ACT ITALY DAY 4 of 5 // OFFROAD MOTORCYCLE TOUR // KTM 1290 Super Adventure R / BMW R 1250 GS

So guys, I got some really interesting neighbors here. I was looking out the window this morning, looking onto the lake and I saw these birds flying around right in front of me and they've got little nests up right where my window is. So they've been feeping around all morning and it's pretty cool with these tiny birds. So day number four. It didn't take long for us to get back on gravel, just a few meters and time to warm up to gravel again. I was a bit spoiled by Jochen's 1250GS that I was riding yesterday, which was a little bit on road. It's incredible, after having not ridden it for a while actually, the low center of gravity makes such a difference, especially when you have the luggage installed. It just didn't feel like I have any luggage on there and the handling is, especially now comparing my KTM to a BMW, it's very top-heavy compared to that, especially with the luggage installed too. So it took a few seconds this morning to get used to my own bike again. You need to work a bit harder on the KTM, sort of balancing the bike's weight out. So I think I have to move a bit more than I would normally. We have about 220 kilometers of riding today. I think half of it again is about off-road and the other half is on-road. That's why you shouldn't have your tire pressure too low. I just got a low pressure warning for my tire. I try to keep it around. With this loose stuff here, you get immediate feedback if you're balanced right on the bike or not. Or if you're using the front brake too much, the front rear starts skidding away. So we have been riding for quite some time trying to find a place to stop and have a coffee. And I guess we're all tired. And one of the GSs is really tired. Taking a nap. It's Thomas's GS. Let's have a cup of coffee first. Let's have a friendly smile. Winner's pose. Now. Cool. That's it. It's just tilted, isn't it? Yes. Three, two, one. Wait, I don't have anything with me. No, no one's coming this time. The coffee maker is standing there. That was a bit of a long ride, wasn't it? I also noticed it slowly. I thought there was going to be a coffee. I noticed how the water came through. That's why we thought we'd stop somewhere. Put on something. Well, ride a little more. It's getting dark again. And snore like a kitten. So, it's been raining for a while. And the track is getting muddier and wetter. Apart from the other guys. They have similar issues with slipping around on the tires. So, I'm not the only one. Wow. Damn. I'm sliding around like crazy. What kind of ---- is that? Dude. No chance, right? Actually, the stuff sticks on your shoes as well. So, Sebastian and I put down the bikes here. And it's slippery just walking here. What a pain in the ass. Anyway. It's time to lift it up. We're going to try the track over to the right. Or just take it really slow on this one here. Or go on the grass. I don't know. Hey, look what kind of ---- is stuck on my shoe. Armin, what the ****? No way. I'm going to start with the handlebars. The hardest part. Good thing I didn't have to do this alone. One, two, three. Dude. You're crazy. Thanks. Hey, you don't want to do this alone. It smells like gas. Gas. Yeah, I know. I'm holding it. Let's see if I can push it over. Armin, it looks completely harmless. And it's the worst stuff. It just sticks on your... ...on your boots. No. Well. Up there are rocks again. That's just the piece. Holy ----. Look at this. There's a tire underneath. Tire and salt dough. Over there. Let's hold it on the side. Put it over to me. It's turning in the wrong direction. One, two, three. Easy. Dude. Holy ----. This is what it looks like. Nothing special. We all had issues with the bike. The only one that didn't drop it was Jochen. Jochen did not drop his bike. Anarchy wild wins. Very good. And all of us, the rest of us, we dropped the bikes once at least. So it still looks pretty shitty here. To be honest. I mean, check out the tires. It's just insane. I mean, what the hell. All of a sudden, weather changes and the mud becomes your biggest enemy. This has been the most challenging part of the ACT Italy so far. And if that was drier, you probably wouldn't even notice it. We've finished the better part of the ACT Day 4. And that was the most difficult section we had in the mud. And now the well-deserved pizza and coke before we move on. Okay guys, not that I mined dirt on my bike. But my luggage, I'm taking it to the hotel. So I'm gonna have that cleaned off. And so I'm gonna just clean the whole bike off, might as well. And it fell on the side, so it's... So we had our late, late lunch break on some off-road tracks. Let's see where this takes us here. The rain stopped, but it rained quite a bit. So we just hope we don't encounter more of the mud that we just saw. What in the world? Is this really the track? It is. Probably hands-off for the day. It's Day 4. Indication here on my navigation I just follow a track that doesn't show me how much more of the track I have left. But if it stays like this, I'm happy. I just don't want to see that mud again. That was enough for one day. This is fine. Holy ----. I'm hanging on to dear life. I can't put my weight up in the front. Holy ----. That came unexpected. These guys always seem to save the most difficult ---- for last. Well, it's slippery now too. That's the problem. It's very slippery. And I guess we're not quite done yet. We have to go up here too. That was the worst part. Coming around the corner. Doesn't look like much. Probably wouldn't even be a big deal if it wasn't muddy as it is right now. Another difficult climb up here. I think once we pass that part, we're good. We got Thomas. Oh, that's good. That's good. Time to help. Don't tilt it to the side. Don't worry. Let's put it straight. And now get up from here. I would go down again and do it again. Dude, no. It's getting warm. You know the trick, right? If you realize you can't do anything anymore, you just pull it off. So guys, how are you? You do the routine, right? Imagine this would be the first time today. But what a day. It started so haphazardly. In the afternoon, after three hours, we had about half of it. And then this mud ---- started. It's the third. What do we have left? 40 kilometers? What do we have left? 24. He doesn't like it. What's going on? Now you're on the left. I thought we were on the last 10. But I guess it's not the 20. Wet and muddy conditions really changed the game. This would have been super easy. They wouldn't even mention it. But the mud... It's only short sections. It's so nice to be back on tarmac. It was an awesome day. It was probably the most challenging day. Tour day number four. I thought it was yesterday, but it was not. It was today, definitely. It was the first time I was riding in the mud. And it was definitely the most challenging riding of this tour, for sure. Have a look at this bike. That tells a story, doesn't it? It's a good thing we cleaned the bikes just before we get them all muddy again. But at least my bags don't look so bad. They look really bad. Because I take these into the room. Are you rolling? We're rolling. What was the best part of the day? Best part? The pizza. I thought you'd say the mud. Yeah, no. I don't know. It's getting here. A lot of new experience. We gained a lot of new experience today, so this was a good day. But not as expected as it was told on the Touratech ACT page. As it says, easy. It was minimum medium. But I think tomorrow it will be a scenic drive. A lot of good roads. And this is the guy who left all his mud on all the stairs around the hotel. Looks like dog ----. Just a little dog. The beer is ordered. The best part of the day is coming up soon. Jochen! Where is the beer? 400 people. The best part of the day. And at least he got big beers. Okay, cheers guys. We made it. Day number 4. Cheers. So today we're getting the good stuff. We ventured out to a local Italian place. And these are gnocchi with something. There's meat in it. It's not just tomato sauce. We deserve it today.