2016 Euro Trip - Picture heavy

[derillius24]

Hello, all. I’ve decided it’s probably a decent idea to do a trip write-up sooner than four years after returning, as per the previous. More detail, morer goodness etc. So here goes…

On June 28th, myself and two great friends left Scotland for North Shields and the DFDS Princess Seaways (good fun money pit). I was on my 2014 Triumph ST-R, the other lads were riding a 2012 Triumph ST-R and a 2011 KTM Superduke 990. The ride down was cold and wet but enjoyable nonetheless. The A7 is a hoot. It took about four hours with a couple of comfort breaks and we made it to the port in loads of time.

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The boat is fine. It sails at 5pm and arrives at 9am the following morning. The cabins are small but comfortable enough, there are several bars and a few places to eat, although the food is exorbitantly expensive. There was a live band who were pretty good (dat frontwoman ) and it was a lovely night for the crossing. A few beers, some scran, zzz and arrive. The only real issue is brought about by the fuckwits who start their engines before the ferry doors open for disembarking, effectively turning the vehicle decks into floating gas chambers.

ANYWAY.

Day 1: 320 mile blast through Holland, into Germany and to our first night’s stop in Saarbrucken, just underneath Luxembourg at the German-French border. Boring as Hell, but this day was really just about banging some miles in to get to where we were going. Saarbrucken for no reason other than it was en-route. It was OK-ish; cheap, with decent eateries, but a bit of a shanty town in places. The hotel we stayed in had an underground garage which was somewhat reassuring. Breakfast was good, hosts helpful. Tara.

Day 2: From Germany, we crossed into France and were bound for the Vosges Mountains. We stopped for lunch in Saint-Marie-aux-Mines, the start of the Routes des Cretes. From here we completed the route through the Vosges. We followed the D48 from S-M-a-M, and on to the D148, D61, D430 and finally the D431 down to Cernay where the route ends. This was a fantastic day. The roads were outstanding and it was very quiet. Personally, I’d never heard of this area before coming across an article written about it in a bike mag just before leaving. I’d thoroughly recommend it. The scenery was beautiful and there was a good mixture of fast sweeping sections and tight, technical ones. The road surface was slightly loose in places and on the final descent down into Cernay, there are a few steep, downhill hairpins that are cobbled at the bend – change of pants stuff if caught unawares, bailing down the road in the wet, I’d imagine!
We stopped at Le Grand Ballon, the highest point, for cake and coffee.

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We didn’t stay in Cernay as there was limited availability anywhere, instead we stopped just a few miles along the road in Thann. This is a gorgeous French village and there happened to be a food and drink festival going on while we were there – winner!

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Day 3: A bit of a nightmare... We were on the road late after a few beers at the preceding night’s beer festival. With a 12pm departure, we were Chamonix-bound. Again, this day was about getting to where we needed to be. It was hundreds of miles, roasting hot and on dull roads, most of the way. We spent a fortune on toll roads (bikers were very clearly an afterthought from whoever designed these). Last time I had an awful experience whereby I stuck my ticket in my mouth in a bit of a panic when the barrier raised, expecting there to be parking immediately afterwards as there usually is. There wasn’t… I rode the next 40 miles with a paper ticket literally dissolving in my mouth and then had to hit the SOS button at the next toll to get a new ticket .
We stopped in Annecy for a quick dip in the lake and then continued to Chamonix during sunset along the D909 and the D1212 – great road, very technical.

Long story short, we arrived in Chamonix at 10.30 pm to find our hotel was locked, closed and with nobody on reception. Bollocks. Turns out reception closed at 5pm and our only option was to pay again for that night in a hotel that was open. We found a place manned 24 hours which was lovely and cheaper than the place we booked! We went out and got absolutely wankered. Got back at 8am and had to check out of our lovely hotel at 10 – we’d have been as well just going out and not booking anything. We had to move across town to our other hotel (booked for two nights) and it was an utter dump. Whatcha gonna do? Day 4 was spent mainly hanging like dogs and eating.

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The Bighorn Bistro in Chamonix is outstanding.

Day 5: Chamonix to Val d’Isere. Early start, glorious sunshine and stunning roads. La Rosiere down into Val d’Isere is one of my favourite roads in the world – it is biking Heaven. And it was quiet. We arrived at our home for the next two nights and we were well chuffed. It’s a beautiful little ski resort, all wooden and flowery and surrounded by the Alps. The apartment had a spa, an outdoor pool and a balcony.

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Day 6: Mountain biking in the French Alps – a great laugh but actually quite frightening! My legs got burned. And I crashed. Lots. That evening we went for a dusk blast to the Italian border via the D902 and Lac du Mont Cenis. Again, a bloody excellent road and with the lighting it was just breath-taking.

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Day 7: Very sad to leave. But on to Lake Maggiore. We retraced our steps from the night before and got in a tussle with a group of UK-plated supercars. They were generally very respectful and stayed well back, all but one dickhead in a black Ferrari F430. He overtook us on a completely blind bend, entirely on the wrong side of the road. I was gobsmacked, I’d quite literally never seen anything like it. If anything had been coming the other way, it’d have been a head on, biker dead. We were fucking furious and made it known. Now that he was past he put his foot down (D902) so myself and Andy (ST-R 1 and 2) gave serious chase as the road opened up. He was clearly shitting it and his driving was getting twitchy so we made sure we flew past as quickly as possible hoping he’d get the message. He did, slowed down and backed right off.

We got to Lake Maggiore for 6pm that night and it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Lovely people, great food and drink and incredible natural beauty. Do go if you get the chance. Additionally, a good portion of the route from the Italian border to the Lake was great fun. Hairpin central. The Petit St bernard Pass is also quite a challenge! And the Mont Blanc tunnel is 28.80 Euros to pass through on a bike .

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Day 8: Hot sun, hot women, speed boat, beer. Italianophile.

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Day 9: lake Maggiore to Schluschsee, Germany, via Switzerland where we took in the Furka and the Grimsel. I don’t like Switzerland, I never have. It’s expensive, congested and rude in my experience. The passes were so-so as well. You just couldn’t get going for traffic – motorhomes, buses, cars everywhere and certainly no more spectacular than some of the deserted passes in France and Italy. Three coffees along the Grimsel cost 14 local coins. Bleugh.

Not all GoPro mounts are created equal
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We arrived at a bizarre residence in Schluchsee having ridden through the first 20 miles of the B500 at dusk. The husband and wife team who owned it spoke no English but were a delight. We were late getting in but the lady went and made us a home cooked meal after the kitchen had closed, consisting of salad, bread and meat dumpling broth. It was delicious. She also brought out 3 big bottles of beer for each of us signalling that we’d clearly had a long day! What more could you ask for?

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Day 10: Schluschsee to Bonn via the Black Forest. Amazing fun, perfect weather, Autobahns once out of the forest. The Germans do a lot right. We met one of my German friends and her husband in Bonn and spent the night at a beer garden followed by a silent / headphone disco – surprisingly good fun!

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Day 11: Bonn to Ijmuiden. Sad faces. Rough crossing. Boat smelled of vomit.

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Day 12: North Shields to Scotland in the pissing rain!

The best holiday I’ve ever been on with stunning weather, glorious roads, great food, drink & locals and top company. There’s probably a load of stuff I’ve forgotten to include but if anyone would like any more detail with regard to hotels we stayed in or routes etc then let me know and I’ll do my best to provide as much information as I can.

Other additional information for anyone interested:

I saw zillions of bikers. I saw not one with reflective helmet stickers on, anywhere.

Everywhere we stayed was booked either on the day, or late the night before through Booking.com. The Chamonix issue aside (which was our fault, really), there were no problems at all and we generally stayed in lovely accommodation, usually with a nice breakfast included for 25-35 euros per night each. As per the photographs, many rooms were big, with nice bathrooms, balconies and even outdoor pools in places. Spot on.

We were away for 12 days and I had a 10L tank bag and a 30L tail pack. This was more than enough. We came across loads of UK bikes who were away for similar periods of time who looked like they were carrying about 100L + of luggage – it’s just unnecessary weight and must bring about all sorts of hassle.

I used Kriega luggage and it was brilliant. Completely waterproof when riding in torrential rain back from North Shields and very quick to attach / detach once familiar with the system. I had the US-30 mounted ‘sideways’ across the pillion seat and it was never, ever a problem. The US-10 was on the tank with the Kriega tank harness adaptor. The only thing, in my opinion, that they lack is a clear pocket on the top for ramming a map / phone / written directions into.

We used a car Sat-Nav in a tank bag clear pocket (not mine!) for directions which worked absolutely fine. We tried to use paper maps as much as possible because cavemen, but for finding our way in / out of some cities it was invaluable.

We all had on Michelin PR4s which were excellent. Mine are a couple of millimetres from the edges on each side and bobbled. The conditions were generally fast, twisty and hot. I’m no nutter, and there’s no doubt that many on here will be faster / harder riders than me, but we didn’t ride like ministers and the tyres were never anything but confidence inspiring. I’d recommend.

Monet spent: <puts-fingers-in-ears> LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

Gear / bike review?

Triumph ST-R: Sweet Jesus, God above. It just makes SO. MUCH. SENSE. over there. I fell in love all over again.

Kriega: Ace

AGV Corsa: Superb. Light, comfortable (with ear plugs) and cool in some incredible heat with the amount of air that the vents flow

Knox Handroids: Light, cool, loads of feel. A bit uncomfortable when wearing them all day as I find the palm material bunches and caused some pretty serious blisters. Man-up though, innit?

A* 365 gloves: Far too warm! But they would’ve been great if the weather had been different. As it turned out, they were surplus to requirement.

A* Missile leather trousers: Brilliant. Comfortable as you like.

A* Jaws leather jacket: I love this jacket. It’s well fitted and supremely comfortable once bedded in. The removable thermal lining is very warm for riding back home in Scotland but in the sun on the Continent it was perfect with the lining out. Furthermore, the WP breast pocket really is completely waterproof.

A* SMX-Plus boots: Like an old pair of slippers. But now shagged. I’ve had them 4 years and covered about 30k miles in them. The sole is through after this trip and they smell like decomposing skunk.

A*: I AR TART

I’m home and fucking miserable.

Cheers, fellas / fellettes.

Mark
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CG125, CBF250, DRZ400-SM, Z750, Street Triple R, Tuono V4R

[smallfrowne]

Looks like my kind of trip!
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'90 VFR750; '89 NC30; '95 DR650; '89 CD250U; ~'82 CG125; ~C90

[Casper]

Come on to take the piss, Four hours to north shields Then i seen your location Decided i hate the DFDS crossing. Price and the fact they have the cheek to have begging bowls on the bar (tips) Trying P&O from Hull this year as its been years since i went that far down but being further south in Euro land helps us this year. Last two DFDS trips we ate at the Premier Inn just before the ferry terminal gates and took beer with us. Same on the way back and we get fish and chips in that same cafe you used.

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I was buzzing for months after my first on a bike.

[Chain driven]

Cracking report derillius24 can relate to the expensive boat first class report

[Enduro Numpty]

Great report and photos. I also don't like the crossing to and from Ijmuiden or rather I don't like DFDS seaways.

[Snowdonia Rider]

Thanks for sharing
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I want your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.
Suzuki GP125 Suzuki GSX600F Suzuki SV650S KTM EXC250F SkyTeam Bongo 125
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SnowdoniaRider

[derillius24]

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings, folks. I'm glad you've enjoyed it and I appreciate your comments. The boat is extremely expensive on board (and not particularly cheap to sail on in the first place) but as has been mentioned we made sure we ate before getting on and just bought a few beers on board. I ordered a soda water and lime before bed as I was gasping and it was 4.50 Euros. Criminal.

However, it was punctual at both ends and coming from Scotland (myself from Dundee and the other lads from Aberdeen) it's the only crossing that makes much sense in order to avoid enormous rides to port. We did consider renting a van to transport the bikes to Portsmouth / Plymouth but ultimately laziness and apathy got the better of us as we decided we couldn't be arsed with the hassle and extra expense. Maybe in coming years
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CG125, CBF250, DRZ400-SM, Z750, Street Triple R, Tuono V4R

[derillius24]

Quick update;

Here are screen grabs of what were, for me, the four best routes of the trip, in terms of fantastic scenery, scarcity of traffic and of course the roads themselves.

Cheers

The Routes des Cretes through the Vosges Mountains
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Annecy to Chamonix - technical AF
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Chamonix to Val d'isere via La Rosiere
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Val d'Isere to the Italian border via Lac du Mont Cenis, and beyond
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CG125, CBF250, DRZ400-SM, Z750, Street Triple R, Tuono V4R