21/09/2023

The HIVE Tour - Episode 69 - Goodbye Italy!

My time is over here at Pugliano in Italy and I wake up to this view:

If you look closely you will notice that it's not just a cloudy sky over some trees but it's the fog that has covered the rest of the trees you cannot see. In other words, even today which is my last day riding abroad for this trip after all these months abroad, the weather is still reminding me that this was my coldest summer ever and also for most of the locals in various countries that I talked to about it.

So here's my bike half loaded and ready to roll over the last bits of Italian soil that's left till I reach the post of Ancona:


I'm also ready myself so it's time to hop on my (now fully loaded) iron horse:

The following picture, though blurry as usually my on board ones are, is telling more about this foggy day:

And as you can see the weather South East where I head to is not so welcoming either:

I still meet some brave cyclists on the way though:

So the first part of the ride can be summed up in the following shot: Mediocre tarmac, shitty weather ahead, scenic route though:

And becomes even greener soon:

I must say at this point that I prefer to ride in days like this than during a heatwave as the one when I was coming here:

It's funny to see you the fog makes the top of the local mountain look like the top of smoking Etna:



I'm still around Montefeltro and I know it's gonna rain anytime soon up here:

Hopefully not as hard as the rain that partially destroyed this road:


The pros of motorcycling: you can take over a slow lorry in these winding roads easier than in a car:

Now that I am behind another one rain finally starts:

No biggie, could be much worse:


Plus it applies this poetic mosaic over my windscreen:


At some point here up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere on a narrow road I see this car stopped:

At the first I think that he's probably waiting on a mobile red light due to another washed out road. As I can't see any traffic light I decide to go ask him what's going on. He rolls down the window scared at the sight of me and I try to ask him in my worse than poor Italian if all is ok. As he hears me saying "Any problem? Tutto bene?" He smiles and nods OK. I don't proceed in asking him what the fuck is he waiting for with no blinkers on after a corner on a rainy day on a road like this while browsing his phone out of lack in Italian and respect for his age cause I had not so nice words to use anyway.

Nice route though:

However the "no toll roads" route I chose leads me to some steep uphills and my already worn drive chain complains even harder now. I'm like "please break as soon as we make it to Greece not here, not now" when I come to this uphill which I assume might be the last for today:

I really wanted to visit Urbino after the recommendations of my good friend Andrea but that's not a convenient day to do so and instead of going straight to the center I turn left:

It's all downhill now and I can easier baby the chain of my bike:

And actually the weather could be much worse than this:

The nostrils of the local mountain:

This next picture is rather historic for my travelling career: The first time I see the sea after almost 4 months and it's the first time I haven't seen the sea for that long:

As you saw I just left Senigalia behind which means Ancona is not that far. It's never without lots of traffic though:

Arriving at the terminal for the check in with the weather wondering when to drop the next rain:

The lady at the check in tells me that I can board on the ship at 16:00. That's a bummer cause I have to wait more than I thought at the port and knowing that the ship according to the ticket departs at 16:30 I suspect there's gonna be a delay (wait for it). I skip that though and ask her to put the points of my ticket to my bonus card as I didn't have it with me. See says "I need your card number". I tell her again that I don't have it neither I remember the number but I can give her all things needed to identify me. She says she can't. I mean, even by name she could find my card (there's no other in the world with a first and last name like mine) but their system doesn't let her do so. Even in a supermarket you don't have to remember your card but not here at ANEK Line. FU!

So I go back to my bike as soon as I get the tickets printed and make it under this bridge:


Of course not because I like the place but it's a dry spot in case the rain starts. And I have to eat my lunch off board and not on board as I would like to:

The rain starts again but we both stay dry:

Does my bike look funny like this? It's even funnier with my necessary bag hanging at the rear:

When the time comes close to boarding I start making my way to the dock, luckily in the absence of rain:

Pass the customs straight cause "nothing to declare",

and stop at these guys for a last brief check:

This little girl tells me to skip all the line of campers and wait for the ship in front of them:

And that's what I do:

Pole position:


I hope one day I'll be around here to explore Ancona cause even though I've used the port countless times I've never walked around:



More bikers gather and we all wait for the ferry which is already late:

And by the time it finally arrives it is later than late unless a couple of hours is OK for you:







Now we have to wait for one more age for the ship to unload while the area is flooded by people waiting to board:

After what it felt like I waited half of my life there I finally make it in. You can see the whole ride in this 4K video:

See you on the next part with the ferry trip and the ride back home after all these months!

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