right there, meters from where the
damn truck hit me.
The truth is that I have a personal
God. Giovanni told the truck drivers
to help us get La Más inside the van
and I took care of the luggage and re-
moving the windshield so she would
fit through the back door. Once inside
we tied her down and when he invited
me to sit in the front, two boxer dogs
looked at me with rough eyes while
Giovanni said: "They are my guard-
ians and I am surprised they did not
make any fuss when you approached
the door, they know that you are a
good man".
I was touched by the comment, I
almost broke down in tears, not only
because of the comment but because I
was becoming aware of what had hap-
pened.
An accident! The first in my life
on a motorcycle and IT WAS NOT MY
FAULT!
Upon returning to the autostrada,
Giovanni called his mom and told her
to prepare a pasta for dinner because
he invited a biker who’s travelling the
world on his motorcycle with license
plates from Canada, and for one of
those things in life, he was right there
at the precise moment of the acci-
dent, and the most incredible thing
was that he had never stopped be-
fore in that rest area. In the multiple
trips he makes from Novidrag, Croa-
tia, where he lives in the family Sum-
mer house. Surprised with such sol-
idarity, I had no words to thank him
with. Just imagining what could have
happened without his help, gave me
chills. I imagined myself alone, with
all my luggage, the motorcycle unable
to move, at night, raining, in Italy; it
would have been a calamity.
During the trip to Padova with
Giovanni we had the opportunity to
exchange ideas, share biker experi-
ences and also a long silence.
When arriving at the house, his
mother and father came out to meet
me and as if we knew each other for a
TRAVERSE 40
lifetime, they hosted me, they give me
dinner, and Renzo, Giovanni’s father,
uncorked an excellent Tuscan wine
and made me taste olive oils from
their family’s estate.
I have to tell you that when I was
having dinner, immersed in a conver-
sation with Renzo, I felt a protuber-
ance under the knee of my right leg.
I touched it and I did not understand
how I could have hit myself so hard if I
had my boots on. Today that protuber-
ance has disappeared and I still don’t
know what happened.
We finished dinner and talked for a
while. Giovanni's mother told me that
they are very used to motorcycle acci-
dents, and that Giovanni has had more
than seventeen. The last one kept him
in bed for six months.
I laughed a lot when Giovanni said:
"My Mom every time I go racing tells
me ‘Mijito, don’t go so fast’ Ha ha ha!
Go to a motorcycle race to run, and do
it slowly!"
We laughed a lot and then we went