Daves Blog

This morning we planned to return to Calais as quickly as possible on the motorways and see if we couldn’t get on an earlier ferry. A lot of the group had the same idea and so we left the hotel at about 8.15am. Again Mike and Martene followed us and again, thanks to the FJR the journey was absolutely horrible.

The idea was to make as fast progress as possible as there were threatening clouds in the sky but being quite blustery made it quite uncomfortable to ride at high speed. I tried a few times to sit at around 100mph but it quickly became so uncomfortable that we had to drop down again to around 80/85. At these speeds the buffeting was just about bearable.

We arrived at Calais in time to get the earlier 1.15 ferry along with a few others from the tour. On landing at Dover we headed for my parents in Kent to take a well earned break and have coffee etc. Then at about 7.00pm we set off for home and arrived back at about 10.00pm.

All in all we had a good holiday and very much enjoyed the places we visited and the company of others. We generally had great weather and the towns were very interesting places to visit.

I’m not sure we would do an MSL tour again though if Rex’s leadership was typical. He provided no guidance of places to visit and made it very clear he preferred people to make their own way to places. Consequently I’m not sure that it was worth paying the premium to have our hotels and ferry booked for us.

This morning started after breakfast of course with our pre-booked ride out to visit the Mercier champagne cellars. About half of the group had booked to take this tour and so at about 9.30am we all set off following Rex. After a short fuel stop we arrived with 45 minutes in hand for our tour booked at 11.00am.

The tour only took about 45 minutes but was very interesting and very well presented. We learnt a lot about champagne production and it was very interesting to go around the cellars on a laser guided train.

Following this, Rex had promised to take those interested to a nearby street that is used sometimes as a race track. There’s nothing else there except a tower, pits and a grand stand but being such unusual structures for a public road it had to be worth seeing. He said we’d go into the town for a coffee and then set off to the race track. So off he went with 4 bikes following him. True to form, he then changed the plan when he saw the queue of traffic into the town and just set off for the race track.

We followed him for what seemed like at least 30 miles through villages and vinyards, taking a number of U turns along the way until eventually he stopped. At this point he and his wife got off their bike and he started fiddling with something. Apparently he’d stopped to programme his GPS at which point the RAM mount had exploded into pieces in his hand. Looking at it he had all pieces except for the key silver bolt needed to hold it all together. Everyone searched high and low for it but we came to the conclusion it must have fallen between his headstock and tank. So off came the tank and then with a torch we looked for it in among all the engine pipework but it wasn’t anywhere to be seen. So at my suggestion he turned his tank bag round and put the GPS in the top flap.

We set off again in search of the elusive race track. U turns and villages later two of the group decided they’d had enough and set off on their own. Eventually Rex pulled over again and announced he had no idea where the race track was and that he was giving up. He had to be joking! We’d followed him for what seemed like at least 50 miles, hadn’t had coffee since breakfast and he was giving up? No way. So we looked on my GPS and found what we thought could be the right road. It wasn’t, but we found someone to ask and then within a minute were there.

It was interesting to see but you can imagine my incredulity when we decided to leave to get back to the hotel and found it was just 4.1 miles away! I know Rex was embarrassed by his performance or rather lack of it, but unfortunately it was completely typical. We’d hardly seen him all week and so I’m not sure in hindesight it was worth paying the extra for his services.

Back at the hotel we changed and then spent the afternoon and evening in the town. We visited the cathedral which is an amazing place as well as had dinner etc.

Back at the hotel for drinks it was horrible to realise this had been the last day and tomorrow we’d be heading home.

This was the day I’ve been looking forward to since reading about the tour. Today we rode from Koblenz to Reims in France and the first 60 or so miles of the ride were along the banks of the river Mosel. Truly spectacular scenery and lovely smooth roads with fast sweeping bends. Once again we decided to ride for ourselves as did quite a lot of the group this time and again we were followed by Mike and Martene on their Yamaha R1.

The plan was to follow the recommended route down the Mosel and onto Wittlich and then to take the motorway to Reims as the recommended route went through the middle of Luxembourg and then across some very flat, straight and fairly uninteresting areas of France.

The first part of the journey along the banks of the river Mosel was just as I expected it to be but once we hit the motorway it was a completely different story. The wind was blowing a fair bit and it made the high speed cruising quite uncomfortable.

It was so bad that shortly after Luxembourg we stopped and I suggested we get back on the recommended route which Mike and Martene were happy to follow us on. So, after a little confusion finding the right road, we got back onto the route. However with the roads being so long and straight and the countryside so open the riding really wasn’t any more pleasurable.

We did find a nice little cafe to stop and have some lunch and a very welcome break from being buffeted by the wind gusts.

We eventually arrived in Reims at about 5.00pm, some 240 miles later feeling a little the worse for wear.

We spent the evening out for dinner with some others from the group and then as usual now back to the hotel for drinks and a chat. The hotel was another Ibis hotel but this time much older and with much smaller rooms. It wasn’t bad, but more space would have been very welcome.

Once again the proposed optional ride out was non existent and so we decided to spend the day around the town. Again, we’d probably have done this anyway as it was a lovely day and it would have been a shame not to explore the place. We set off to walk along the Rhein and met up with Martin, Erroll and Tony who we spent most of the day with.

Being a Sunday all the shops were closed and so the town itself was relatively quiet. This was of course a good thing and gave us the chance to explore at a fairly leisurely pace.

In the afternoon we took a boat trip for a couple of hours along the Rhein to see some of the many castles in the hills alongside.

Later in the evening we went to a restaurant much nearer the hotel with some of the others for dinner and then went back to the hotel bar for some more drinks and chat.

All in all it was a very relaxing day with great company and lovely weather.

Today we rode from Dinant to Koblenz in Germany. From our experience of the first day we already decided to do our own thing rather than ride in the group and Mike asked if he and Martene could follow us which of course was no problem for us. Quite a number of the others also decided to do their own thing today and ride for themselves.

This journey of about 168 miles was almost completely off the motorways and went through some truly spectacular scenery. It was actually a very pleasurable days riding with some lovely sweeping bends on glass smooth roads as well as mountain hairpin bends both up and down. In fact we learnt later in the day that Tony, one of the group on an Aprillia had fallen at one of the hairpin bends probably through taking it too slow. Fortunately there wasn’t any serious damage and he wasn’t hurt.

We stopped regularly, probably about every 40 or 50 miles to give my shoulder a rest. Once in Germany we stopped at a lovely road side restaurant for lunch.

The recommended route which we were following as religiously as possible took us right past the Nurburgring. Rex had told us that the main group would be stopping there for refreshments and so we decided to do the same and see if they turned up. Just before we got there, we caught and passed Martin and Erroll on their BMW as well as others from the group. After a couple of U Turns due to roadworks and not good signage we eventually found the cafe and stopped up for refreshments.

We arrived at the hotel about an hour later literally minutes behind the main group who, it turned out, had not stopped at the Nurburgring after all! There was a race meeting on and apparently the cafe that Rex wanted to stop at wasn’t accessible. I’m surprised about this because I’m still pretty sure its the same one we stopped at.

Once at the hotel at about 3.00pm we had to wait for an hour or so because our rooms weren’t ready. This was OK though as the hotel gave us free beer and it was lovely to relax. The hotel was very modern and clean and a delight to stay in.

In the evening we went out for dinner with a few others and then returned to the bar for some drinks and a chat. All in all, a good day.

Today we left the bike parked at the hotel and spent the day exploring Dinant. According to the tour itinary there was supposed to be an optional ride out but Rex hadn’t planned anything and so there wasn’t one to join even if we’d wanted to. To be honest I doubt that we would have gone as we both wanted time off the bike but all the same Rex’s lack of organisation and leadership was a surprise.

Dinant is the birth place and home of Adolph Saxe, the inventor of the Saxophone and some other musical instruments.

It also has a castle at the top of one of the hills overlooking the town. It is possible to walk 400 steps to the castle from street level but we took the easy way out with the cable car on the way up and reserved the 400 steps for the way down.

Finally today was also the 24th international bath tub regatta. The rules for this seemed a little sketchy, but basically you have to get down the river on a home made craft and providing some part of that craft is a bath tub then you’re good to go.

The start point was just before our hotel and so this was a great vantage point to watch the proceedings from. The picture however was taken from a small electric motor launch we hired with Mike and Martene for an hour in the afternoon. More of the regatta in the video I’ll be putting together.

All together a lovely relaxing day in glorious sunshine.

Yesterday the weather in the UK was abysmal with torrential rain and gale force winds and so we ditched our plan to ride to my parents in Kent for the night. Instead we got up at 2.00am this morning and at 3.00am, with reasonable dry roads, no rain and wind, we set off from home for Dover.

On the way to Dover we stopped off at the M25 south services and met Roger on his Triumph Trophy who we soon realised, with his MSL stickers on display, was on the same tour.

The journey from Home to Dover is about 160 miles but with my shoulder pain problems we stopped three times in all which was just right as I didn’t suffer any particularly nasty pain.

We arrived at Dover at about 6.00am which was well in time for the planned 7.15am ferry boarding. We weren’t the first there and others who’d travelled from Norfolk and Essex had beaten us as well as Roger who must have shot past us on our subsequent stop. Rex, the tour guide from MSL arrived shortly afterwards and ticked everyone off his list. I think there were 19 bikes in total and about 28 people. He said he’d introduce everyone on the boat and give a little safety speach.

Once under way on the boat and everyone in the same restaurant at the front, Rex stood up to make his speech. Firstly he asked if everyone had a form for his £12 audio visual record he’d be putting together of the trip (Photos set to music) and then asked if there was anyone who’d not ridden in Europe before. As no one said yes, that was it for the safety speech. He then said there was a car park just outside the ferry terminal at Calais where we’d regroup. Rex had also mentioned to us and others that he didn’t like riding in groups and so anyone who wanted to make their own way was welcome to do so. No one was introduced to anyone else which was a bit of a surprise but it set the tone for Rex’s style of leadership, or rather non leadership, for the rest of the tour.

Once in Calais we all filed off the boat to the car park. Thinking we’d be stopping for a few minutes I took off my helmet and lit a cigarette. Rex however had other ideas. He simply counted to make sure everyone was there and then waved everyone on to follow him. I quickly put out my cigarette, Meike and I pulled our helmets back on, jumped on the bike and joined the pack.

Rex was leading the group at what felt like a very sedate pace and quite frankly I was growing concerned at his apparently random riding style. Overtakes weren’t well planned or executed and more than once he seemed to slow for no apparent reason only to speed up again and split the group up. Very odd.

About 10 miles outside Calais a couple of bikes from the pack decided they’d had enough and took off on their own. This was all I needed to prompt me to do the same thing and so Meike and I set off on our own adventure for the ride to Dinant. We hit a little patch of rain for about 5 miles but then the sun came out and the roads were dry and like all French Autoroutes beautifully smooth.

We pressed on making a stop about every 60 miles or so to give my shoulder and neck a rest and relieve our numb bums and were the first to arrive in Dinant at about 3.00pm. The remainder of the group arrived about an hour and a half later and so now we had a good chance to sit and chat with some of the others.

Dinant sits along the banks of a river and I was very surprised to find such a town in Belgium. It was simply beautiful with high hills surrounding it, a castle and many river side restaurants. We spent the evening in one of these restaurants with Mike and Martene, Tony, Martin and Erroll. Our hotel was a brand new Ibis hotel right alongside the river and with a veranda for drinks and snacks etc. A very pleasant place to sit.

Last Tuesday we got to the Cherhill meet and the Avebury meet both times on the Bandit. I still haven’t got the new tyres fitted to it, but the current ones still have a little life in them. They’re legal of course but the rear one is pretty much squared off and has affected the handling. I’ll get them changed next week when I’m on holiday from work for a couple of weeks.

Speaking of holiday, it’s in the middle of the two week break from work that we’re off to tour Europe for a few days. We’re going along with a crowd of people we’ve never met on a tour organised by MSL Tours (Motorcycle Sport and Leisure). It will be our first organized tour and we’re greatly looking forward to it.

On day one we all meet at Dover at 7.00am and then spend the crossing to Calais getting to know each other. The tour is pretty free format but they do give you recommended routes although you don’t have to follow them. On arrival at Calais we all make our way to Dinant in Belgium where we spend the night.

Day two is spent in and around Dinant exploring either for yourself or with an organised ride if you want to join in. Out for dinner and then back to the hotel for the night.

Day three we all ride from Dinant to Koblenz in Germany. The recommended route for this looks as though it takes in some spectacular scenery and just happens to go right past this somewhat famous place…

Day four is spent in an around Koblenz once again either doing your own thing or joining the organised ride.

On day five we then move on again this time to Reims in France. This is the longest single ride of the holiday at some 240 miles and again the recommended route looks to take in some spectacular scenery. The first 60 or so miles of this is along the banks of the river Mosel following it’s winding path and I have to say I am particularly looking forward to it.

We ride from Germany through Luxembourg and finally into France.

Day 6 is then spent in and around Reims again doing your own thing or going on the organized ride out which takes in a Champagne vinyard.

On Day 7 we all ride from Reims back to Calais and home.

From the details we’ve received it looks as though there’ll be about 14 bikes on the ride and it sounds like it should be great fun. As last year my only concern is with my shoulder and I really hope I manage to avoid any serious pain.

This coming weekend is the second Wiltshire Bikers organised rideout and this time we’re off the Cheddar Gorge. We’ve been there a few times but it’s always fun and we’re looking forward to it. We’ll also try and get in Cherhill and Castle Coombe meets this week but a lot depends on the weather which really is pretty wet right now.

In anticipation for more rideouts and for our holiday I’ve enhanced my videoing capabilities for the FJR. I’ve bought another bullet cam so I can have one facing front and one rear, a switch box to select which camera is being recorded and I’ve also invested in a PDR100 solid state MPEG2 video recorder. This way I can fix everything to the bike, semi permanently and not have to wire things up to a tank bag. As I’m sure this will be of interest to some people I’ll put together a separate post on the install and system.