Just tried out the new Khyam biker tent. OK to put up once you figure it all out but unsure how it stays dry against wind and rain when the top sheet does not reach the ground. Just hope the inner tent is waterproof but I reckon it will feel draughty. So 50 % ok with it so far - just have to see how it works in the wet. The new Tuff Gear 4 season sleeping bag is super warm but enormous to pack away. So that's it - I'll be using just one camp site, Glenlough at Union Mills, for the whole stay. Good news is that hopefully I can lap the whole course each day. Next must have item is an OS map as I've just found out about access roads inside the circuit and fancy trundling around looking for unusual viewing points. Anyway all the camping gear is now ready and Ethel has had some more tlc. Had to fix a pannier retaing lock after I dropped her whilst parking the other day plus the 3rd set of replacent LED running lights are now working - let's see how long they last this time.
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Monday, 31 May 2010
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Day 10 and home again
Vile weather straight off the Chunnel train but got home after a little twisties treat to make it 2665 miles in 10 days.
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Der Traum ist aus Day 10 Germany to UK
A wet but empty B road blast through the Ardennes started the day off fine. The rain comes and goes bvut is turning to thunderstorms - no change there then Belgium.
Great news is that Ethel's newly synchronised injectors courtesy of Erbse have given much more pull in the medium rev range and have taken away the feeling of running out of steam.
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Great news is that Ethel's newly synchronised injectors courtesy of Erbse have given much more pull in the medium rev range and have taken away the feeling of running out of steam.
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Germany Day 9
Up for a giant breakfast fill up and then outside for a briefing from Carlo. The Germans have the good sense to put the slowest riders at the front, require 2 bike lengths minimum between bikes, no overtaking and single file so everyone can use all the road. Hallelujah. The local mayor gave a speech to some good natured heckling, giant pot plants were exchanged and at last we were ready to form up. Our group was led by Martin on his GS with Ethel 3rd behind the stunning Swiss built K1100 based BB outfit and followed by a Dutch built K1100 outfit then all the rest. The route design was 200km and off we went. Straightaway we dove off onto the twistiest continuous link of bends which lasted all day long. The Eifel roads demand respect as they are impossible to read. Long sweepers can go straight into a series of hairpin bends that do not open out but which have a double apex which comes right back at you. I had the Satnav on all day and was very glad of it as I could at least see what was coming up next. And then we went off road ! Yup straight up a shale cart track up on the pegs with Ethel fishtailing around right to the top of a hill to take the view. Back down into villages with huge multi coloured trees of streamers put up to mark May Day plus loads of cement dust put down on purpose to link house to house and village to village for miles on end. The outfit in front took to power drifting through all this so Ethel wound up looking like Mr Pastry. The road surfaces went from good to awful in moments due to winter damage. By the end of the ride I was shattered and could only trundle along for the last 30 klicks or so. It turned out that everyone else was too - we had overrun by 50 km.
A very sociable meal followed, we had only had a Kaffee und Kuchen all day from 1000 - 1730 with a few pee breaks. These were much enjoyed by the biking dog which happily sat in the EML chair with her Mum all day.
The post dinner car park socialising wound up with Ethel getting new injector grommets fitted and injectors balanced in return for beer plus Dumbo provided the correct grease for the shaft splines in a tub for 5 Euros. The evening ended up around a huge log fire in the car park all talking about any old thing. A very friendly bunch of people - now how about Immenreuth Bavaria in June for the next one ...
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A very sociable meal followed, we had only had a Kaffee und Kuchen all day from 1000 - 1730 with a few pee breaks. These were much enjoyed by the biking dog which happily sat in the EML chair with her Mum all day.
The post dinner car park socialising wound up with Ethel getting new injector grommets fitted and injectors balanced in return for beer plus Dumbo provided the correct grease for the shaft splines in a tub for 5 Euros. The evening ended up around a huge log fire in the car park all talking about any old thing. A very friendly bunch of people - now how about Immenreuth Bavaria in June for the next one ...
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Friday, 30 April 2010
France / Germany Day 8
It pissed it down in the night and all morning which meant packing up camp in the wet.Net result you end up feeling as filthy at the start of the day as you do at the end.
A wet ride all morning and yup the trousers leak at the crutch despite a can of waterproof spray on em. The rain stopped and we had mile on mile of arrow straight roads with some great empty swoopy stuff and some sudden wicked bends. In France those chevron signs for corners are very expensive and they do not have many of them so when they do put one up it is going to be a mother of a bend. They also like to build garage forecourts with advers camber exits to lead on to adverse camber roudabouts , usually with a sprinkling of that fine gravel dust that takes your front wheel out in carparks.
Gas stations come in various flavours. You can have ones with no queues because they take French fuel cards and nothing else, hypermarkets that take anything but which incredibly shut for lunch, LeClerc and Super U, small town ones where you are taken in to the accounts office to pay, motorway ones which draw their staff from the same surly, bored pool as anywhere else.Toll booths are pointlessly varied too.
You can whizz up and instantly pay by card or you can have the infuriating fumble of taking a ticket which you need to produce at the other end. It is popular for truckers to drop said tickets at either end or both or for someone to not realise that payment is by card only having entered the booth thus provoking a splendid French horns chorus.There are also manned ones with windows set at truck height so you wave your ticket and card hopefully about above your head hoping no one fumbles or the ever present motorway howling cross wind does not snatch it away.
Surprised at how timid German bikers are at filtering and when they do they get in the way.Luxembourg drivers are fast and aggressive, the Germans are fast but prop up preconceptions by being taken completely unawares by anything not in The Plan.They howl into roadworks for example despite all the warning signs and today a mangled car at one point was the result and cause of a long delay - except for Mr London Rider ahem...
Got a very friendly reception from the Flyingbrick brigade and was amazed at how much attention Ethel got amongst all their stunning specimens. The handlebar muffs, safesac, 12v socket with different adaptors and the Airhawk seat - complete with bouncy cheapo air pillow after the original punctured were a hit, the broken top box lid, pound shop padlock, filthy screwed up tent and plastic petrol can lashed on any old how somewhat less so.
Rideouts have been organised with Teutonic thoroughness all of them with maps and grade of riding style. Touring, quick or mad fucker. I have signed up for Touring ride #2 please.200 km at 1000 Prompt it says. Oh yes you sign your own button badge and wear it - all we need now is Leslie Crowther.
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A wet ride all morning and yup the trousers leak at the crutch despite a can of waterproof spray on em. The rain stopped and we had mile on mile of arrow straight roads with some great empty swoopy stuff and some sudden wicked bends. In France those chevron signs for corners are very expensive and they do not have many of them so when they do put one up it is going to be a mother of a bend. They also like to build garage forecourts with advers camber exits to lead on to adverse camber roudabouts , usually with a sprinkling of that fine gravel dust that takes your front wheel out in carparks.
Gas stations come in various flavours. You can have ones with no queues because they take French fuel cards and nothing else, hypermarkets that take anything but which incredibly shut for lunch, LeClerc and Super U, small town ones where you are taken in to the accounts office to pay, motorway ones which draw their staff from the same surly, bored pool as anywhere else.Toll booths are pointlessly varied too.
You can whizz up and instantly pay by card or you can have the infuriating fumble of taking a ticket which you need to produce at the other end. It is popular for truckers to drop said tickets at either end or both or for someone to not realise that payment is by card only having entered the booth thus provoking a splendid French horns chorus.There are also manned ones with windows set at truck height so you wave your ticket and card hopefully about above your head hoping no one fumbles or the ever present motorway howling cross wind does not snatch it away.
Surprised at how timid German bikers are at filtering and when they do they get in the way.Luxembourg drivers are fast and aggressive, the Germans are fast but prop up preconceptions by being taken completely unawares by anything not in The Plan.They howl into roadworks for example despite all the warning signs and today a mangled car at one point was the result and cause of a long delay - except for Mr London Rider ahem...
Got a very friendly reception from the Flyingbrick brigade and was amazed at how much attention Ethel got amongst all their stunning specimens. The handlebar muffs, safesac, 12v socket with different adaptors and the Airhawk seat - complete with bouncy cheapo air pillow after the original punctured were a hit, the broken top box lid, pound shop padlock, filthy screwed up tent and plastic petrol can lashed on any old how somewhat less so.
Rideouts have been organised with Teutonic thoroughness all of them with maps and grade of riding style. Touring, quick or mad fucker. I have signed up for Touring ride #2 please.200 km at 1000 Prompt it says. Oh yes you sign your own button badge and wear it - all we need now is Leslie Crowther.
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Thursday, 29 April 2010
France Day 7
A long boring toll road slog to Beaune today but worth it to get the miles done. Tomorrow is the run to the Eifel so I'll pick non tolls and see where we end up.
Lyons is a nightmare to cross - I had to go into aggressive London rider mode to filter. Cannot understand why we went through the city centre jams and tunnels even though it was all signposted motorway.
Dog destruction carries on unabated at home and Rose wants rid. Anybody want a dog ?
If anybody wondered where all the silver surfers are the answer is - they are over here in their Euro vans in hordes. The campsites are full of old couples nailed together 24/7 trying to sound as if they are not bored with it all.
Good to be on a non English run site and to hear different languages around.I've been rating the various bits of kit I gathered up to bring with me and have come up with 2 categories. Shit and Fantastic.
Shit gets the tent,sleeping bag, that impossible to use liner and disgusting powdered coffee mix.
Fantastic gets the Safesac, camping gas stove, £2 asda saucepan, plastic plate set,snap together cutlery set,instant rice and the li lo and electric pump. Need a chair but too big to strap to bike.
And so on to the next day - on 2 wheels in Germany at last !
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Lyons is a nightmare to cross - I had to go into aggressive London rider mode to filter. Cannot understand why we went through the city centre jams and tunnels even though it was all signposted motorway.
Dog destruction carries on unabated at home and Rose wants rid. Anybody want a dog ?
If anybody wondered where all the silver surfers are the answer is - they are over here in their Euro vans in hordes. The campsites are full of old couples nailed together 24/7 trying to sound as if they are not bored with it all.
Good to be on a non English run site and to hear different languages around.I've been rating the various bits of kit I gathered up to bring with me and have come up with 2 categories. Shit and Fantastic.
Shit gets the tent,sleeping bag, that impossible to use liner and disgusting powdered coffee mix.
Fantastic gets the Safesac, camping gas stove, £2 asda saucepan, plastic plate set,snap together cutlery set,instant rice and the li lo and electric pump. Need a chair but too big to strap to bike.
And so on to the next day - on 2 wheels in Germany at last !
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Wednesday, 28 April 2010
France Day 6
Achieved a long ambition in visiting Rennes Le Chateau today. This is where The Holy Blood + The Holy Grail all started. Got to say that the details in the chapel really are weird and are a conspiracy theorists heaven. An unmarked but plate glass covered tunnel in the floor drew my attention.Turns out that everyone was dynamiting the village trying to find Sauniere's treasure until a by law stopped it.This is one of the last holes. Another odd thing is that Sauniere died penniless in 1922 but afterwards those sneaky Swiss transferred a load of money to his church.
Way too hot at 30 degrees to ride so given up for the day. Tomorrow is day 1 of 2 long runs to get up to the Eifel for Friday night. Planning to get to Beaune, let's see.
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Way too hot at 30 degrees to ride so given up for the day. Tomorrow is day 1 of 2 long runs to get up to the Eifel for Friday night. Planning to get to Beaune, let's see.
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