At the end of our first day.  Don’t we look like road warriors!

This page is dedicated to my friend and shipmate – the now retired EMC Robert "Bob" Cravens.  It chronicles a three day, 1200 mile ride ride we took back in October of 1998 that traced the boot of Italy.   Bob’s steel steed was a 1992 Harley Davidson Springer Softtail and mine was a 1997 Harley Davidson Sportster XLH 1200.  This ride was my first "extended" ride – Bob of course has done many more.  The longest I had ever spent in the saddle at one shot up to this point was about three hours.  Man was I in for a surprise (so was my backside!).

The story of our three day run is adapted from an e-mail Bob sent out after our ride.

By the way, all the pictures on this page are thumbnails – you can see the full size version in a new window just by clicking on it.

 

Rich and Bob and their steel rides at Santa Maria de Leuca.  This was the southern most point of the "heel" and the end of our first day of riding.

Day 1 – 19 October 1998

It was Friday the 9th of October 1998 at 9:00 AM when we met to begin our journey around the boot of Italy.  We had a quick cappuccino at the local bar north of Naples, checked our loads and mounted leather to ride east. The weather was cool as we crossed the mountains of central Italy but not unbearable.  As a substance abuse counselor and non-drug user I found it amusing to be at a rest stop in the mountains and have an admirer of the bike offer me some marijuana for the journey, I politely declined.  he was about 40 also and looked like his impression of American motorcyclists came from watching The Wild Ones and Easy Rider.  As we continued east and down out of the mountains we seemed to be dodging rain drops and just missing any significant periods of wetness.  When we got down to the Adriatic Sea we turned south along the coast.  Quite comfortable in our saddles and doing a leisurely 60-65 MPH we enjoyed the splendor of Italy’s east coast and the differences it offered from our side.  One particularly interesting city was a place called Citta di Bianco or the White City.  It was appropriately named as the whole place was painted white.  At a little after 4:00 PM we pulled into our destination for the evening at the southern most tip of the "heel".  What a genuinely beautiful and peaceful place.  After taking some pictures for the scrap book and downing a coke we headed over to a local campsite where the ten was pitched and the bodies could rest.  Eating supper at a local restaurant was great and the price (about $13.00 a piece) was excellent.  We had a huge portion of spaghetti vongole (baby clams), french fries, 2 liters of coke, bread and bruschetta (toasted bread with fresh tomatoes and garlic mixture on top).  Back at the camp ground we cleaned up from the day.  Unfortunately this did not include a hot shower as they were coin operated so it was a cold wash in the sink.  We watched some local youth play soccer on a small court at the grounds and shortly thereafter crawled into our tent with dreams of biking in our heads.

Day 1 Photos

Day 2 – 20 October 1998

Awakening at 6:30 AM we packed our sleds and under an overcast sky headed down the road with the "toe" as our goal.  It was poor weather with wet roads from the morning dew for a couple of hours which kept our speed down considerably but we dutifully trudged ahead with only a stop for some breakfast and gas.  As the weather cleared we found ourselves admiring the beauty of the Jasmine Coast and early afternoon found us at Castello di Roseto, the coolest castle we had ever seen.  here we posed for some shots with the H-D’s in the foreground (hoping to get them in the Enthusiast).  The sky had opened up and it was beautiful sunshine the rest of the day as we passed through the sister city to Fairfield, Australia.  By early evening we pulled into a small city called Bianco.   There were more Carabinieri (Italy’s military police) than we have ever seen but it needs to be remembered this is truly Mafioso country and judges are forever on the lookout for attacks on their life.  We pulled over to look at the map and 30 seconds later the police were pulled up next to us making sure everything was OK and checking us out.  With darkness quickly approaching we considered cutting the corner of the "toe" to make our destination.  After discussing the Un-Bikerness of it we pushed through into the dark and came to a campground in Melito di Punto Salvo which was about 30 kilometers short of our intended stop sport.  It was a nice place right on the beach and the manager opened up one of the hotel rooms so we could get hot showers.  The pasta was plentiful and great but the fries we ordered were the worst.   We reviewed the day and talked before hitting the racks and getting a good night’s sleep.

Day 2 Photos

 

Day 3 – 21 October 1998

Our final day placed us moving north along the coast shortly after 7:00 AM.  We had to get the manager of the camp grounds up in his skivvies to let us out of the place!  We found an early morning cafe bar and had cappuccinos and pastries, perfect and fresh right out of the oven, a great way to start the day.  One of the first sights to greet us was the coast of Sicily across the Straits of Messina.  It was cool and a little windy as we wound our way up north along the western coast facing the Mediterranean.  Stopping now and again for a Kodak moment we picked up speed a little on the four lane highway and headed inland to the mountains knowing this was the final day.  Following the ribbon of road higher and higher the scenery was breathtaking with lush valley’s and majestic peaks.  Somewhere around the 10,000 foot mark we discovered another ancient and beautiful castle.   Unable to get close to it we took pictures and wondered how it came to be.  As we descended from the mountain tops and the weather warmed we finally found the need for rain gear.  We road carefully at reduced speed while the cars continued to race by between 70-100 MPH. throwing their spray and fouling up our visibility.  At about 4:00 PM and 1200 miles later we pulled back into our starting place.  We of course finished the ride as it began, with a good cappuccino and toasts to the road and pleasures so sweet.

As we returned to our homes I couldn’t help but think that it is not about where your going so much as the pleasure involved in getting there.

Ride safe and keep the rubber side down.

Day 3 Photos

 

Note: This was originally published in the Fall of 1998 after the ride.  I am posting it again to get it back online as it has been stored offline for sometime.  All of the photos are scanned in copies of the original prints.

Of course technology has developed since this ride 12 years ago that I can insert a map here to show you the route we took.  Here is what our ride looked like on the map:

The 12 year anniversary of this ride is coming up this week so the timing is great to get it posted online again.  Bob and I have plans to recreate this ride once again after I retire from the Navy.  We will use the Florida peninsula instead of Italy though.

Enjoy reading about the ride once again!