BIKE: Running well for the 11,000 km clocked up on this trip so far… apart from loss of pin & /circlip from the windscreen twice and problems with the pillion footpeg rubber (LHS).
ACCOMMODATION: Very expensive in UK and Europe ….we have tried to go budget but with a private bathroom but still expensive. We camped in UK only 3 nights due to weather and health issues. So far we have camped about 25 nights in Europe. Campgrounds don’t always supply toilet paper and at many campsites you have to pay for showers and hot water.
FOOD: Initial difficulty in finding food! Once we bought a frypan things improved dramatically. However not speaking or reading the language we often find our meals are a surprise when they arrive ….Vince copes far better than this than Karen…who often goes hungry.
ROUTE: Has changed slightly due to down time for medical treatment (8 days) and three weeks fill in waiting on bike service and new tyres in Innsbruck.
HEALTH: Initally six weeks of colds and chest infections for both of us. Karen (chemotherapy reaction/burns unit) for 8 days treatment. Since then….all good!
GIFTS or ASSISTANCE: Discount on Electic Vests from BMW Guildford, a gas lighter from relatives in Greenock, Tyre Fitting in Bath, Map of Switzerland from a fellow camper in Tasch, Swiss Camp cooking fork from a fellow camper in Umbrail, and a discount on gloves and free circlips and windscreen bolt from BMW Innsbruck.
THINGS LOST: Vince – 1 dry bag (Chamonix). Karen – 1 earring (Dozengham) and 1 spare camera battery – unknown who is responsible for this one!
‘FUCK ME’ MOMENTS WHILST RIDING: Only once really, when some idiot in a car pulled out from behind a truck that had just braked to a stop in front of it, and as we were oncoming we were heading straight into a head-on crash on a wet road with no where to pull off to. Thank goodness for ABS because without that we would have split the car in half. Another time we got a green light at some road works and advanced down the road but were then delayed quickly by a road-work vehicle, and then once that pulled out of the way we met traffic coming up from the other direction so that was a bit squeezy on the one-lane track – but we managed to fit through better than the cars behind us 🙂
POLICE INTERACTIONS: Nil.
ROAD RULES BROKEN: Vince has lost count. Sometimes the GPS has guided him the wrong way down one-way streets and if he’s not quick enough to pick up the road signs we end up with a scenic tour the wrong way around. We’ve dodged under barriers (twice), and Karen tells Vince that he sneaked through a red light early one morning, but in his defence the road was empty and the lights hadn’t detected the bike. Oh and in Ireland he got the impression that at temporary traffic light signs as used at roadworks its normal to go on the red light as one day we counted five cars in front of me go through on a red light so he tagged along with them, and then he realised maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do 🙂
TASK ASSIGNMENTS:
Vince
– Riding
– Navigation
Karen
– Everything else, including but not limited to:
– Finances
– Logistics
– Accommodation
– Linguistics
– Public Relations
– Equipment
– Procurement
– Entertainment