Europe|Spring ’24: Day 7|Zen Biking|Touring Italy on a BMWR1200GSA

Greetings YouTube! Hit that subscribe button and join me as I strike out North from Cosenza towards Florence. Beautiful weather and fantastic roads can mean only one thing: the miles get devoured and the soul is restored… Mindful motorcycling is the order of the day!

#bmwmotorrad #alpinestars #formaboots #ls2helmets #garmin #gopro

greetings YouTube another day another apartment another campsite sometimes and another load of miles to get done let’s have here [Music] it’s currently Half 8 in the morning which is quite a relaxed start for me I’m making most of the breakfast looks available and today I hope to cover about 500 miles if I can maybe a bit more I don’t know there’s inevitably going to be a fair bit of Motorway riding but I’m also intending to get off the Bea and track a little bit especially when it comes to finding a campsite and see where I can get myself in some nice rural place anyway I’m going to get this done and then get the bike out it’s tucked away inside a little building opposite um on the other side of the road and then got my way I you well what a nice guy he wouldn’t take he wouldn’t take any money I tried to give him a little tip only € but it was having none of it thoroughly recommend staying here in cenzi very very nice I will flash up details of the Airbnb in the very um normal looking apartment block where the apartment inside is really really lovely uh right I’m going to see what the nav 6 comes up with for Florence I think it’s doable it’s 475 mil something like that I can bang that out but I also want to uh get away from the motorway a little bit if I can that seems to be agreeing oh now 477 miles that’s the same as Google Maps and it looks like it’s following the same route I intend to Camp somewhere here there’s national park with a big lake I am I’m aiming for that that’s my plan right I’m going to turn Google Maps off cuz I don’t need it well it is already getting hot once I turn the bike on I’ll be to tell you what it is but I am sweating in my gear already that was a good place to leave the bike overnight I always rest easy when I know the bike’s tucked away safe wasn’t quite the case well it was safe but it wasn’t quite the case when I was in maresh and it was just left out in the street in the marketplace I did wonder what was going to happen but it was all fine right it is 21° it’s not as hot as you’d think or I would think but it it’s hot enough right let’s get going so this was just a random town that I picked on the way down here I was getting desperate for somewhere to stay and looking at different airbnbs and thought this will do this is in the right kind of location and it turned out to be a really really good choice it’s a lot busier now than when I came last night all right have to force your hand a little bit when you’re riding in Italy otherwise you’ll just sit forever waiting it’s kind of the LW of the jungle on the road or the law of the road in the jungle I don’t know anyway I’m getting used to it slowly but riding very defensively at the same time because I think that’s all you can do cuz you know let’s stop on a roundabout it’s all good well the now 6 doesn’t recognize the oneway system here maybe it’s changed since the maps were last uploaded on my unit I mean since I bought it off of eBay I’ve I’ve never uploaded any new maps to it or anything it keeps trying to send me down the wrong way down a oneway street a second ago I wasn’t filming but at the last second I just whacked on the anchors almost dropped the bike didn’t though thankfully um and adverted going down the wrong way always seems a bit hit and miss on zebra Crossings as well whether anybody actually stops for pedestrians the pedestrians just tend to just walk out I think and then Force the cars to stop if they’re feeling brave so this this is a fairly a fairly small City in uh southern Italy I’m hoping to go to Florence I’d love to visit it and actually have a look but the traffic you know will be on steroids compared to this just like it was on the Ring Road when I was skirting around Rome which freaked me out a little bit and made me decide not to visit Rome so we’ll see whether I do actually make it to Florence or not I don’t know am I supposed to be in this Lane I have no idea is this a bus lane nobody’s using it I just don’t know perhaps I can be in it I want to turn right here anyway so e you got to have eyes in the backy red not up that one so I’m going to take the wrong exit you watch looks like it wants to be here ah and it got a green sign which means the auto strad it’s not one way is it no good I have almost escaped the city working my way through the traffic now I certainly wouldn’t have done that as confidently 3 or 4 days ago doesn’t mean I did a good job of it now out luckily I remember to take a hay fever tablet this morning it’s starting to kick in it’s like advancing the seasons a couple of months back home in the UK coming here right now and the pollen’s getting to me what I’m going to do now is put some fuel in the bike cuz it’s getting low and uh there’s a big old tank on this GSA it’s going to cost almost 50 to fill it up and it will just about get me through today I would think I may have to put some more in towards the end of the day we’ll see how we go what is it 193 a liter oh it’s also expensive everywhere anyway a necessary evil of touring okay there’s there’s my bike in Morocco in the Sahara Desert on its side if you saw that episode or episodes it took a long time to get that going again to get it upright and moving I’ve had some adventures with this bikee and I love it right got a full tank and I’ve got a long way to go rush hour in Italy well when I started this morning’s episode I was wondering what theme it might have soon as it’s mainly going to be just Motorway miles today cuz I’m trying to cover 4 500 Miles something like that to get near Florence and I know that’s not very interesting to watch hence I’m not showing an awful lot of Motorway footage but it dawned on me after the stress of getting out of Kenzo which was a little bit stressful with all that traffic it’s apparent just how calming and therapeutic being on the bike is it’s an almost Zen likee thing you’ve got the the throb of the engine this steady note and the th of the tires especially these Mitchell and anaki Wild they’re kind of knobbies and and they’re uh they make quite a bit of noise but it’s this constant almost lulling kind of sound and then I’m passing through although I’m on a Motorway I’m passing through absolutely spectacular scenery M mountainous scenery which is beautiful the Sun’s shining it’s 23° and I feel calm it’s like an exercise in mindfulness it is therapy I’m sure it is so today isn’t going to be a hardship at all it’s it’s going to be a straightforward hopefully ride to this uh National Park that I was talking about earlier there’s I can’t remember the name of it I’ll look it up when I stop which will be soon cuz I need a comfort break I’ve got uh a couple of hours was under my belt and um almost 100 miles done now and I I I intend to get to this this National Park find somewhere to Camp preferably a campsite that’s very rustic and at one with nature rather than a campsite full of Caravans and camper van I don’t know we’ll see I have no idea I’ve got to look it up and then that will be a good day I like being on my bike I think it it’s a healing thing even if you’re not broken it’s a healing thing time for a comfort break making good progress just over a couple of hours on the road just over 100 miles it’s been a good day so far so it’s quite [Music] busy okay still many miles to go it’s a good day I wonder if it’s here that I will have to take a ticket for the page the toll road both the na 6 and Google Maps said this would be a toll a journey that involves tolls but so far I’ve uh covered a lot of miles and not had to pay any it would seem this is where the the toll start then i’ had a pretty good run couple of hundred miles maybe a lot more than that actually almost 300 miles beautiful countryside great green it is certainly getting warm 29° is it going to hit 30 that is the question I should really take the thermal things out on my jacket in my pants but I haven’t really got anywhere to put them I suppose I could stuff them under the net in with my waterproof stuff maybe I’ll do that next time we stop I’ll see it’s probably time that I started turning my thoughts to where I’m going to stay tonight what campsite I’m going to find it’s really really tempting to think that I’ll just push on to Florence and uh getting Airbnb andb comfortable but but that tent in that big blue waterproof bag behind me is going to be going moldy soon I would have thought so I need to get it out and get it cleaned and fresh and aired so I really need to camp tonight I think that’s what I’m going to have to do hopefully somewhere amongst a good dose of nature you’ll be pleased to know I’ve zipped out the the lining of my jacket at least I’ll worry about the trousers later cuz that’s too awkward to get to sort out um I’m going to go into the inside into the shade and hopefully some air conditioning cuz it’s 30° and uh try and look about campsites for tonight result I’ve booked myself a campsite um right on the lake by a beach um there’s a restaurant at the at the site uh so I’ll be sorted they take check-ins until 11:00 p.m. I shall be there in 3 hours time and the route that I’ve chosen um will take me off of the motor I think and through the national park uh I can’t remember the name of the lake it’s not showing it on um Google Maps but I will tell you when I get there obviously but um uh that show my route actually it’s going to take 4 hours uh 3 hours if I stay on the motorway so I’m I’m choosing not to stay on the motorway and I will be going there that’s what I’m doing so I’m going to recenter that I hope it doesn’t change and try and send me close to Rome I’m hopefully going to be on more interesting roads now looking forward to getting there I’m losing daylight fast it says satav says I have 9 minutes till I get to the camp site if it’s right and I can find it straight away that’s good that means I should just about get the tent up in the light um I’ve been riding for 10 hours now I’m ready to stop but it’s been good it’s been a really good day’s ride look at that Lake I will tell you what it’s called or I’ll flash it up on the screen now once I get off this dual Carriage Way I’ve got 1 km it says to the campsite I so hope it’s right I’m turn in here loo trasimeno that must be the lake then lgo traim meno and I’ll have said that wrong I’m [Music] sure this has been a stunning stunning ride since I left the motorway 4 hours ago it has just been Joy after Joy after Joy yes I’m tired yes my backside is starting to hurt a little bit there’s the lake but oh my gosh it’s been worth it camping Village punia I think that is it it’s so far not how I imagined it to be but I just want a quiet spot if I can be quiet spot near the water then huge result right see if my reservation is actually there gry she is so helpful so so she’s showing me where I’m going to go she’s taking me to the restaurant and help me to order some food which is going to be ready for me in an hour she said so I can get the tent up in the light don’t worry about paying the balance until the till the morning this is only costing 2025 um ah just perfect she says I’ve got a lovely pitch as well so tonight I’ve got I think a margarita pizza with salad and I’m going to have a beer as well I’m going to be eating in there oh I’m so happy to be here I can get the tent up before it’s dark she said I could have gone and eating on the beach but she thinks uh going to shut before I’m ready um and then there’s uh like a Truck Stop Restaurant about a kilometer away and I explained to her who and she speaks brilliant English I explained that um I’ve been riding for 10 straight hours done about 450 Mi and I don’t want to go anywhere else I just want to stop so she’s so understanding awesome awesome am I going to be by the water hopefully I’m going to be where the sun is in the morning and it will dry the tent out I’ve decided I am not rushing to get anywhere tomorrow morning I am just going to take my time have breakfast in that Cafe take my time and let the tent dry make a decision whether I go to Florence or whether I just push on and head through I don’t know to Switzerland or the dolomites or somewhere perfect thank you thank you Grassi well couldn’t be near to the water could I perfect perfect perfect perfect look at that look at that so I haven’t put my clock forward so it’s 20 7 probably 10 8 peach will be ready I dread to think what the state of the tent is going to be this is the bag it’s in which is soaking the t is absolutely soaking maybe it will dry whilst I’m eating I have my fingers crossed right I’m going to just get on with it and get it set up well the tent is up and it is almost almost dry inside it’s drying really quickly on the outside if I just leave it uh air for a little while before I put my stuff in I should be all right but oh my gosh I’ve landed on my feet I’ve got a hot meal waiting for me um tomorrow morning I’m going to have a nice breakfast I may if the weather’s really gorgeous which it should be um I may even swim in there tomorrow morning how cool is that right I am all set up for the night so tent’s done bike’s happy I hope the lake is waiting for me in the morning I was just chatting to the couple walking over there British plates on that camper van they’ve just just uh collected that van via some website from Italy and they’re taking it back to Scotland um and uh I think they’re getting paid to do it or they paid 129 quid something like that for 21 days so just notice I hav I always forget to do this I hav’t connected the poles on the tent I’m not bothering with guy ropes cuz I don’t think it’s going to um blow away and uh yeah so I am now heading to the cafeteria or the restaurant to have that meal that was so kindly arranged for me to say I am happy would be a complete understatement now I’ve got to find my way back here I’m sure I’ll manage it so I was just telling them go those to people about the channel and all the adventures I’ve been on and they said they’ll subscribe so that’s awesome um right let’s go and get some food so today has been a really big day let me show you where I’ve been on the map so I started got have it completely folded out for you to see I started in Kenza down at the foot of Italy and I work my way up up up up up up up up up up up up up um on Main but before I got anywhere near Roma I came off of the main road I’m sorry I can’t show you more accurately I’m doing the best I can and I followed a smaller road all the way to lgo trass Minal Now France is there I’m here I may visit tomorrow or I might make my way up I just have to see I’m going to have a lazy morning that’s what I’m going to do I’m going to let the tent dry out properly and I’m just going to take my time now anyway my food’s coming any second well I’m busy working out whereabouts I’m going to go tomorrow in the route I’m going to take home and Etc but look what’s just arrived tuna olives mozzarella gorgeous what a salad to have and I think I might have a pizza coming as well I’m not sure I’m going to pig out well I really hope you enjoy today’s episode I’m going to call it a day here and pick it up again in the morning I may even go for a swim in the lake in the morning a lovely salad to eat I’ve got a beer I’ve got some bread and some olive oil and uh some balsamic vinegar what more can I ask for and I’ll Camp by a lake perfect anyway I’m formulating a plan which I talk about in The Next Episode I’m really looking forward to the next few days of riding it’s going to be Fab it’s going to be Fab I hope you guys join me if you like today’s episode please give it a like I appreciate that and also pardon me if you haven’t already subscri subscribed to the Channel please do so it really really helps I appreciate it a lot until the next one which will be in the morning see you [Music] [Music]