Rob's Great Alpine Adventure

This is my first trip to the Alps and first ride report so be gentle

Day 1 Kicked off at 7.15AM, say the goodbyes and head to the Dublin-Holyhead ferry.



1 1/2 hours later and Dublin disappears in the distance.



Thankfully the terrible weather forecast didn't materialise and Holyhead was looking great, even if still only 14 degrees.



Today is mostly about making progress to get to the Tunnel. Once across the channel it will feel like the trip has begun properly. Nevertheless I couldn't stick to motorway so wound my way through the wonderful Welsh scenery via the A5. The twisties appeared quickly.



Unfortunately the great weather brought out cagers in their droves.



But with great scenery and lovely weather it wasn't going to get me or any of the many other bikers, down.





After that it was lots of motorway and then lots more motorway.



Bored to distraction with motorway I made the decision to simply go straight through London and give the M25 a miss. How bad could the traffic be, its a Sunday afternoon. Well the traffic wasn't too bad, but slow moving and sucking bus fumes in 22 degrees was only marginally more favorable than the motorway option.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EOXo8s7RCNg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A quick stop to refuel.



Then on to Dover.





Then to the final resting place for the evening, Bleriots. Top man Martin (KTM rider, but we won't hold it against him) at the door with a welcome and a run down on the locality. Met V4 Trev from this parish and his brother Lawrence. Just in from a 550 mile spin.



The route is here.

Tomorrow it's off to Nancy.

This looks like its going to be a good trip ... keep us all updated .. hope the weather holds up for you.

Can't wait for part 2

Nancy is ace make sure you see the light show in place stanislav at night


some photos i took

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA2ycWkD6zQ

looks like this

Good man Rob, keep her lit

I was only thinking yesterday that you were probably off around now. Might see ya in the Alps next week

Have fun Rob!

Ride safe Rob and have fun

Jockser said:

Good man Rob, keep her lit

I was only thinking yesterday that you were probably off around now. Might see ya in the Alps next week

Click to expand...

Yes, keep in touch and we might cross tracks!

davidgibson999 said:

Have fun Rob!

Click to expand...

Ash said:

Ride safe Rob and have fun

Click to expand...

Only two days in and you would have to surgically remove my smile!

Day 2 Dover to Nancy

Woke up to wonderful sunshine.



Quick check downwards and the bike is where I left it. So far so good.



Martin cooked up a fabulous breakfast which tasted all the better with the good company of V4 Trev and his brother Lawrence.



Goodbyes said, it was off to fuel up and get to the Chunnel. I faffed about a bit trying to get the GoPro sorted, leaving myself under a bit of time pressure. Decision time, fuel now and risk being late, or, wait until France. I plumped for fuel now and then opened the throttle to make the checkin on time.

All the rushing was for nothing. The Chunnel was at a standstill.



The terminal building was like central station. I was glad it wasn't raining because most sat outside.



There were a few people with good taste in bikes somewhere around.





The sun kept people in good spirit. There were a few characters around and after a while this chap in his yellow onesie took out sqeeze box and played a few tunes.



Eventually we were on



and then off the train.



Almost 3 hours behind schedule. Decisions to be made. I had planned a route skirting the Belgian border before heading South to Nancy, but this would now leave me getting in at 9.00 - a little late. So I redid the route on the fly and took to the motorway.



I made good progress for about 140KM and then the boredom set in. I don't care how late I am, its off in search of better roads. I skip a little further north.

The surroundings quickly improved.





The scenery was fabulous and I tried to convince myself that this was part of the holiday even if rigidly enforced speed limits on straight roads wasn't in the plan.





So, pull over, find some rougher terrain and plot in the route. This will take me further north, across into Belgium and then I can bash down from Luxembourg on the motorway.

Did I get my fix? You bet ya!

Fantastic roads - needs a video, pictures wouldn't do them justice.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rzIIizQN8gM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Even managed a "moment" when I touched the frame down. These new Tourance Next really can lean.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qLRPi2cPgZ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I thought it was a peg at first, but oh no. A little touching up required on my return.



Some fantastic views to be had along the way.



Then a long bash on the motorway.

From Belgium to Luxembourg.



Then back to France.



Thankful the border posts are no more, and I make it to Nancy for the night with one last fill of the tank. But, for the second time today, the credit card nor debit card will work.

Today's route is here

Tomorrow its a little less mileage, but more challenging terrain. In the morning I head south to the Swiss border and then cross into Germany and travel up to the northern end of the Black Forest.

Nice to meet you Rob. All the best for the rest of your trip

Love the pics

Reading this whilst sitting at work the word envious springs to mind .Enjoy the rest of the trip

Enjoy the Black Forest

Nice, looking forward to the next installment. Very good setup on the camera for pics/vids.

The Alps

Hi Robert

I'm sure you have dried out since our last chat. Good to see the weather gods are working with you, for a change.

Hope that ol' Rukka suit can stick the pace

Enjoy your trip and looking forward to the next report.

Remember Rubber Side Down at all times
Heff

Jaysus, don't use up all the weather

Tengiz99 said:

Nice, looking forward to the next installment. Very good setup on the camera for pics/vids.

Click to expand...

As you will see later in the Day 4 report, this was the first jinx

The Heff said:

Good to see the weather gods are working with you, for a change.

Click to expand...

This was the second jinx.

The Heff said:

Hope that ol' Rukka suit can stick the pace

Click to expand...

Thankfully, that wasn't the third. See day 3 and 4.

Jockser said:

Jaysus, don't use up all the weather

Click to expand...

I did. BIG time. This was jinx 3.