The ferry arrived in Hull at 7am on a chilly but sunny morning and when we were allowed to go to the vehicle deck I was surprised to see a second bike, who would have arrived after me. He was from Switzerland on a GS and was going to Leeds. He must like curry… Alas, being the first bike on doesn’t mean you’re first off as there are lots of cars to get off ahead of you. I rolled off the ship about 7.40 and passport check was really quick and easy – and after that I hit the main road and the crush of breakfast commuters. There is a Starbucks opposite the P&O Terminal and I wish I’d gone there and waited as while, which would have been more fun than crawling along with a fully-laden bike amongst the frustrated commuters.
And that’s it. My trip is done. Six weeks, 8 countries and 6229 miles from doorstep to doorstep – and I’ve enjoyed every minute. My initial plan was to come back on the 31st of October, but it’s becoming really difficult to find camp sites that are still open so that helped me make the decision to head home. Also, even thought the daytimes are still very sunny and warm, the nights were becoming really quite cold, so that helped to cement my decision. Yes, I kinda wimped-out a bit but when you’re sat on your travel chair reading your book in the evening wearing your sleeping bag in a cold tent, it doesn’t become fun any more. Also, the loneliness of a cold toilet seat certainly makes home feel fonder…
I’ve visited Holland, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Czechia, Luxembourg, France and Belgium – and I’ve liked every country I’ve been to and it’s made me more determined to visit these countries again and to see even more of Europe. I really do love riding in Europe and being in Europe.
So what have I learnt…? I’ve learnt that I can survive on the road and that I can do it all on my own. Before I left I wondered if I would get bored or even lonely, but I’ve enjoyed every minute and really enjoyed being on my own. Maybe I’m anti-social, or maybe I just like my own company, but while away never once did I feel bored, fed up or even threatened, and along the way I’ve met some really nice people, so I suppose that filled the gap of being on my own. But to be honest, when you’re on the road your days can actually become quite busy, especially when its a lift-and-shift day, and then on ‘touristy’ days the days seem to pass so quick as you’re too busy seeing things or travelling around the countryside.
I do like riding the roads and motorways in Europe. They’re much better than the UK. Somehow I find the road systems so much easier and efficient, especially turning left or right at junctions in towns or cities. And on the motorways, people are just so much better mature about what the fast-lane is for – unless you’re Belgian… The system just works. Yesterday after leaving Hull I was calm and determined to just ’chill’ and go with the flow but within 20 minutes of riding on the M62 I was getting pretty irate at the outside lane blockers – just sat there with their head in the clouds well below the speed limit. Back to normality again in the land of dispsticks where the rear-view mirror seems to be a fashion accessory…. 🙁
I thought the Autobhans in Germany were excellent, though you really do have to keep your wits about you, especially on their three-lane motorways. You can be bimbling along doing around 85 in the middle lane thinking you’re pretty cool, and then several big cars will blast past you doing 95 upwards. You really do have to look in your mirror before you venture into the fast lane to avoid ending up as a bumper-sticker on a big BMW or Merc, though it really surprises me how the Europeans ‘tailgate’ on the motorways, especially in Germany. The message there is ‘get out of the way’ but in all my time in Europe I never saw a single accident. The Europeans are far better at driving on motorways than the UK. Far better.
I also learnt that at whatever Lidle or Aldi you visit in Europe, they are also like the UK in that they only usually have one checkout manned with a huge queue of grumbling shoppers. I shopped in local supermarkets wherever I went, and was really surprised at the sheer amount and choice of good food, veg or fruit on offer. Far better than back home, and every country I’ve visited seems to be booming. New buildings, new factories, new roads and in some places new trams, and on every motorway there was always a constant stream of HGV’s. Europe seems to be booming.
Okay, some other things. I really should have got my tent sorted out before I left, because half-way through I ended up ditching my old tent and buying a new tent. My own fault, but there you go. The five P’s – Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance…
As for money, I took a Post Office currency card with me, pre-loading it with currency, and thinking it would be convenient and less of a worry. I found it was really easy to move and change currency around and check my transactions – but using it was a different matter. In Sweden, Holland and Belgium I had a lot of difficulty using it, especially at petrol stations. I had to revert to my bank-card in Sweden and Holland. Very frustrating. When I was on the ferry last night I changed my remaining Euro’s back to Sterling and when I got back into the UK I thought I’d use up my remaining money for fuel, but when I stopped for fuel near York – and my card was refused. As much as the card is very convenient, I won’t be using a Post Office card again.
My biggest calamity was my music…. When I’m riding I listen to music all the time through the head-set in my helmet. Before I left I had about 30GB of my selected music to listen to on my phone – but I made the mistake of not initially backing up the phone to my laptop, so at the end of the first week when I connected my phone to my laptop to transfer pictures, the laptop – thinking it wanted to backup my phone – zapped my music collection. Calamity…! After that I spent a couple of evenings on a very slow wifi connection downloading my old iTunes purchases, buying some new albums and also downloading more music off the internet. It wasn’t perfect but at least I had something to listen to for the past few weeks – thought I was getting a bit bored with it by the end.
And the bike…. The V-Strom DL1000 is just perfect and has never missed a beat. She’s never grumbled and has just eaten up the miles, especially when fully loaded with all my kit. In fact, when she’s fully loaded that seems to be where she shines the most because besides the extra weight making little difference to the handling, she just feels better when she’s ‘loaded’ and she can cruise between 75 and 85 mph all-day long. On the motorways I would cruise at around 5000 to 5500 revs (75-80mph) and if it was a motorway day and I needed to hustle then I’d cruise at 6000 revs (about 90) and yet there was always extra revs on hand if I needed to do a warp-factor-ten overtake. The big Vee-twin engine just goes on and on and takes whatever you throw at it.
My only niggles were the ignition key switch, which seems to have a mind of its own, and the daytime running lights, which failed on me. I fitted the lights myself, and they are supposed to be BWM, but one of the lights filled with water so I had to disconnect then from the system. I hate riding without them so I’ve now got to fit some new lights before I hit the road again next year. As for oil, I took a 1 litre bottle of Castrol 10/40 oil with me, the bottle with the red cap and the pull-out tube. I have 250ml left and estimate that I’ve used about a little under 500ml for the engine and a little over 250ml for the chain lube reservoir. I did wonder whether 1ltr would be enough – and it was. I’ve only had to adjust my chain once, which was about two weeks ago, so the chain-lube device is certainly doing its job.
My tyres have lasted well, too. The rear Tourance is a bit squared-off now, but I am sure I’ve got a good couple of thousand miles left on it and the front looks really good. I was planning to change them for road tyres early next year but because the front is so good, I’ll do one more rear tyre before I swap them out for road tyres. Why road tyres…? To be honest, I think the V-Strom 1000 is too big and too heavy to go off-road, so as I have no intention to go green-laning with these tyres it makes sense to have full road tyres instead of the Tourance tyres, which have an off-road bias. On my trip I’ve ridden roads of all types and quality, in rain and sunshine, and never once has the Metzelers stepped out on me or left me feeling worried – except in Belgium, and I think on some of those roads you would struggle even if you were driving a 4×4. The Metzeler Tourance really is an excellent tyre and gives you so much confidence in the wet or dry.
So, what next…? Next year I am definitely going to hit the road again for two months, but I’m definitely going to do it earlier rather than later. I would have liked to have left earlier this year but I had work commitments so next year I’m going to have to plan a bit differently. Next year there are three area’s I’m thinking of: either down to Portugal and then heading over to Italy, or heading down to Austria, Switzerland, Italy and then Croatia, or heading straight down to Greece and then going up to Hungary and Bulgaria. I’m also tempted to go to the top of Norway and coming back via Sweden. Maybe I’ll just throw a dart at a map and make a decision that way. I’ve got lots of options so over the winter but I’ll have plenty of time to think about it.
My speedo – when I left and when I got back. 6229 miles. In my head I thought I’d done around 5k miles but was surprised when I made the calculation. Er, I think the Strom is overdue a service by 3k miles. You wouldnt think it though because she just keeps on going, starts every time and takes everything I ask of her. What a great travelling companion…
