1st Sept - Big Trouble somewhere in central Italy
We were leaving the wedding party. We had to get up very early to try make it to Bari over the other side of Italy, to catch the boat to Montenegro. This was a trip neither of us were looking forward to, because the boat leaves at 12noon and to make it there in time we'd have to get up so early that it was still dark out. We got up, packed our gear and headed off in the darkness.
We were making good mileage on the motorway without incident and it seems we would have made it to Bari in time to catch the boat. I was ahead, Glen was behind me and Ado behind him. I was driving about a kilometre ahead of the lads but we were in contact over the radios. We put in a good 90minutes driving through Italy when suddenly I heard Glen shouting over the Radio.. there was a pause then he screamed "OH SHIT, ADO'S DOWN.. HE'S CRASHED. HE'S.." There was lots of worried shouting then suddenly everything went silent.
OH Shit! I pulled the bike into the side of the road and looked back. Nothing. I called out anxiously over the radio. Nothing. I waited for a minute or two and they didn't pass. A trucker slowed down as he passed me and was pointing frantically at me in the direction he had just come from.
Helmet, jacket, gloves.. everything came off and I was running backwards on the motorway. What would i find when I got back to the scene of the accident? A lot of things went through my head as I ran this kilometre or two back. I was thinking about how Ado's girlfriend back home was pregnant and how he was to be a father soon. Would this child grow up without a father? Was taking on this bike journey the wrong thing for us to be doing? We were doing the speed limit of 130kph on the motorway, what would I find when I got back here? Would Ado be spread out across the road. That trucker that had pointed back, had that trucker hit him? I rounded a corner on the motorway, out of breath but still running, in the distance I could see something. Flashing sirens. As I got closer I could see both Italian police cars and an ambulance parked at the side of the motorway. I kept running. As I got closer I couldn't see anyone I recognised. There was no one in the ambulance. Just past the ambulance I saw a heavily loaded and badly damaged suzuki bandit lying on the ground. This was Ado's bike. Beside this stood Ado and Glen. They were both alive. I quickly counted their limbs. They each had 2 arms and 2 legs. They looked fine, except for ado was limping a little. They were looking at the bike with a disgusted look, i heard them swearing about how.. the forks on the bike were wrecked.
They were both alive. I had never been as happy to see both of their stupid faces together as I was then. I really expected that I was going to find Ado dead on the side of the road when I got back to him. I hugged Ado and let out a few tears of emotion. The lads would later bring this up and say 'Awww I was crying because I was worried about Ado', but I told them what I'd tell anyone now; I'd never cry for Ado, I only cried because I had lost a bloody good pair of sunglasses a few days earlier at Lake Garda.
We were making good mileage on the motorway without incident and it seems we would have made it to Bari in time to catch the boat. I was ahead, Glen was behind me and Ado behind him. I was driving about a kilometre ahead of the lads but we were in contact over the radios. We put in a good 90minutes driving through Italy when suddenly I heard Glen shouting over the Radio.. there was a pause then he screamed "OH SHIT, ADO'S DOWN.. HE'S CRASHED. HE'S.." There was lots of worried shouting then suddenly everything went silent.
OH Shit! I pulled the bike into the side of the road and looked back. Nothing. I called out anxiously over the radio. Nothing. I waited for a minute or two and they didn't pass. A trucker slowed down as he passed me and was pointing frantically at me in the direction he had just come from.
Helmet, jacket, gloves.. everything came off and I was running backwards on the motorway. What would i find when I got back to the scene of the accident? A lot of things went through my head as I ran this kilometre or two back. I was thinking about how Ado's girlfriend back home was pregnant and how he was to be a father soon. Would this child grow up without a father? Was taking on this bike journey the wrong thing for us to be doing? We were doing the speed limit of 130kph on the motorway, what would I find when I got back here? Would Ado be spread out across the road. That trucker that had pointed back, had that trucker hit him? I rounded a corner on the motorway, out of breath but still running, in the distance I could see something. Flashing sirens. As I got closer I could see both Italian police cars and an ambulance parked at the side of the motorway. I kept running. As I got closer I couldn't see anyone I recognised. There was no one in the ambulance. Just past the ambulance I saw a heavily loaded and badly damaged suzuki bandit lying on the ground. This was Ado's bike. Beside this stood Ado and Glen. They were both alive. I quickly counted their limbs. They each had 2 arms and 2 legs. They looked fine, except for ado was limping a little. They were looking at the bike with a disgusted look, i heard them swearing about how.. the forks on the bike were wrecked.
They were both alive. I had never been as happy to see both of their stupid faces together as I was then. I really expected that I was going to find Ado dead on the side of the road when I got back to him. I hugged Ado and let out a few tears of emotion. The lads would later bring this up and say 'Awww I was crying because I was worried about Ado', but I told them what I'd tell anyone now; I'd never cry for Ado, I only cried because I had lost a bloody good pair of sunglasses a few days earlier at Lake Garda.