We're back!

Jon says: yesterday we took the plunge and decided to drive back from the B&B to home in one go. We had an hour and a half of amazing roads and scenery, through picturesque French villages that possibly haven't changed much in a hundred years, all the way to the motorway. Once on the A26 the GPS said "continue for 240km" - boo, that's a long hike along one road. But even though the Pan is at around 196,000km it was excellent as usual, giving a steady 140kph with plenty to spare. (140kph = 86mph, fast enough for good progress, not too fast to worry about getting pulled over.) Toni definitely started feeling a little saddle sore during this stretch, but luckily we knew the great British road network would make for an easy ride once back in England for the second half of the return journey. (Ha ha.)

After crossing into England via the tunnel we had an easy blast up to the M25. Then we stopped, along with every other tortured soul on that godforsaken open prison that encircles London. Even filtering didn't make life that much easier, as I only tend to filter in slow traffic (below around 50kph). After what seemed like two hours (but was probably one) we decided to change route and take the M4. The first services we stopped at had a few other bikers who'd made the same decision, including a guy with a push bike bungeed to the rear of his seat - coolio!

The picture here shows the entire route we took, around 3,600km (2,235 miles)...




Toni says: can't wait for the next one.

Toni's highlights:

• Asparagus
• Black Forest Gateaux
• German (White) Beer
• Biker B&B (in France)
• The campsite in the Black Forest
• Playing in the snow (in the Austrian Alps)
• Great company to share it with ;-)

Toni's low lights:

• Aqua-planing in a thunderstorm (we didn't but it felt like it)
• Saddle sores :-(

Jon's highlights:

• The Austrian Alps
• The Nurburgring (watching, not riding!)
• The Black Forest
• France (because I wasn't expecting to like it)
• The people we met
• The B258 from Monschau towards Koblenz.
  

Jon's low lights:

• Buy the Daily Mirror in a brief moment of insanity, then reading it with the expectation it might contain some news. Le Monde was more insightful (and I don't read French).

Hopefully we'll get a trip over to Scotland later this year, and Jon's hoping to join a local RoSPA group so he can finally learn how to drive the beast.

That's all folks :-)

J & T

Vive la France!

Yesterday we drove through the Vosges Mountain range in France. We left the campsite at around 10.45am for our journey. I felt rather deflated! Our holiday seemed to be at a close. Travelling to France was the least eagerly anticipated part of our trip, in my mind. However I was hoping for a reasonable stay at our next destination; the Biker b&b in Dun-sur-Meuse in Mid-Eastern France. I saw the advert for this place, run by a British couple, in 'Ride' Magazine (Two Wheel Moorings) and thought that perhaps we could use it for our return journey, without any real expectations other than the hope for a reasonable bed for a couple of nights. This was a considerable understatement!!

Our hosts Carol and Ian are fantastic! Carol heard our bike pull up in the typical rural French village and instantly ran across the road, cup of tea in hand to greet us! She directed Jon to the garage to store the bike and virtually dragged me inside to be confronted by 8 other British bikers having a beer on the terrace outside overlooking the banks of the Meuse canal. I did feel slightly overwhelmed by the hospitality! A cold beer was literally thrust into my hand and questioning began by the others as to where we'd been and what we'd seen so far! Over a couple more beers (and a hilarious evening at the lcoal Pizzeria!) several biking stories were exchanged.
We got information on the local area from Carol and Ian and decided to spend the next day exploring the surrounding countryside and the numerous local war memorials and cemeteries in the vicinity...



Ian's customised Vmax - an awesome machine he rebuilt after a car driver decided to play chicken with him - the result is astounding and has won awards!



The view from the terrace at the B&B - on an evening a bag of bread is left outside to use for feeding the ducks while watching the bats fly by.




The American Cemetery, 10km from the B&B, at Romagne-sous-Montfaucon.




One of the many thousands of headstones at the cemetery.




A view from the observation platform at the top of the American Memorial in Montfaucon-d'Argonne.




While touring around the WWI sites in the region we were held up by a huge bike race. So we hung around for around an hour until the head of the vehicle convoy arrived - tens of Gendarme on RT1150 motorcycles leading the way, followed by cars with wheels mounted on roofs, and finally the cyclists. Toni made use of a free hat to spur on the riders.




The number two at this stage of the race - up hill - and still fast.


More cyclists.



The final few cyclists power up the hill.


---


We've decided to head back a day early, since we can't find anything interesting to do for a night aroung the Calais area. So we're going to blast back all the way tomorrow - around 800km - Toni will earn her half-Iron Butt certificate for this!

A final post tomorrow with a route map and other technical nitbits.

That's all for now folks, stay cool ;-)

J & T

Squirrels, waterfalls and asparagus

A day trip out of the campsite to Triberg waterfalls, the highest in Germany. We have a nice drive through lots of twisty roads and picturesque villages, passing by the largest cuckoo clock in the world on the way. Triberg is a very tourist oriented town, popular with bikers (hooray!), but the people were very friendly and hospitable. We drove to the halfway point for the waterfalls and took a walk through the nature trails in the forest...





J & T in the forest, looking out for local wildlife.




There were several bridges giving the opportunity for the best vantage point for the falls. The above shot was taken by balancing the camera on the bridge rail and, with a bit of help from a polarising lens, exposed for around 0.8 seconds at f/22.








A hot blonde looks over the Wasserfalle ;-)









An amazing cuckoo clock shop with fantastic characters beavering away above the shop front.




We bought some Erdnusse (peanuts) for feeding the wildlife. Once Jon was full the squirrels had a go. Toni managed to hand feed this squirrel - they have become accustomed to human contact over the years.



Yum yum...!



No more peanuts - time to scurry away.



The largest cuckoo clock in the worlds - actually quite boring! We found a small one further down the road with amazing carved figures that sang and danced and chopped wood.

We'd had a fabulous time at the campsite (Campingplatz Kinzigtal) - great bar and restaurant and they had a table tennis table!!! The staff were really friendly and helpful and we've really enjoyed having a break and chilling here.

Now planning the escape to France with only 8 minutes of battery life left on the laptop - a blast through the mountains is looking likely. Another long day beckons but it should be worth it.

Hoping internet access in France is good - otherwise see you Saturday.

j & t


PS: Toni is cooking a delicious meal in the tent tonight - sausages (for Jon) and white asapargus (for Toni) - yummy scrummy!

We're in the Black Forest

Jon says:

We're at the campsite near Steinach in the Black Forest! After unpacking Toni made some scrummy tuna melts, in our kitchen, and is now catching up with some sewing (really) and other household chores, as a good wife should. So I get to write some words today.

Even though it's raining heavily outside this is undoubtedly the most luxurious place we've been. We have two bedrooms, a lounge, a kitchen, 6 chairs, a table, a bbq and a table, all to ourselves. The campsite has WiFi (can’t access from tent tho) which oddly is the only place we’ve stayed so far with free internet access. We expected to find Germany easier than Poland for hotspots, but it hasn’t been the case. (Not free ones, at least). (Toni is sat at the table complaining that she needs her mum to do the sewing as she keeps pricking her fingers – lol!).

We had excellent driving today, even given the poor weather. We stopped at Titisee, a small lake and tourist trap, on the way from Constance – very nice, lots of bikers. Then we popped into Freiberg for some lunch – what a contrast with Constance where we found ourselves very disappointed. On the way back from dinner last night there was a gang fight outside our hotel which both surprised and disappointed us. But Constance wasn’t the town we’d expected from research on the Internet. Freiberg, however, was very pretty – typically European with a Dom in the centre and a tram system that wasn’t hacked together as a transportation afterthought.

The roads from Freiberg to the campsite were awesome – just a pity about the rain. Toni found the site on the Internet before we left – Canvas Holidays. It’s working out at about £33 per night and we totally love it here. Hopefully over the next 3 days we’ll get to wander around the Black Forest area, either on foot or with the bike. So more pictures and ramblings to follow soon.

That’s all for now, folks.

Jon & Toni.




Toni looking over Lake Titisee - very touristy but worth a visit all the same.




The fire brigade practising...?




Look at the bread! Man alive - it's amazing! So we bought some for tea tonight - very scrumptious ;-)



Popular place for bikers - some of these bikes are nearly as cool as ours!!!




A service in the Dom in Freiburg - who say's we never attend!?




Chillin' in the new lodgings - the best so far. Driver on the left, chef and navigator on the right :-)

The alps, the alps!

Toni says: Wow! What an utterly incredible and amazing day we had yesterday. We talked over dinner last night an agreed that it feels like we've been through several time zones. We left Fussen in Germany about 10:30 yesterday morning and within 10 minutes we'd crossed the border into Austria. The plan was to travel to Lake Konstanz via a valley through the alps. This was a part of our journey that Jon was particulary looking forward to. "Don't worry!" he said, "this is going to be so cool and so much easier in the saddle than yesterday's trip." Famous last words!




Fussen town centre, looking up the the Alps.





Can you spot the excavators high up on the quarry!




Jon standing by the river Lech. Lech means milk (in several languages) and perfectly describes the opaque colour of the river.




Elbingenalp: amazing roads through the alps, as usual.




A handsome man stands by a bike in Austria :-)




Toni's excellent shot of a waterfall near Warth.






Jon's excellent shot of a biker on the way to Warth.








As we crept above 1,500m the snow was at road level. So Toni hopped off to have a quick snowball fight.







Avalanche risk, opposite the bike where we had lunch!




Little duck family about to emigrate to Switzerland.










Above pictures - on the ferry over to Switzerland. We drove all the way to Constance and found a hotel with a crappy Wifi - hence we're now in McDonaldns having breakfast on Sunday morning with no external poower - hence can't spell check or write more as only 2 mins of power left.

Off to Frieberg now - see you all later... love Jon and Toni :-)

Fussen - hooray!

Dinkelbuhl - one of the many beautiful towns on the romantic road - Toni got her Spargel (asparagus) fix here!





Coming into Fussen - magnificent!


Toni says: This morning we left the strange town that was Bad Konig! Our hotel must have had at least 20 rooms but it was run by an old couple who looked in their 70's. In, fact everyone in the town looked in their 70's and we counted a minimum of three retirement homes! But they were very sweet and the old man even struggled to carry our top box out to the car-park. (Although I think it was because we hadn't paid at that stage and maybe he though we might 'do a runner'!!!) The weather was kind to us today, despite another massive thunderstorm the night before which got us soaked walking back from the restaurant last night. But today was dry and the skies clear again and the roads relatively free of heavy traffic. In fact despite the occasional tractor it was just a perfect driving day! We decided that we would head to the 'Romantic Road', which was in our original plan. So our first waypoint was a town on that road called 'Dinkelsbuhl' (My idea 'cos I thought it sounded funny! Child!) We were so glad we had stuck to the plan! The town was wonderful. Very old medieval buildings and cobbled streets. There was a lovely little cafe and we treated ourselves to some lunch to give us some sustenance for the onward journey.

Jon says: A long driving day, 10am until around 6pm, with a few minor stops and 45 mins for lunch. But worth it for the roads, especially the last 20-30km towards Fussen as we approached the alps – the Pan once again in its element. Tomorrow we hope to head into the Alps and Austria, albeit briefly, and then back into German and Lake Constance. We may even visit Switzerland for half an hour for a spot of lunch – awesome!

Leaving Koblenz

Toni says: We still had not decided where we were going today. A local had told us that there was a chance of some thunder, so we were waiting to see the skies before deciding whether we were going for the slower scenic routes. (Bit of a misconception actually as even the motorways are fairly pretty roads!) Getting out onto the balcony from the hotel room the blue was again present so we counted ourselves lucky once more! We debated following the Rhine all the way south to Lake Constance on the German/Swiss/Austrian borders. And although that wasn't in our original plan, we decided to 'wing it' a bit and take the Rhine roads as far as the city of Mainz. We stopped for some lunch, boiling ourselves again in our bike gear sat outside a little cafe. We chatted then and decided to get out of the city and head for a forested area and a little town called Bad Kong - sorry, Bad Konig! Approximately 15 minutes later we were on the city ring road in the middle of the worst thunderstorm I have ever seen - let alone been out on a bike in!!! There was incredible lightening (apparently!) but for the most part, we couldn't see it as there was too much water running off our helmets. How Jon stopped the bike from aquaplaning down the road I shall never know! We were still heading for the little town and still in the pouring rain. I have a feeling it will take the rest of the night for the gear to dry out! Thank god it's still warm at least!

Jon says:

Sat: The chunnel is the functional alternative to the ferry, the latter inciting a sense of adventure that underground sea-train cannot (although LCD screens with fish and other sea life would be much better than windows into an otherwise blacked out tunnel). Bike doing very well though.

Sun: Motorways over to Monschau. Toni said the bike deserved a Belgian-flag sticker, but we were only there for 2 hours so it doesn't count. We have also found that the rear suspension has a small problem, mainly in that it doesn't work properly. Every time we corner fast, and/or go over a big bump, the centre stand seems to hit the ground and make a terrible scraping noise. (We've checked - the part we suspected is slowly being ground down to a shiny flat surface - hopefully there's enough metal to last another week or two).

Mon: The drive to the Nurburg ring, along the 258 from Monschau, rivals and probably betters the A82 through Scotland. I didn't want to do the ring itself, partly because of the suspension problems, but mainly because I've no experience driving fast on a circuit. Stopping to watch the bikes and cars confirmed my decision.

Tue: Driving the 258 to Koblenz was amazing. The variety of roads including hair-pins, sweeping meadows, fast bends and lush scenery made the first 7-800km worthwhile.

Wed: The Rhine cruise inspired us to change route and follow the river roads on Thursday.

Thur: beautiful roads along the Rhine. At various points we had: on our right trains, on the road other bikes, on the paths walkers and cyclists, and on the river barges full of coal and cruisers full of tourists. On the road to Bad Konig we had very heavy rain laying itself down over very dry roads - the surface water was deep and the bike's brakes lost all sense of purpose. A little courage and lots of perseverance got us though a rather close lightning storm - I ducked down leaving Toni as the main lightning conductor, better to have the pillion full of volts than the driver. We were obviously a bit bogged down with water and mist when we e missed the hotels around the main street and instead found the highest hotel in the town - bugger - built up a good appetite walking up and down a couple of times though.

(No photos today - too wet!)

In Koblenz

Another wonderfully substantial and hearty German brekkie this morning - bread, cheese, meat and egg. We were ready to set off again. Bidding 'Auf Wiedersehen' to our friendly hosts, we left Monshau, bound for the city of Koblenz. I visited this city and Rhein region 20 years ago and I was curious and excited to be returning again. My first impression upon entering the city again was one of disappointment. It seemed to be tired looking, industrial and at least three times the size I remembered it. After the rural villages we've seen so far, it didn't compare favourably. However, it IS a city and growth and progress happens. It's not such a bad place. We found a hotel, quite easily and not far from the Moselle river and we took a stroll down to 'Die Deutches Eck', the point where the Moselle and the Rhein rivers meet. It's still fairly impressive! We are staying at The 'Kompforte Hotel' for two nights and hopefully we are off in the morning for a Rhein cruise down to St Goarshousen further down river for the day. Fingers crossed for another fabulous day's weather on our first full day off the bike!



Jesuitplatz in Koblenz - good spot for a beer.




Stolzenfels Castle as seen from the Rhine.




Our schiff, the Goethe, a paddleboat!!




Burg Katz ist geschlossen - boo hoo!

Still in Monschau

We like this place! So we've decided to stay another night. In my best German, I ask the proprietor if this will be at all possible. With a very perplexed look, he replied; ' Keine problem!' (No problem!).

After breakfast then we set off for the town of Nurburg - home of the famous 'Nurburgring'. After another sweltering journey there, (temperature today must have hit 30, not good at all in my new trousers!) we arrive at what only be described as the most unbelievably flash car-park I've ever seen! Not only were there the most bikes I've ever seen in one place, but Porsches, Lamborghinis and Lotuses - all crammed into a very small car-park. It was scary! Even if you have no interest whatsoever in motor sport, you could not fail to be amazed by the sight! The best part however turned out to be 2 miles up the road in a illegal parking spot on the edge of the forest. Hopping off the bike afforded us a fabulous view of the drivers speeding past on the track. We headed back to Monshau - considerably slower than some of the hundreds of bikes we saw on the roads that day!

Arriving back there, we found a fairly empty town. By the time we had showered and headed out again for dinner, there was barely anyone around in this ghost town! Maybe this was why the hotel owner was happy for us to stay another night - there was no-one else in the village!! After a delicious pizza, (German food is not entirely geared up for a vegetarian - thank god I eat fish - last night's trout with almonds was scrummy!) we wandered back to the hotel. Then at the really late 9pm we had to persuade the staff to sell us a final beer before they closed the bar - and the hotel for the night. We had to take cushions and glasses inside and then lock the front door after us!!! Everywhere was deserted and we were truly on our own!




Toni by the bike on the way to the Nurburgring.




Crazy bikes on the ring - can you see Jon on there??!!



Vogelsang - a disused Belgian military site we visitied on the way back from the ring - fabulous views.





Here we are again - coolio!