Here goes then, part 1:
I think in total we made it to nine countries in our sixteen days, it may have been ten but the following are those I can recall right now (I'm sure you will correct me if I'm wrong here Fletch), so it was Holland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Italy and Belgium....though not necessarily in that order!
We began on the Friday night by sailing overnight from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. I in my usual way had found something to worry about and it was that I get seasick. Consequently, as the pack instructed, I dosed myself up with some anti-emetic, over the counter potion, two hours before sailing but was not to be dissuaded from worrying entirely..... and waited with a little trepidation for the heinous process of an eight hour crossing feeling like death to begin.
In the event we boarded late and after the malarkey and faffing of tying the bike down (no, bikes don't remain upright at sea unaided) we made our way to our 'captains cabin' (no bunk beds for us, no sirree, a nice proper bed, a 'free' mini bar, a bathroom complete with shower and a small lounge area) and I waited for the sickness to begin......the reality was that I laid down on the bed, fell immediately fast asleep and knew nothing more, not even that we had 'set sail' (ok I know ferries don't have sails) until 7am when the P.A. system announced we were about to dock in Holland! Sick, nah....it was a walk in the park! ;o)
And so we had arrived at the start of our adventure and off we set in the morning sun on the first of a number of long journeys, this one approximately 450 miles to Freiburg in Germany's Black Forest, our first nights stop. I saw about as much of that as I had the nights sailing, it seems that the anti emetic drug I had taken the night before had effected me considerably.....as a sleeper! A large part of that first day I snoozed very nicely thankyouverymuch, while Fletch ploughed on mile after mile. I did manage to wake up here and there but mostly I struggled to keep my eyes open at all!
By early evening we arr rived at our destination, found our camp site, pitched for the night in warm sun and made haste to a restaurant for dinner.....then fell asleep again.
Sunday morning we set off to ride the Black forest, at this point I thought I had rarely seen anything so beautiful, it all seemed like a picture postcard to me, immaculate timber houses with low sloping roofs covered in window boxes of bright flowers set against rolling hills of the brightest green grass and miles and miles of blue-green fir trees. I was spellbound as we wound our way up and down steep hills that seemed to go on forever....and more than a little impressed to discover (as we would in many places) that unlike in the U.K. where bikers are in some circles maybe slightly frowned upon, in Germany they seemed to be positively encouraged and catered for and we were not alone, there were hundreds of bikes on the road enjoying the challenges presented by the winding terrain and beautiful scenery.
The following day I was was to realise that what I thought had been amazing views and roads in the Black Forest were only the beginning and there was far better to come. Bear in mind here that I, unlike Fletch, was not very well travelled up until this point and whilst I have toured on two wheels often it had always been in England previously. This journey took us on another ten hours in the saddle, this time via Switzerland and Lichtenstein to Austria.....and my first ever sight of real, snow capped mountains that just went on and on. It was a feature of this holiday for me that for two weeks, at almost every turn of the 3000 miles, the sights just got better and better, I spent a large amount of time I think with my mouth hanging open in utter awe and disbelief at what I was seeing. Really, until now in my life I didn't believe so many beautiful and stunning placers really existed. I was completely bowled over and just the sheer joy of seeing such magical natural wonders for real had an uncanny ability to reduce me almost to tears.
As did something else. This day was the one where the full impact of the physical and mental challenge involved in hard riding on a bike, almost every day, all day hit home and by eight o'clock at night, tired, sore, hot, dirty and hungry and still with some way to go and nowhere yet to pitch our tent, suddenly, having spent the day elated watching hundreds of miles of mountains go by, having driven through tunnels as long as 16km, seen eagles, lakes, snow and sun and through two further countries, at the side of the road on a 'smoking stop', I burst into tears, all I wanted to do was sleep....and I was on the back riding pillion, unlike Fletch who was doing the real hard stuff. I was quickly recovered though and it was the point at which we devised the plan that sustained us (along with coffee and nicotine) through the tougher bits......ride for 100 miles or 1.5 hours and then stop for a break, that way we broke it down into mentally manageable sections and it never again became so overwhelming. In fact, the challenge and difficulties of what we were doing became a positive aspect mostly from then on and we felt some satisfaction in learning to handle it. It was always going to have it's challenges, it's the kind of holiday you need a holiday to get over but the challenges became part of the enjoyment.
So, tears over and on we went to a lovely little campsite approximately 15 miles from the foot of the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain peak and to be our next days adventure and one of the highlights, if not the highlight for me at least, of our travels.
Grossglockner - Tuesday 7th August:
This day was one of the most memorable of my life, we set off in the morning to ride the mountain pass having relieved the bike of some of it's heavy luggage in the knowledge that this was going to be a 'testing' if fun ride over one of the highest mountain passes out there. We paid our 18 Euro toll and hit the hair pins! I don't have words to describe fully quite what an impact the sheer size, scale and rugged beauty had on me but it's a feeling I won't ever forget, my first real, massive mountain, accessed via miles and miles of hairpin bends at steep gradients with sheer cliffs and no barrier that would stop a bike......it was absolutely stunning, I can't describe it in a way that would do it justice so instead I will regale you with some pictures, though they can't truly convey the scale or magnificence of the place.
That's it then for part one, if you aren't already snoozing part two will follow shortly but here seems a good point to say (though he won't thank me for saying so publicly) that I take my hat off to Fletch, the guy deserves a medal for his riding ability and skills under what where some extremely difficult conditions. The bike weighs over a quarter of a ton loaded, without me parked on the back, it has a long range tank fitted that carries approx 45 liters of fuel, adding weight and instability to the machine and to be frank she handles somewhat like a fat pig. She is designed for the job but you can't have it all and with adventure touring comes weight and distance.....hey, the man's a hero, rode up to ten hours at a time, did all the navigating without ever getting us lost and kept the rubber side down all that time without a hitch! :o)
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