I just got up and went. `watched motogp qual, showered and wobbled on out. Wifey is out. Daughter is busy doing her uni work. So no-one telling me what to do. Im now eating biscuits for my tea.
Day 1 Bloody lovely sunrise coming into Rotterdam this morning.. My mates Pikes Peak,..25 grands worth of bike held down with a shonky tie strap! Totally arse killing 350 miles plus motorway day today,..arrrgh! Digs for the night in Baden Baden..so good they named it twice!! Hit this restaurant for evening meal, amazingly good food, ..not that I was ready for a good nose bag ! Most of the Motley crew,..forget how old we all are, it’s like “ Last of the summer wine” ..not be long before we’re getting a one way ticket to Switzerland! This didn’t touch the sides on the way down, bloody lovely it was Right, bedtime peeps, 06:30 start tomorrow suited and booted,..getting too old for this ffs ..more updates tomorrow,…probably
Day 2 - Baden Baden to Bolzano northern Italy, 312 miles, 06:30 start and we didn’t get to the hotel tonight until 18:50…long hot day! We did the fantastic B500 this morning at about 07:00, great as there was no traffic on it, but real problems with the blinding sunrise, just couldn’t see into some bends, still enjoyed it though. Everything going well until the group leader suddenly pulled in to a rapid stop,…birdstrike! Trying to piece together his screen here, some kind of raptor had hit him bang on in the screen and smashed it to pieces, there was a bit missing so I went back up the road to look for it, ..found it..and the bird laying by the side of the road, so I picked it up and brought it back to the guys and threw it at them ( as you do!) to see who screamed like a girl! Such a shame, it was a beautiful thing and we were gutted this happened, we thought it was a buzzard, not sure, anyone know what it is?? Screen duct taped back together as best we could and crack on with the ride Route headed us down towards Innsbruck and up the Timmelsjoch from the Austrian side… Motorbike museum at the top Had some extremes of temperature today, down as low as 8c in the mountains,..heated grips on, and 27c when we got to Bolzano tonight.. Italian waste bins on steroids for @Ducbird Great but really tiring day out, time for some Zzzzz’s
Bird looks like a Norwegian Blue (possibly stunned). Is the bike museum the one that had the fire recently and has just been rebuilt/reopened?, either way, did you get any photos of the contents you could share when you have the opportunity!
I am reliably informed that it’s a Hen Harrier, and unfortunately it was very dead Didn’t have time to visit the motorbike museum, gives me a reason to go back again …although the run down the Italian side of the Timmelsjoch was bloody scary !!
We went past the museum the other week, and said we’d also return for a proper look round one day. The trouble is, with all those great roads there, the last thing you want to do is walk around a museum!
A buzzard is a great deal bigger. I know because I had to duck for one on Saturday! It flew across my path at head height! You dont normally see them that low. Surprised the shit outta me.
Day 3 - Bolzano to Udine over the Dolomites, 220 miles.. Fantastic weather for it today and loads of other bikes about, 90% of which were BM GS’s! Instantly recognisable shape of the Dolomites Some of the valleys were just chocolate box pretty Had a lush coffee and apple strudel in here, lovely looking building.. Then we went over the Passo Duran,…wait for it .. Bike swerved to a standstill at the restaurant at side of road,..I suppose it was just “ THE REFLEX” .. I was ready for something to eat mind because I was “ HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF” All the cows in the field had bells on ( because their horns didn’t work ) and they didn’t half make a racket.. Thought I’d take a couple of pics as I wanted to get the “GIRLS ON FILM” Right that’s enough of that sh1te From the cooler air of the mountains it started to get really hot on the afternoon, saw 28c on the temperature gauge, on our last stop for fuel, my mate who booked the hotels said that tonight’s one was a little further out of town, so perhaps we’d just eat in the restaurant tonight,…the warning bells should have gone off then really ?? About 10 miles away from anywhere, we rocked up at this place,..a family run winery… Middle of nowhere,..if you like peace and tranquillity..fill your boots My mate here only has two faults,..he’s a bit of a short arse..and, he has a bladder the size of an egg cup so he’s always the first one who want’s to stop for a pee,…so he’s earned the nickname of “ The incontinent imp” Felt right at home here with others the same size Then he had the horse eating pears out of his hand., Anyhow, we asked the nice lady if we could eat at about 7:30pm.. “We don’t have a restaurant, it’s only B&B” came the reply.. ! Okay then, we’ll just have 8 beers please.. “We don’t have beers, just the white wine we make “… !! There was nearly a riot!! One of my mates said “ have you brought us to a fekkin health spa or what ?? The nice lady ran us into the nearest town ( 2 trips bless her as there was 8 of us, so we gave her a 40 Euros thank you) and she took us to a cracking restaurant where we immediately lowered the tone.. I think they had issues with their portion control because this was just my starter !! Melon and Parma ham, with a full buffalo mozzarella about the size of an orange!..wow! Followed by a sirloin steak with wedges, washed down with 3 beers,…40 Euro’s the lot ,..how do they do that ??? Great days riding, just got so hot this afternoon and would have killed for a beer as soon as I got off the bike, but it all worked out okay in the end Roll on tomorrow for more of the same !
Gret Great read Poucher, keep it coming. Very envious. My day has been shit thanks to a bitch of a solicitor who shat on me from a great height. So my small bike thing was to take my Multistrada round the corner to a mates garage and put it in there because tomorrow I have to move out. It should have been Friday but they stiffed me. It takes a lot to make me angry but today I have been absolutely boiling with rage. So enjoy your trip and keep it coming because we all enjoy the escapism.
@Sam1199 can’t imagine what your going through at the moment mate, but the only advice I can give you is just remember this situation won’t last forever, you will get back to normal. Try not to get so wound up about it because it can take a toll on your health as well, I bet you’re blood pressure was through the roof the other day. I’m sure others will be along soon with better advice than I can give, hope you get out of this shitstorm soon.
Looks amazing, Poucher. The Dolomites are my all time favourite place to ride. We were meant to come back from WDW that way, but the weather forecast was shite, and we didn’t have enough time to risk it. The plan next year is to head straight there.
It’s just shit that solicitors create while you’re moving house. It’ll be over and done with later today
