My Trip

[quik_d]

Hey

Seeing as i've now been back over 2 weeks i thought i'd actually do a thread on my trip!

I left on Sat. 5th May and came home on Friday 1st June, covering 2500 miles. I started in Brussels for a few days which i really liked, then headed down to Luxembourg. Luxembourg was nice, but it rained all day, and it was there my alarm / immobiliser packed up, stopping me from being able to disarm it with the key fob. This saw me standing in the middle of Lux removing the top box and side panels so i could disconnect the alarm, as it cut the power to the starter. noone blinked an eye lid as the alarm wailed and i dismantled my bike on the pavement for about half an hour; making me wonder what the benefits of having one is!

That problem fixed the rain got worse so i headed for the nearest campsite for the night. Next morning I jumped back on the bike and headed for Nancy, France, weather was perfect till i got within 1 mile of Nancy, and the heavens opened, this would be the case for the rest of the day. I didn't stay long there, eager to get to Basely, Switzerland, to a hostel with a drying machine as the water got in my panniers after about 3 hours in relentless torrent of rain. I got halfway there before i had to stop riding, visibility got down to about 50 metres and the roads increasingly twisty as I approached the alps. I stopped for the night in a one horse town that had a campsite and attempted (in vain) to dry some clothes.

Next day it was still rubbish and the forecast for Switzerland was bad, but i headed there anyway. It brightened up and i started to dry out, i got to the hostel and got my clothes dry, things were on the up. My boots would still take days to dry i later found and i started wearing black sacks on my feet all the time!

Switzerland was beautiful, the best place I've ever been to, amazing scenery, even better roads and really interesting cities to just wonder around in all day. I think it had to be the best place i visited on my trip, if it wasn't for fear of swallowing the occasional suicidal fly i would have had my mouth wide open lol I travelled through Switz stopping in Basel, Bern and Lausanne, moving onto Grenoble and then down the famous N85, Route Napoleon to Nice. I stayed in Nice 4 days, visiting Cannes and Monaco as well. After that i travelled west to Nimes, where they have a lot of Roman buildings preserved, the arena there was really cool, in the centre of the city surrounded by cafes and office it strangely didn't look out of place.

Next was a slight detour to Millau to cross the viaduct there, highest bridge in the world apparently, well worth the 200odd mile trip to ride across it really is a magnificent piece of work. From there I travelled to Barcelona with an overnight stop in Perpignan. Barcelona was ok, I stayed there 5 days and there is lots to see but it was nothing special for me. I found it too tourist-y and cheesy, and I think it's the place you need to visit with people to appreciate it and my girlfriend couldn't get the time off to come out to join me which was a shame.

From Barcelona is travelled north to Bilbao where i caught my ferry back to Portsmouth, i spent four days there just chilling out and visiting the various museums there including the famous Guggenheim which was a sight to behold! The bike coped fine, though it runs a bit rougher than before i left, i think it needs a good service, valves shimming as they're tapping etc. I covered about 2500 miles in all, didn't miss a beat or not start once though so it did well.

Anyway sorry for the longish account i tried to keep it short but i can't! hopefully you'll get the pics attached, some of my favourite ones.

Cheers
Dean
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LOOK AT DAT M8 WELL LUSH A PARROT INT IT

[sanchezz_182]

Sounds like a great trip. i like the idea of staying in places for a couple of days rather than being on the road all of the time, did you plan your stops or just stop at placest as an when u felt like it?

ps. pictures need disciptions
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[EuropeanNC30R...]

Sounds a great trip, nice one! I need to go to Switzerland some time.

Bike's always seem to be running beautifully smooth as you're setting out then by the time you get back as rough as a dog and in need of a damn good service.

[Modo]

Nice post and pics Looking forward to next year already
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[Fawbish]

Hey, cheers for the link


Thats ace

Some of the views look bloody good. May i ask how much you spent on the trip?

Good write up
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"Oh....it looks like Average Joe's is forfeiting the match!" - "Yeah, its a risky strategy but lets see if it pays off for 'em Cotton."