From 24 to 25 May RiderDays will be held at the tourist port of Pescara, the motorbike tourism event that looks to the two-wheeled future of the region. We attended the presentation press conference, preceded by a press tour that took us from the coast to the snow-capped peaks of Majelletta.
by Antonio Femia
Originally the destination was Emperor Camp but the wave of bad weather that hit the region meant that the organizers diverted us there other roads and elevations.
So here we are Trabocchi Coast, the singular buildings on stilts used for fishing, from where we started to reach Guardiagrele, a terrace on the Adriatic, home of the typical dessert called “sise delle nuns”.
From here we then climbed on the hairpin bends of the Majelletta covered in snow to finally reach the Bruno Pomilio refuge at an altitude of 1,888, lashed by a biting sleetand in front of a surreal sea view.
The tour gave the journalists present the opportunity to test the landscape peculiarities and the quality of the routes that wind through the region.
Doing the honors with the support of the local motorcycle club was Rita Bellelli of the Oiko agency, which is entrusted with the production of Rider Days, or the motorbike touring event which will take place in tourist port of Pescara from 24 to 26 May 2024.
What is RiderDays
As explained by Giancarlo Alfani of Oiko, the event is the evolution of FederDays, the meeting dedicated to BMW Motorrad clubs which now intends to open up to other brands and become a moment of discovery and knowledge of the region, «a two-wheeled festival on the Adriatic, with motorcycle clubs and motorcyclists from all over Italy.”
As explained in press conference held on 18 April in the premises of the Pescara Chamber of Commerce, RiderDays will be a free entry event dedicated to the world of motorbikes with street food, temporary shops, test rides, stunt performances and musical shows.
The most important aspect will be i motorbike tours to discover the Abruzzo hinterland organized in collaboration with the Abruzzo motorcycle clubs and the FMI Abruzzo.
In the intentions of the organizers RiderDays will be the event that – thanks to the central position of Pescara – will bring together motorcyclists from all over Italy and then lead them on the roads of the entire region.
There was also talk of a guide to be published soon which intends to provide technical information on routes and opportunities to get to know the Abruzzo area.
The guide will deal with itineraries such as those that go from the trabocchi to the hill, the streets of Campo Imperatore, the tour of the Majella national park and the tour of the parks of Abruzzo and others.
Each path will be linked to a curiosity or peculiarity of the territory which will make your days on the motorbike more interesting.
Motorcycle tourism in Abruzzo
Beyond simple passion and playful aspects, RiderDays is based on data of a certain concreteness: Motorcycle tourism in Italy matters 12 million visitors per year, capable of generating a business from two billion euros.
He reels off these and other figures during the press conference Tosca Chersich of the Chieti-Pescara Chamber of Commerce, which aims to intercept the motorbike tourist target to open a new front for development and valorisation of the territory with potentially significant economic repercussions.
He echoes her Cinzia Liberatore of the Tourism and Sports Planning and Promotion Service of the Abruzzo Region, welcoming the motorbike tourism project.
After having focused on cycle tourism in recent years, motorized two-wheelers can contribute to the deseasonalization of the tourist offer in Abruzzo.
As a representative of the sector press the undersigned was also invited to have his sayexpressing optimism for the development projects of motorbike tourism in Abruzzo.
A nice motorbike trip needs two fundamental ingredients, namely nice points of interest to visit and exciting roads that connect them.
Abruzzo has both things and even more: here it is possible go from sea to snow in half an hour through a maze of secondary roads which not only allow you to join the dots of the most important locations on the map, but also and above all to get lost among exceptional landscapesunexpected encounters.
We have known for some time that Abruzzo had all it takes to become one of the favorite destinations for motorbike travelers from all over Europe.
What gives us hope is the structured projector that has been put in place, capable of arousing the interest of the Region and chamber of commerce bodies.
If carried out in the right way, it can become a good opportunity to overcome localism and fragmented supply in favor of one unitary and long-term vision.
