Xmas Ride and Party

The weather was a bit iffy with clouds and a chill, but we were all in high spirit in our mission to become one with our chosen bike, ‘cause while modern motorcycles are often managed by electronics, classics are truly managed by the rider and his/her ability to understand the ride'. Writing this now, I wonder if riding a classic is like finally going to the rain forest rather than Hide Park, or like swimming in the sea as opposed to the pool. Sure, both are great experiences, yet, regardless of speed, one always seems wilder and more organic. The bottom line is, as many of you reading this most likely know, each and every classic bike has its way, its own character to be deciphered and managed. They want to be felt and understood, sometimes even spoken to, like a partner, and if you want to have a good ride, you have to properly flirt with it.

As we enjoyed the smooth ride across the neighbouring Emilia Romagna hills (a region famous for its amazing ham and cheese produce), while marvelling at the mountains and villages in the distance, suddenly a thick fog with a visibility of some 20 mt swallowed us, making it feel like we just entered the next level of a video game. Reaching this tiny ancient village atop a mountain called San Leo, the full on experience then climaxed with a sudden crack in the clouds, the sunshine through the fog and onto our faces for 5 minutes of glory. Up in the town main square the locals studied us at as if we had just reached Mont Blanc. Seeing us with vintage bikes they must must have thought we understood why they live in such an old village, or maybe they thought we were crazy riding in December. Either way, they were very interested to know why we’re there with those bikes and who we were. Perhaps the novelty of seeing a bunch of bikes from their teenage years…

Back at the clubhouse after a good few hours of riding beautiful mountains and countless twisties the party was on the way. Stefano from Birra Seriola was setting up his draught beer and Argentinian Lorenzo was lighting the fire for the bbq, while Magda and the others were laying out giant olives, tasty Coppa (cured ham) and Reggiano (Parmiggiano cheese) for us hungry riders. It was cold, I’m not gonna lie, but we were all pretty hype for the great ride and it took no time for the party to get going. Cars and bikes started piling up in the big courtyard outside, while the mood inside warmed up to the music beat. Our friends at Italian Birra Seriola kindly sponsored the event with copious amounts of ‘motorcycle' craft beer: the so called single, the twin, the three and four cylinders beers, plus the ‘miscela’, an interesting on the spot mix of cloudy hoppy beer and juice. Thankfully numerous trays of perfectly grilled beef and sausages helped us manage the endless beer tastings. After all, you can’t beat an Argentinian at the grill, or can you with enough beer?

In the end, our Xmas ride and party was an intimate affair and a great success, a beautiful opportunity to bring old and new friends together to celebrate our ‘new’ RIDE 70s as a sport association and classic motorcycle club dedicated to incredible Moto-tourism in Italy, and open to everybody round the world. Yes, we would have really loved to make this a much bigger event, inviting friends from further away, but the time of year and the last minute arrangement made this impossible. As we are already planning our next ride and party, we hope it won’t be long before we see many of you at the clubhouse! 

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Godspeed!

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