11 nights, 8 countries. Italy 2008

This is it.
The BIG ONE!

Day 9, Venice to Grainau
Saturday 21st June

A long day's ride today but I think we all agreed it was worth it.




Our 1st stop was an unplanned drama at an AutoStrada pay point.
DV8, Gadget & Fuddy helped test out the local's car horns.



But our 1st 'planned' stop was at a little food & drink cabin where our language skills were once again put into action. We eventually resorted to pointing!





We start to climb!





While the group stop for photos I ride on a bit further & set-up to catch them riding past.





Onwards & upwards...



We meet another UKGS'er member here! Deerstalker?



This pass shocked a few riders due to the lack of barrier but this is what adventure riding is about.







A quick wave from Fuddy.



There was snow at the top but surprisingly warm.









As we get towards the very top we start to anticipate the ride down the other side.





Here we are folks...

My current desktop photo!

















All these photos are in chronological order, ...we're still climbing.

We stop for a hot dog & to collect more stickers.





What a fantastic day's riding, obviously the photos only show a snapshot of our experience.

We roll into camp as the light starts to go.
Paul & Stemo go off in search of beers & return triumphant.



Days like this stay with you forever!

I'm up early the following morning & catch this..







We're now off to Mainz to an Ibis Hotel & a proper bed for all of us.....

A few more photos from The Stelvio Pass (zoomed in & re-cropped hence poor quality)

My wing man Gippo



My bike on the left, Stevo & 'H' followed by DV8



Fuddy



Paul



Gippo & DV8



DV8 (I'll try & photoshop the guy in the background out if you want.)



Stevo & H again



& again!

Day 10, Grainau to Mainz.
Sunday 22nd June

Sunday morning, Grainau, what a lovely place to visit - must go back.



Carrot's Charger isn't!
He has a flat battery!
After a few unsucessful attempts to bump-start it - it's Gadget to the rescue!





Is there something going on here later?



Another HOT day, we stop for fuel & Paul goes off for a quick nap.

I'm eager to press on so I decide to ride on ahead & follow the set route on my GPS.

After another 70 miles or so I fill-up again so I'm ready to keep on riding when the group finally catch me up. As I'm filling up I'm thinking they'll be along any time now.

I see another one of those food & drink cabins like the one we stopped at yesterday so I stop & set my camera up to take photos when they arrive.



I wait 15 minutes...



..30 minutes.....



..but after 45 minutes I deduce they've taken a different route!

I check my GPS & I see we're planned to have lunch at Baden Baden.
Off I go to Baden Baden.

I get there, no sign of the group, wait another 15 minutes & decide to ride on to the hotel using 'fastest route'.

Ibis Hotel, Mainz.

Mileage & stats so far,







Gotta wave to the bikers!





Get back to my room & sort my gear out after over a week on the road.





Hello!

Day 11, Mainz to Dover.
Monday 23rd June

Up early ready to roll.
Been told we're setting off at 9am so I hang around for another hour or so!

9 o'clock I'm once again ready to roll.
In the underground car park I see DV8 & Gippo ride out, that's the last time I saw them. See ya guys.
Outside the hotel is Bryn, Novice, Stemo & Paul. Suddenly we're off!

Stemo say's he needs fuel so as I filled up yesterday I knew there was a garage just round the corner, I lead him there & I buy water.

We blast to Calais meeting up breifly again on route with Paul, Gadget, Seamus & Sue before fragmenting into our own groups/speeds/routes. I ride alone!

I get to Calais early enough to catch the ferry before our planned one & meet up with most of the group.





That's my riding day almost over!

At Dover I ride 2 miles to a guest house & crash out with half a dozen ciders & a few bags of cheesy wotsits! .









Oh, & I rode through Germany, The Netherlands & Belgium to make it 8 countries.

Well that was my 11th night.
Next morning I rode home & it was back to reality.

Thanks for looking.

Big thanks to all who came along with special thanks to Paul & Barron.

If you see another trip planned next year by Paul & Barron you know it's going to be well organised.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one& learned a bit about camping, here's to the next one.

Phil

Are there any refugees from this trip still using this forum?

I'm putting together a video from this trip that should be ready soon. It's taken this long because I didn't know how to do it before.

Bryn, Flash, Fuddy, Seamus & Sue, Paul, Stolzy, Major G, Nav, Pablo, Carrots & Novice etc.

Phil (Panphil/Panzerphil/The Doctor/The Beer Hunter)

Whadya mean refugee Still here obviously... and looking back at the trip, by far the best one

I've threw all my video footage onto a file, kept a bit of audio but added a soundtrack.
Should be loaded & online sometime tomorrow.



Gotta agree this trip was a classic & prompted me to return this year.

Btw, a few people have been asking about Novice recently so I thought I'd give an update. His op went well by all accounts and he's loving his new tits. He's having trouble going to the toilet though as he's still confused and keeps walking In to the gents.
He's also struggling with his loss of ability to rationalise situations but he said he's getting around that by just taking the huff and not talking for a few days.
I'll keep you all posted on any more progress.