Moto Naranja comes out of hibernation

 After nearly a year and a half of forced Covid hibernation Moto Naranja decided to continue her journey where she left off near Grenoble France. Apart from a few cobwebs my old friend weathered this quarantine exceptionally well with the help of my South African friends Alan and Fay.

I decided to resume my trip across Europe with the eventual end point being Mongolia. However that distant place will only be reached sometime next year with the more humble goal of riding as far as Romania before the northern hemisphere winter begins to set in and heated hand grips and heated clothing is not enough to keep the icicles off the end of my nose

I connected the battery and she started right up with hardly a cough, splutter or the need for a PCR test to allow her to venture out into the beautiful countryside of the southern French Alps.

The first day out I rode up the Alpe d' Huez without even breaking a sweat. I  have no idea what all the fuss is about during that annual bicycle extravaganza - just how difficult can it be?

My plan is the ride following the tracks of the Trans European Trail (TET) from France into Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Romania. This trail follows mainly back roads, dirt tracks and some paved minor roads, although I did somehow get on a major toll freeway without the chance of exiting for 20km. Having maps, gpx tracks and Google still does not guarantee that I am not going to get more than a little lost.

Here is a taste of what I have found so far:-

 This was the end of a very steep section coming off a ridge where I think the mountain bikers were very surprised to see a fully laden adventure motorcycle coming down off the pass on the single track 

I am writing this from the little town of Argegno of the edge of Lake Como in Italy and took the day off riding to explore this magnificent lake nestled in this deep glacier created valley.

                                                     This is where I am staying

                                                 This is not where I am staying