Dainese - DaineseMe - PERSONAL BLOG

Champions for safety

Events and beyond

Lucky members

Authors

PERSONAL BLOG - ALISON BRADLEY #1

22 settembre 2009 | Events | Italian Legendary Tour

Morning
Sitting in Amsterdam airport watching the departure board lazily from half closed eyes, groggy from the lack of sleep required to facilitate a 3am start, I begin to wonder about exactly what an “Italian Legendary Tour” might mean? I love Italy and I have a soft spot for Italians having enjoyed some fabulous holidays in the country over the last 5 years. But I know they can be romantically adventurous with their words and sometimes their passion can lead to over enthusiastic descriptions for the routine or the normal.
I’ve read the Dainese competition details many times since I was finally convinced I was a winner. I’ve checked the Italian Legendary Tour (ILT) website and I can understand the “sales pitch” as far as it goes: “1000km in the breathtaking hairpin bends and fabulous scenery of the Italian Dolomites. Riding together with 3 world champions or 20 world titles: Ago, Biaggi and Lucchellini”. So inside my typically sceptical English mind I translated this as a few miles in the hills on some twisty stuff, with a famous racer or two dropping in for a moment or two. The stuff of legends? Possibly but I still wasn’t sure. Well, only a two hour flight between me and finding out for definite.

Afternoon
Put any biker near a new shining piece of metal and they turn into a quivering wreck unable to speak for a moment as they take in the lines, the look and the feel of a new unfamiliar motorcycle. So imagine my face as I stop in the loading bay of the Dainese factory in Vicenza to gaze on row upon row of gorgeous gleaming Italian exotica. Ducati 1098s and MV Augusta F4s looking mean and purposeful, wedged in between rows of purposeful looking Moto Morini 1200s and aggressive MV Brutales. This was one garage no one wanted to leave. Unbelievable. Each bike showroom perfect with brand new Pirelli tyres. A legendary garage? I am beginning to think so.

Alison Bradley