|
14 October 2001 Mandello del Lario: On the banks of lovely Lake Como |
 |
|
Ferrying
the Guzzi back
|
It was difficult to leave Verona this morning but the shores of Lake Como were calling. I made it by noon and Marcello Moltini was waiting for me in Mandello del Lario where we began my last ride of the trip. For Marcello and thousands of others this is a weekend ritual -- to circumnavigate this lake shaped like an upsidedown Y. This shape gives it plenty of shoreline, but if you get tired of riding there are a couple of ferries that will take you back across again to one of the extremely quaint villages set at its banks, overwhelmed by the alps hulking above. In the winter, Marcello says, this area is even more beautiful because there is snow on these mountains, though it is warm at lake level.
Marcello was a perfect Italian gentleman and did not ride at breakneck speeds on the white line between cars as the other bikers did. I have not been able to get used to this habit of passing car after car after car, even with oncoming traffic active.
Perhaps it's because I'm an American... or a woman... or a combination of the two, but I just don't trust that the car in front of me won't brake or swerve or that the road is completely clear of debris or water or oil. Italian riders seem to trust all of the above. But... I must say that drivers of cars here actually pay attention to the process of driving, and at all times know what's in their rear view mirror. If it happens to be a bike -- or a small Fiat -- they will move over as far as possible into what we call the emergency lane in order to allow that vehicle to pass even though oncoming traffic is, well, oncoming. But oncoming traffic will also move over into the emergency lane so that there's enough room to squeeze through. All this, and I only saw one accident today -- a totalled yellow Ducati and an ambulance screeching away, which I suppose means that the rider was at least still alive. None of the bikers around seemed to take heed, but it caused me to slow down a bit more which no doubt drove the other bikers crazy, and the cars, too, because they are used to motorcyclists acting a certain way and I don't so it must be confusing. All that sounds as if it's not a very nice experience, riding around Lake Como or in Italy, but it is, and all day I was thinking how this would be my last ride and how lovely it was, with the lake and the villages, and an elegant lunch of lake fish and pasta in the autumn sunshine. Tomorrow I visit the Moto Guzzi factory and the next day I'm on a flight home... only one month. I thought it would be enough to explore the small country of Italy, but there are so many mountains here, geography really gets in the way of doing it all. I've missed Pisa and Venice and Pompeii to name a few, but that gives me reasons to return, right? Tomorrow... the Moto Guzzi factory.
|
