass into t’ Yorkshire family and extending the Robinson clan even furtha’, what a good do!

I know the post wasn’t much Motorcycle related but as my ring came off the old rust bucket Triumph, I thought I’d share it with you!

Yippee, its Supercross 2012 at Anaheim  tonight!! Oh yeah!!

My Dad has a couple of British bike projects on the go, a Triumph and a BSA, quality and powerful 50′s motorbikes that look stunning and make lots of noise.

While PJ was in the garage, my Mum held Giacomo tightly and showed us the parenting way, it was a fantastic time and as always my camera was capturing the moments, dam once again another memory card was full and as I quickly scanned through the 16GB worth of footage I came across some photo’s I thought I’d lost a few years ago. One’s of the 1954 Triumph Tiger 110 that PJ and I found at the Long Beach swap meet, which then somehow ended up in my garage.

Anyway, the bike was in a bit of a state, by that I mean in was a right rust bucket, the once classic beauty had been raced hard, abused, crashed and then left outside for over 30 years before it came into our life. Here are the photos from the first moments it arrived in the garage and PJ got his hands on it for a complete strip down.

Over the last few years, PJ has been doing a bit here and there when he’s been over for a visit and now as you will see it’s looking fantastic, it’s just amazing what skilled hands can do with time, knowledge and patience….

The timing was perfect as I was just about to pick up the Ducati Diavel for my next video, a few hours of riding the Canyons would be a great way of getting to know this distinct looking beast while going out riding with Gabriele is always a joy as he just loves his motorcycles, rides great and has lots and lots of road riding experience from all over the world.

Before most of LA had got moving I was already at Alpinestars HQ, soon after Gabriele and I were out on different makes of Italian bikes and riding the relatively quiet LA roads, heading North to Malibu where we’d then take PCH and soon after turn off on one of the many canyon roads, which always seem to provide the rider with non-stop corners, unpredictable road surfaces, stunning views and are just a thrill to ride on whether you are going up or down on a motorcycle.

Gabriele’s choice of road was Latigo Canyon, a brilliant wiggly 8 mile stretch of road which has just about every type of corner you could think of in it and by the time you get to the top, you know a lot more about your motorcycle than you did before you rode it.

My first impression of the Diavel was one of shock, I’d surprisingly just been able to keep up with a much more sporty and nibble looking machine as I cruised, sat back like I was in an arm-chair, and rode relaxed, let the great suspension and powerful Ducati motor do all the work and pull me up the hillside, it was a fun time!

At the summit we switched bikes and rode on to the Rock Store for refreshments, moto-talk and also find out firsthand about Alpinestars 2012 gear and what goodies we can expect to see next year. It was great to hear about their unobtrusive base layers (under-gear) which helps us riders stay warm as we ride, something all bikers need to get us through the winter months.

I’m not sure about you but I hate riding and getting cold, I’ve done it more times that I can bare to think about, it makes me shiver just thinking about slowing going cold and numb as you grit your teeth and try and hang on for another few miles. In my opinion, the freezing cold can take all the fun out of riding motorbikes so learning that Alpinestars new base layers are ever improving and becoming more and more comfortable to ride with under your favorite gear without compromising its fit is fantastic news.

After coffee and moto-talk it was back on the twisty roads for more corning fun before Gabriele and I headed our separate ways and I chose the Highway to ride back as I wanted to get to know the Diavel in many different riding conditions as possible and the rammed full Highway was very different from that of the open and free feeling canyons I’d just been enjoying.

Even though it was crazy busy, in California and on a motorcycle you can still split lanes (go between the cars) as long as it’s done in a safe manor, so there were no stops or hold up’s for me, just a narrow lane to negotiate that the Ducati Diavel made light work of and made me become further impressed with this beautiful and rather unusual looking motorcycle.

It had only been a few short hours of riding but many corners had been ridden, the cobwebs had been well and truly blown off and I was starting to fall for another Ducati, dam those Italian’s….once home the strong pulsating motor still reverberated through my hands and finger tips, reminding me just how much fun I’d been having many hours after I’d finished the ride… TBC…

Not so many new bikes for 2012 but still some interesting motorcycles like the gorgeous Ducati Panigale and Triumph’s new 1200 Adventure Touring machine.

Here are some of my favorites motorbikes from the day and of course my eye was on what is avalaible for the kids….