Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict

It was finally that time of the year again. The Autumn Rally of the Norwegian Moto Guzzi Club, this time at Hodalen north in Hedmark County.
Remember to check out the videos at the bottom of this page!

 
A short stop-over and refuelling just south of Elverum. Berit on her Ducati Monster 900, Wife on her Guzzi Breva 750 and - finally back on the road again - my lovely Guzzi Quota 1000. All photos: HP © (unless specifically mentioned)

Wife and I rode with Tor's spouse Berit to Hodalen this Friday afternoon. Tor couldn't join us until Saturday. It was a bit cold and we anticipated some rain further up the valley. And we were right. Just after Elverum we hit a serious rain shower. It only lasted for half an hour, but it got us a bit damp, which made us even colder when we hit the more mountainous climate as we neared Hodalen. 

Vis større kart

Our route took us up Østerdalen Valley to Hodalen, while the return was set through Rendalen valley.  

Hodalen is the home turf of Arve, who was our host at this year's autumn rally. He and his family runs this mountain camp which obviously was the perfect venue for a rally like this. We weren't too many, only some 70 participants, but that's actually quite nice because you get to know most of them during the weekend.

Wife admiring the Glomma River from a bridge just north of Alvdal.

As expected there were mainly Guzzis but also a Laverda, a Bimota, some Aprilias and naturally Ducatis were to be found scattered around the camp area. Arve's place can accomodate quite a few indoors, but there were those who insisted on staying in their tents. In early September in the mountains that can actually be quite an ordeal. During night the temperature went down to some -5 centigrades, so you really need a good sleeping bag if you want to sleep in your tent at this time of year.

Our host Arve taking care of the kitchen duties as well as everything else. Thanks for a GREAT stay, Arve!

Saturday saw us visiting the Aukrust Centre, which is a centre dedicated to the life work of the local painter and humourist Kjell Aukrust. He isn't too famous outside these shores though so particpants from Germany and Sweden probably didn't have a clue what it was all about. They did however appreciated the trip to North Europe's largest canyon later on that day. Wifey and I didn't go on that trip, though. We went back to the camp to do some Guzzi-spotting, which is a favourite pasttime of ours when we're at rallies.

Arve's Eldorado 850 in front of a bunch of other bikes outside the Aukrust Centre in Alvdal.

Arve's food is known throughout the area and certainly among Norwegian Guzzisti. He insists on using locally produced food for the meals he serves, including the dinner he presented to us on Saturday evening. Not anything fancy - just very, very tasty. If you're doing some mountain riding in the area in one of your holidays, a stop-over at Arve's camp is recommended!

Bjørn (left) and Ulf using Wife's Breva 750 as table for their drinks...

Sunday saw our return and the weather was warm and sunny. Quite the opposite of Friday's weather actually. Apart from my Quota quarrelling a bit, the home ride went smooth. Tor, Berit, wife and I rode together down Rendalen valley, which is very beautiful, especially in the northern parts.
And yes, we're already looking forward to next spring's Guzzi rally in Stavanger.

A rare bird, especially in this country: An Aprilia Moto 6.5, designed by designer icon Philippe Starck. Brought to the Hodalen rally by Lasse, while the bike actually belongs to his wife Line.

Bjørn and his wife Mona on Tor's Guzzi 1200 Norge, borrowed for the occasion. Bjørn thought the bike to be a great tourer, even if somewhat spungy in the rear damper.

A nice example of a Guzzi California II.

A Guzzi California 1100 with - I think - a Watsonian Palmer sidecar.

A guy on his yellow Guzzi 1100 Sport.

Not quite sure what model this is. Tank looks like a Le Mans 1000. Nice classic V7 Sport colour though.

An extraordinary nice example of a 1100 Sport, somewhat modified. Named "Guzzilla".

The only Laverda on site, a RGS 1000. The sound from this triple is really sweet...

One of the participants preparing a snack awaiting dinner.

The Guzzisti on tour. Some berry pickers pose as audience.

The Guzzi SP III has looks that are aestethically challenging, to put it mildly. I just adore it! I need to have one of those some day.

A German couple showed up on this T5 sidecar rig. It's even rattier than my T5...

A classic and a beauty: The V7 Sport flying its original green colours.

A V65TT from the mid-Eighties.  An early attempt by Guzzi to create an offroader. It's a nice bike, but it's too shallow sprung. The successor V65NTX was more suited for offroading. This V65TT belongs to a Swedish Guzzisti.

One of the Grand Old Men among the Norwegian Guzzisti, Per H. He had a heart surgery just days before the rally but needed to pay it a visit - surgery or no surgery.

Guzzi riding around in Hodalen on to Alvdal and the Aukrust Center.

President of Norsk Moto Guzzi Klubb, Elin, impresses us all by really displaying stamina and skills in beer case stacking, ending up with no less than 18 (!) cases on top of each other!