Wednesday 3rd June - Scandinavia at last ...

Good news was it was a sunny morning… bad news that the wind hadn’t slackened one bit so I was worried about the ferry crossing from Puttgarden in Germany to Rodby in Denmark – as it was it was needless as the boat just took it all in its stride although I was relieved when I got back down to the car deck at the end of the crossing ad found the bike still standing upright!

Met some fellow bikers as you do in the queue for the ferry. A little Spanish guy and his wife on a BMW loaded so high with bags and topped with an Italian flag that I thought he’d after go in the truck lane. Apparently he owned a motor cycle clothing and accessory shop in Barcelona – according to the wad of business cards he shoved into my hands much to the embarrassment of his wife. Her embarrassment continued on the ferry as I saw him handing them out to all and sundry – bikers or not.

There were a couple of Germans – big bears of men who had hearts of pure gold as I later learned. 

Then there was Rick, an American from Vermont who looked a lean, fit 60/62 year old and who stuck out amongst us for two main reasons – we were all doing impersonations of black leather and textile bound Michelin men and he was in lycra leggings and a thin day-glow yellow top, we had various macho boys’ toys and he had a tired looking pedal cycle with tiny panniers front and back – oh and a sign on the rear saying – “Rick”.  He was cycling to Copenhagen which in itself deserved a lot of respect as it was some 98  miles up the road but then he added he had cycled from Paris – and after a few days in Copenhagen he was cycling down to Frankfurt to meet Sally his partner and they were then off to Basle together – on their bikes.  Talking about our travels I asked if he’d been to England and he had, some 50 years ago – when he was 23 and in the army! The guy was 73 – that Vermont air must be good.

The motorway  towards Copenhagen was wonderful, just one amazing bridge linking islands after another.

It was though marred by a minor breakdown. I carry tons of spares and am prepared for most eventualities – except my cash helmet falling to pieces – didn’t see that coming. In fact didn’t see much for a few seconds as the “flip up lid” flipped down!  Fortunately there was an exit almost immediately and so I was able to pull off.  Close examination of offending lid revealed a screw had come loose on the inner thingymajig and,although took a whil, a bit of microsurgery with a swiss army knife and a screwdriver sorted it – ish!  The Germans I mentioned must have seen me pull off and stop because after a while they doubled back to see if I was ok -  good this biker lark innit!

I had to Skirt Copenhagen to get to Sweden but Froggie was insistent that I showed him Hans Christian Andersons Little Mermaid so a slight detour was made. 

 Actually a longer detour than expected as Copenhagen it seems is being moved by great big yellow dumper trucks to somewhere else and many of the roads Satnav Jane thought she knew were no longer there  - a lot of “Turn around when possible”.

Froggie wasn't the only critter out that day - Mr and Mrs Goose were taking the family for a walk in the park...

Then on to the Oresund Bridge and Sweden. I can now drop into conversations “When I popped into Denmark for the day ….”  If you are in to Scandinavian Crime series you’ll know about “The Bridge”  - an amazing bridge and indeed tunnel complex which links Denmark to Sweden – great view, would have been good to see it from a vertical position! Didn't get a photo of this bridge as nowhere safe to stop so watch this space on the return leg!

Rode past probably the most laid back bus stop I’ve ever seen. 

Now, certain members of my family have a thing about wild boars – never seen one but are convinced they are not good things to be chased through woods by. 

This is probably not a good place to come then Miss H!

  

Settled in now near Angelholme, just north of Helsinborg, Sweden.

Tired, as you can probably tell – the wind really has taken its toll so will call it a day.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings…

Tuesday 2nd June - A long haul across Germany.

Not really a spectator sport today – you really had to do it.  A long drive from Delden Mk2 into Germany then up passed Bremen and Hamburg to Puttgarden where – weather permitting – I’ll catch the ferry over to Denmark in the morning.

I say weather permitting because the wind is really bad and has been all day. The rain has held off though the sky has been threatening most of the time – really stormy looking.

I switched between taking the shorter, more direct route – but Jane got a bit silly sometimes and I could write a small book entitled German Housing Estates I have known – and the fastest route along the Autobhans – see I’ve got the language now.

The two couldn’t have been more contrasting. The country route was like riding through a vast English country estate – long, straight tree lined avenues, more rhododendrons, reed lined lakes, pristine farms. The Autobhan was whacky races meets the Canadian Praries – a constant wind blowing clouds across an endless sky and views that went on forever but I daren’t look at for fear of missing  some  Audi, Merc or BMW coming up behind me at warp factor 3.

Saw some storks and some deer which was good.

Met some great people. A lovely old man in a shop who just wanted to talk about his planned trip to Cornwall and Wales and the fact that his sister had sent him out with a shopping list – which he showed me - which included asparagus and he couldn’t find any so was reluctant to go home because she'd shout at him. Called in for a coffee at a village shop with a “Snack Bar” sign run by a dear old lady who said she couldn’t speak much English and then of course totally embarrassed me by speaking it better than what I does. She didn’t say where she learned but one thing is certain with her coffee at €1.10, ie 85 pence ish a cup it probably wasn’t by paying for lessons.

All riding, no photos so pretty boring blog today but…. I’m on the edge of Scandinavia so perhaps the trip starts properly tomorrow……………

Monday 1st June - On Way

Well I’m on my way, in fact nearly 600 miles of it done!

A bit of a damp start that got wetter before it got better, but get better it did get and it was a lovely evening by the time I got the Shuttle from Folkestone to Calais. What an amazing system that is went straight through without a hitch.

For my younger readers I can confirm that Froggie is  travelling with me and was really excited to be on a train UNDER the sea! 

Was tired though so as soon as a decent motel came into sight - just outside Dunkerque - I took it and day 1 was complete.

I woke up to sunshine this morning and that is how it stayed all day. Knew it was going to be a bit of a drag across the industrial corner of Belgium through Gent and Antwerp to Holland and on to Germany but intended to have a break by calling at Arnhem to visit the “Bridge Too Far” the site of the battle to secure the Rhine crossing that took place in September 1944 and the small museum there.

Though my fears of heavy traffic were founded in places around the major towns and there isn’t much to say of interest about most of the drive, some of the smaller dual carriageways were absolutely beautiful with miles and miles of Rhododendrons along the sides and wild roses along the central reservation.

The Bridge after the Battle

The Bridge today

The museum at Arnhem is only a small place, just one room,  run by volunteers and the guide I spoke to was a local who’s family had been caught up in the battle.  On each of the four walls were more  personal accounts - with photos - from people who were at the battle for the Bridge, The British soldiers, Polish and American soldiers, German soldiers and, perhaps most poignant of all, the Dutch civilians whose homes were totally destroyed and who  then had to flee their city for 8 months until liberation of the Netherlands in 1945.  

Then, whilst reflecting on all that tragedy I stepped out of the museum to see this boat cruising down the Rhine. 

 It looked brand new and made me think that perhaps a Rhine cruise would be worth the incredible amount they cost but then the guide from the museum told me that it was in fact a boat run by a charity  that took sick and disabled children and adults on week long cruises. One of the decks had long floor to ceiling windows so that even those laying down could enjoy the views. That thought – and a coffee in the sun watching more boats on the river – cheered me up!   

Looking at the map I decided that Delden was a good place to aim for tonight – making it a 300 mile day - so I put that in sat nav. Now I always think that people who travel by sat nav and don’t carry maps are prats so  I was carrying plenty of maps, maps to cobble dogs with as they say, whoever they that cobble dogs are but, and here’s the rub, all my maps were of Scandinavia, north to south and in detail. None were of Holland so how was I to know there were two Deldens in Holland -  well, did you!?

I did know, cos I’d looked, that the Delden I wanted was on a main route to Bremen and Hamburg were I was headed so I began to get a little concerned when the roads became narrower and traffic quieter. That concern  grew when  came to a standstill behind the traffic – well two bikes and a car – held up by a farmer and his lad leading heifers along the road into a field. Oh, and a strange thing, the farmers – presumably Dutch - were shouting “walk on “ in English – maybe the heifers were English!

When I came to a lovely hamlet called Delden and Jane of sat nav fame told me I’d reached my destination the day could have gone down hill.

I must have been well and truly lost because I’m a man AND I stopped and asked directions!!!

So, after being put right by a man and his dog who spoke excellent English - that’s the man not the dog, although thinking about it the dog didn’t actually speak- and who googled or whatever on his phone I got on the right track to another bigger Delden, 38km away.  Well, sometimes it’s good to make mistakes because that 38km was through absolutely beautiful Dutch countryside that I would have missed otherwise.

And here I am in Delden Mk2, which is 100km west of Osnabruck, with a room for the night and my bike in the hotel garage with 30 odd push bikes – life is still good.

Monday 25th May - Getting a little nervous!

This time next week I'll be on my way.

Bike all ready now, new tyres and stickers from my two lovely grand-daughters so looking good.

Think I've managed to pack everything but am sweating a bit on the weight - will just have to go without breakfast when I set off.

The bikes just clicked over to 60,000 miles and I'm soon to click over to OAP status so am taking heart in a sign I saw on my

last trip..........

Sunday 3rd May - Fine Tuning

Well, I leave in 4 weeks.


Bike's all ready except for getting a new set of tyres fitted .
Now just need to get my clothes sorted out. Having just watched Henry Cole' "World's Greatest Motorcycle rides" from Scandinavia when it rained for most of the time I think I need to switch some of the thermal gear for waterproof ones.  Can see a pair of expensive (very) sealskinz socks going on list!

Riding The Arctic Highway - The Inspiration

It all came sprang from this book.....

Written in 1975, it's the story of the road built up the spine of Norway, the last 900 miles of it above the Arctic Circle.

 At it's most northerly point it comes within 19 degrees of the North Pole.

Lots of motorcyclists ride it, primarily to get to Nordkapp - The North Cape - the most northerly point of Mainland Europe and that's good enough reason. But you know I'm a bit of an anorak so when I read the book it was the road's history that hooked me - it has to be up there with Route 66 and the Trans-Canada highway even if a bit shorter than both.

In all the trip will include France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland and will be about 5000 miles. Do it in June - as I hope to do - and the 1800 odd miles above the Arctic Circle will be ridden in total daylight - if the midnight sun can be called that!

Coming with me?

Post Trip contemplation!

Having ridden around Beaverton these last couple of days - been driven really I should say - it seems impossible that I have actually completed the trip. It doesn't seem 5 minutes since I set off, wobbling my way south on Highway 12, getting used to a top heavy bike and riding on the wrong side of the road.  Now nearly 9000 miles, 14 states, 4 provinces and 2 countries later I'm practically in a daze with flashes of recollection  hitting me causing me to step back and say "wow, I really did see that!"

It is only after it stops that you realise what pace you were actually travelling even though it felt leisurely at the time. And what level of anxiety must have been there just below the surface - was the oil going to cope with the heat range, were the tyres going to hold out on the dirt roads, would the bike run on 89 Octane fuel with 10% ethanol when it should have 95 Octane straight - oh there was never any real danger though  there could have been a lot of inconvenience and discomfort if things had gone wrong. But they didn't. The bike never missed a beat in all those miles, in snow, desert heat or torrential rain. I've broken a bit of plastic, scratched a bit of paintwork and a tail light bulb has gone - some advert for Honda eh!

I transported spares - the service interval is 8000 miles - oil, coolant and puncture repair kits around North America and used hardly anything. Worn a pair of boots out, lost a couple of socks (unfortunately not one pair) and bought - and had bought for me - a couple of "celebration" tee-shirts.

I've met some truly wonderful people, some for the first time, some who it's been great to see again. I've not encountered one incident of aggression or even close to it and, until I rode down towards Beaverton on Sunday through the "going home from the coast after the weekend" traffic  I've hardly seen any bad or crazy driving.

I've had a couple of  genuinely humbling experiences, both on the same day actually and which at the time I struggled with and therefore didn't include in my blog. But to fail to recognise them would belittle the achievements of the young men involved and that would be unacceptable.

My reason for going to Thunder Bay was to see the Terry Fox Memorial. Terry was a cancer victim who had his right leg amputated because of the disease at the age of 18. In April 1980, at the age of 22 he set off from the Atlantic Coast in Newfoundland on a “Marathon of Hope” across Canada on the Trans-Canada Highway – all 5300miles -  to raise money for Cancer Awareness. Running 26 miles each day he had passed through 5 Provinces by the time he hit Ontario in June. Then, at mile 3,339 recurring cancer forced him to give up and sadly he died a year later. However he inspired the Canadians Nationwide and some $24 million donations flowed in. This memorial and the highway he ran on are dedicated to him. I’ve been trying to think of something to say to put my feeble effort into perspective – but there’s nothing there.

There was also a view-point at the base of Terry’s statue but as I showed you earlier the clouds had closed that in which in a way made the visit even more poignant.

Later on that day I visited a waterfall at the Aguasabon Gorge. The last entry in the visitors’ book were a couple of names followed by “Coast2Coast4Cancer Ride”.

A few miles further on I caught up with a car with hazards flashing and a sign repeating the Coast2Coast Run Message. In front of the car was a young man on a cycle. He turned out to be Justin Danecke who had lost a family member to Cancer and had another diagnosed with the disease. He was cycling right across the country for charity.

 

 

 What a tremendous thing to do. I’m embarrassed to go on about my jolly. Well done Justin – and if anyone is minded to support him then go to http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/coast2coast4cancer

Would I do it again, like a flash, so much more I could have seen and done - except for the Prairies perhaps - as I think it was Andy told me by the Winnie-the-Pooh statue, quoting his father after his one and only ride across them - " I've  ridden across the Prairies twice, once for the first time and once for the last time!