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12th ATiC meeting
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| Location & Time |
As usual the second meeting for 2001 was a smaller one, "back to
the roots" and mainly self organized.
We have choosen to go to the far north of italy in the area of
dolomiti mountains, which is easy to reach for most ATiCs within
one day.
We stayed on Camping Vidor in Pozza di Fassa (Val di S. Nicolo).
The meeting was scheduled from 23th of August 2001 until 26th of August 2001.
See here for a map of the campsite's location. Coordinates are Lat 46.420477, Long 11.707596
| Tours |
There a are no legal offroad possibilites in the dolomiti area,
but you may find some gravel pass roads in the more remote western
parts of the area.
Instead of going offroad you will be able to view giant landscapes and
drive impressing pass and mountain roads in a very high concentration so
taking 10 passes a day should be no problem ... Be sure that we will
prepare an iron butt tour :)
Some links presenting the area:
http://www.valdifassa.it
http://www.dolomiti.it
| Report |
- by Ingo -
After the great meeting in Castellbo in june, we decided to meet in august in the fantastic landscape of the dolomiti mountains. Micha and Francesco Gentile, who knows the Area quite well organized the nescessary things. So we found a very well equipped camp-sitewhich sanitation-rooms were nearly more nice and clean than that of some student's I know :-) Were else do you find the latest up to date music in the shower or the toilet ?
So two days before the official start of the meeting Schneisi, Micha, Lory, Alberto and me arrived at the campsite in the evening. After suffering all the day from the incredible Italian heat we were quite wondering how cold it was getting in the mountains. But no wondering we were quite high in the mountains. With wondering we found out that Alberto couldn’t survive without his mobile telefon, also while building up his tent he was telefoning all the time. In the night at a pizzeria we learned a new exciting thing. Vietato fumare ! What was this for a restaurant were you're not allowed to smoke ? So, next day we'll do better.. Returned to the campsite we found out another funny thing. It's not allowed to ride the bike inside the camping after 22:00 and between 13:00-15:00, so we also performed a good fitness-exercise every evening pushing the heavy bikes across the campsite :-)
After waking up on the next day, being overwhelmed by the fantastic panorama we decided for an easy trip via some passes to enjoy the great landscape. As the Dolomites have passes like sand on the beach it was a pleasure to ride without doing long road trips for finding a good mountainroad. But from tornante to tornante we learned that the heavy traffic of this tourist-area was quite disturbing for a good biketrip. So it was to decide to ride boring slow within this lame traffic or to ride like a pig and have some fun. Everybody decided on his own.
In the evening we were happy to see some Atics arrvive and after a short salutation we went immediately for a pizzeria to enjoy some culinaric treasures of Italy. After ordering several piatti appetitosi we found out again “Vietato fumare”. Especially for the pity of Schneisi we did the same mistake as the day before :-( So the next day we would be more clever to choose a restaurant were you are allowed to smoke. In this evening we also celebrated a little the birthday of Gian Luca who spent a bottle of wine. Back at the camping we all pushed the bikes again by hand to the tents, uff...
The next day was the beginning of the official meeting. During the day a lot of people were arriving. Amongst them Thorsten with his engine supported bicycle. I will never stop wondering when I imagine that he did the long way to Castellbo with his little DR350. Also Mike and Frank arrived with a big camping-van and quite fast we found out that they had perfect oppurtunities to cool beer, charge mobiles or connect laptops. With astonished eyes it was a little amusing to see Bernd arrive. He must have done a mistake when he was washing is bike-trousers. To believe your eyes, his trousers where not white but pink :-)
Udo was also there. Still suffering from his injured foot he was not coming with the bike, but with his alp-killing Nissan Micra perfect equipped with the bike cases of his Africa :-). Also our “hessisch” friends (Never call them this way) Uli and Stephan (mit ph) arrived with a car and a trailer. Not believing what we see we were taking a look to the strange bike they unloaded from the trailer. With exitement we saw Uli’s new creation of Transalp, KTM and Touratech. For Uli’s pleasure it was nice to call this thing “Unmotorrad” :-)
The next days we were separating in several groups. Every group went to different places. One for a slowly gelati-tour, others for a comfortbly landscapeview-trip and some for faster straight-looking-orientated tours. I joined the group of the crazy Italians. With a weak head from the recent night it was a pleasure to ride with Francesco, Alberto and Gian Luca through the Dolomiti mountains. I didn’t see much of the landscape, but it was not boring at all. After an unwanted contact with a biting insect in my helmet at about 80 Km/h I was surprised by the special kind of overtaking of Francesco. “There is always a gap !!!”: Following this sentence we had no trouble with the heavy traffic during the tour :-)
Falk told me from another tour, that they were also quite fast on the road. With a smile we took a look to the BMW of a friend from Christophe and had again the evidence that BMWs are not build for the fast times in life.On the photo below you can see the suffering main stand.
Bernd and Thorsten with their great hunger for offroad-sections planned a tour to the south in hope to find some unasphaltedroads. Also Schneisi and some people more were crazy enough to go with them. They did a long trip and found also some gravelroads.
On the same day Micha excited some people for the planned iron butt tour. They did a large amount of passes within a long tour straight through the Dolomits and back.
Others stayed lazy at the campsite to enjoy the sun and regenerate from the recent night which was quite hard and exhausting. So also Udo who had no bike there was not alone. Eating pasta from the camping-cooker, drinking cold beer and laying lazy arround talking about the Africa was also a pleasure on this meeting. In the afternoon we could also see that Michi arrived with his KTM and introduced us a new technique how to deliver gelati on the bike :-)
The KTM of Michi, what a bike.
I had the opportunity to ride it for a few kilometers. This is pure fun.
Although if it was quite difficult to start in the first gear without whirling
off some dirt, with the pity of other campsite-guests. So I unfortunately fixed
the bad reputation of the motorbiker to those people :-/
The best were “of course”
the evenings. As we were a lot of people in these days we better reserved the
restaurants for the evenings. For the pity of all smokers we didn’t eat in any
ristorante were there were no “Vietato fumare”. On one evening I found out that
olio piccante is not always the same olio piccante. If you have a sensitive
stomach try to avoid large
quantities of this brutal stuff. But most times we were eating very good.
As on every meeting we sit around a fire, although if it is artificial for talking, joking and drinking. These nights you always think on the next morning were too long. We love these nights. Just a few raindrops and the cold breeze of the mountain nights couldn’t avoid us from drinking and laughing. Lory brought another secret thing. The strange and exciting grolla. The piece of wood filled up with coffe and Grappa 50:50 and the skin of an Orange mixed with sugar provides a warm stomach and a relaxed tong :-) After some attempts some of us were still fighting with this thing. How do you have to put your fingers inside those strange holes not to get your face messed with the delicious alcoholic something?
During that drinking we dicussed a lot about serious things. Why didn’t we change tires this time? Why did we drink the grappa mixed with coffee? With an good example Schneisi showed us how to drink grappa without anything.. Why has our new friend Luxi from Luxemburg a so nice and easy to remind numberplate? Why did the campsite-bar close at 22:00 when so many people of us were sitting there and wanted to drink more cold beer? Why do Aticmeetings last not longer than 3-5 days? Because I know some people who would not survive any longer :-)
On Sunday the most people dismounted their tents and prepared for way home. I can remember good that many people didn’t feel so good because of the last night. As I can say for me, it’s always the same. Drinking to much in the evening makes a hard day when you’ve to go back :-/ I’m always quite sad when an Aticmeeting comes to an end, even more when you know it’s the last one in the year. But also the way back home was nice as I could behold the way how Michi terrorized other poor bike- and cardrivers in
trafficjams with his KTM. It was a pleassure to ride with him. This night some of us slept at Micha, not to make the long way home in only one day.
No accidents, no damage to the bikes, nobody injured, a lot of fun, thank you people for making this event even unique as everytime. I hope we will meet all again in Calabria.
| Report |
- by Bernd Wolfes -
After Gemona and Castellbo this was the 3rd meeting I attended.
And very convenient, too. For me (living south of Munich), only an afternoon
trip away. So I started Friday afternoon directly out of the office and arrived
(via Kesselberg, Innsbruck, Brenner, Passo di Sella) in Pozza at around 7 pm.
It was good to see the spirit team again, which had already taken
the best tent places with top mountain view.
After I had build up my tent I noticed that the one next to me was Adi,
the second loudest snorer at AtiC (after Schneisi). But the usual evening
entertainment (including beer, vine and other high-proof things) generated
a good tranquilization. Ingo was also there and everybody waited for him
and Gian Luca to start the famous tire-change ceremony.
But due to the fact that there are almost no (legal) off road sections in
this part of Italy they decided to stay on road tires.
Saturday started with perfect bike weather: clear blue sky and pleasant
temperatures. As usual the whole morning was lost with breakfast and
discussions about the way to go. But anyway, it's holiday. We formed a
small group, although Schneisi had concerns that I could find again
some short cuts like in Castellbo (thank you Andi for not telling
any names in the day 4 tour) he followed.
The others went for the racing tour. But unfortunately August is
also Ferrogusto. Every city around was filled with people, cars,
motor homes and some poor police man and woman trying to organize the chaos.
We took the SS346 to Passo San Pellegrino, Passo di Valles, Passo Rolle.
Thousands of curves, some of the best roads in the dolomite alps. After
lunch on Passo Brocon, we took a gravel road down to Fonzaso. Easy going,
there should be no other off-road disaster day (although I can't
remember such thing in Spain). For improving our knowledge in history, we
visited the old Forte Leone on Cima di Campo.
The sporty group took a walk around the fortress and found the backside
entrance (a big hole in the wall) to have a look inside. The lazy group
waited outside. After so much cultural edification, we got back on the
bikes and tried to find some offroad sections down into Val Sugana.
With only little success we drove back home via Passo di Manghen and
another thousand curves. ^M^MBack in the ice café at Pozza we met some
more comrades. Michi (the guy who killed the RD04 gearbox) made the
iron-butt-for-beginners-tour with his KTM. Then pasta and pizza, and the
evening ended with one of the great @-sit-around-something (no open fires
allowed on this campsite), beer and vine. Then GLG and Lory prepared some
strange stuff in a clay pot. It tasted very good, probably included lots
of alcohol and so tranquilization for another night was guaranteed.
On Sunday some folks suffered from the night before, others had to leave for home again. The remaining ones set up for two groups and easy on-road tours. I was doing the Saturday tour the other way round (each curve is different) including some investigation on road sections no longer maintained by A.N.A.S.
In the evening we met again for the usual ice café, pizza and vino
entertainment. I went home on Monday, taking the long road via
Passo di Sella, di Gardena and Passo di Erbe.
A last Italian meal at the restaurant on Passo d'Erbe, and then heading
north on the Munich-Garda Raceway (Brenner).
Thanks to all who made the meeting to another success and
accident-free event.
| Participants |
| Disclaimer |
We as the ATiC provide only information regarding to this event. We offer roadbooks for possible tours and try to help you in finding a suitable accomodation. However, you join all events totally voluntary and on your own risk. We are absolutely not responsible for things that happen to you or to your gear. In case of an accident, damage or loss you and the involved persons are fully responsible to each other. You cannot claim ATiC for any reponsibility.
