Agnellotreffen 2018, we participated in the fifth edition

The fifth edition of the highest winter motorbike rally in Italy has just ended, which every year takes place at the foot of the Agnello hill in Pontechianale, at an altitude of 1.600 meters above sea level. This year, among the many initiatives and sponsors, it is expected to exceed the already very high quota of 1.500 participants in 2017.

Among the main sponsors and partners of this fifth edition was present Tucano Urbano, a leading company in motorcycle clothing and accessories, to demonstrate "in the field" how it is possible to face the harshest weather conditions without giving up the pleasure of two wheels. Event “Motorcycle Tires only”, a company specialized in the production of tires for motorcycles and scooters, has set up a real snow-covered circuit where you can compete with pedal mopeds equipped with their snow covers, while Suzuki, like every year, was present with its latest models set up for the winter, V-Power 1000, GSX 750 and the new one Burgman 400.

Saturday evening was dedicated to one of the most important moments of the event, the classic motorbike torchlight procession, which reaches an altitude of 1.800 metres, the highest point reachable in winter. We also participated, taking advantage of the event to test a Tucano Urbano outfit: Tetris glove, Urbis 5G jacket and trousers, as well as neoprene hand-covering mittens. Departure at 7 from the Darsena of Milan, two usual photos of the motorbikes and the team and off towards the motorway, given that the dawn, shy, was hidden behind a fog that already in the city allowed little to be seen beyond the visors of our helmets.

We turn onto the motorway surrounded by grey, the motorbike thermometer reads 0.5 degrees, and the very dense fog accumulates water on the visor and jacket, but we have set ourselves the first stop after 150 km, so keep our heads down and eyes open, constant speed and away, making your eyes dance between the road, the kilometers traveled and those missing, dictated by the GPS to pass the time in the absence of a landscape to "experience" while driving.
For this event we did not fit knobby or snow tyres, it was not planned and, just as we are wondering how the "normal" tires will behave if we encounter snow on the road, we realize that we are not cold, it has been more than an hour now we drive and see the droplets of water, deposited by the fog on our arms, run up and fly away. No sensation of "cooling" from wet clothing, good job for the Urbis 5G which, thanks to the water-repellent treatment, in addition to the waterproof and breathable Hydroscud lining, does not accumulate water or become heavy, passing on humidity, the bitter enemy of the "winter" motorcyclist.

After two hours of travel, the sun seems to listen to us when, generously, it gives us a magnificent day, rendering us the colors and landscapes that only winter can create and we can concentrate on the curves surrounded by white and the drive to make the most " round” possible on asphalt covered with salt and melted snow. And here is the gathering, proud, in the midst of the snow at an altitude of 1.600 metres, with them, the real protagonists, the motorbike rallies, who fearlessly set up tents and bivouacs to have an experience this year too, or for the first time “unique”, a challenge with oneself and above all the desire to share the experience with other motorcyclists, where “normal” people don't even dream of going on motorbikes.

We park in the middle of a sea of ​​two wheels, a stone's throw from the ski slope, smiling, motorbikes and motorcyclists on the snow together with skiers and ski lifts. Next to the bivouac, a real village with alternating stands where you can recover by eating the gastronomic specialties of the area and exhibitors of the various sponsors, all obviously linked to the motorcycling world.

The Agnellotreffen confirms itself this year as a true institution of Italian winter rallies, boasting of the presence not only of "local" members among the members, but also coming from France, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany and from us all we have to do is join them and then be able to say, once we return, that we were there too!