‘M off - Eifel, Luxembourg and Belgium

[Wapping]

Along with some classic motorbike racing at Chimay and catching-up with a couple of Tossers and one Tosser’ette. I had hoped to take my 450 Himalayan, to complete its running in, but the V5 has not yet landed on my doormat. The 1600 will do though.

Day one, will be London to St Omer, via the M20 and Chunnel. Then the backroads to St Omer, staying in the Ibis Budget.

ibis budget Saint Omer Centre

2-minute walk from St. Omer Cathedral, ibis budget Saint-Omer Centre offers a comfortable stay with gourmet breakfast at a low price.

all.accor.com

This hotel is certainly good enough for a one night stay, being an easy walk into town and with a half decent car park. I usually skip breakfast, opting instead for an earlier start, to pick up a coffee and croissant along the next day’s route.

Day two, will be St Omer to Winterspelt, in Germany, just over the border from St Vith in the Belgian Ardennes, taking a mixture of D roads and a bit of main roads. I’ll be staying at the hotel House Hubertus.

Hotel & Restaurant House Hubertus in Winterspelt/Eifel

Eifel hospitality, traditional cuisine and special service in the tri-border region of Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium await you in the Hotel & Restaurant House Hubertus.

hubertus-winterspelt.de

It’s a small village / town but its location suits what I want to do next. Not least, the hotel prices (which are ramping up, with the arrival of the holidays) are reasonable.

Days three thro’ seven, will be taken up riding five different circular routes, either deeper into the Eifel or back into the Ardennes or across into Luxembourg or some combination of all three. These will, by and large, be on D roads.

Day eight, will be across to Chimay, largely via D roads. I’ll then be camping for four nights in the town’s municipal campsite. I am taking no cooking kit, as it’s an easy walk into the town for food.

Camping Communal de Chimay | ACSI

Camping Communal de Chimay is a campsite in Chimay, Hainaut.The campsite has which are marked out and pitches with some shade. The following rules apply to pets…

www.eurocampings.co.uk

Days nine, 10 and 11, will be taken up with the classic racing and, no doubt, the consumption of some beers.

Day 12, Chimay to St Omer, via the D roads again, but probably taking the motorway for the final stretch between Cambrai and St Omer. Staying for one night again at the Ibis Budget.

Day 13, St Omer to the Chunnel and home, via the motorways.

More to follow…..

 

[Tinytim]

This is much too well thought out and organised. No indications of anything going Pete Tong in any way. No, no, just no.
. (Mind you, you've not mentioned what you'll be having for your tea)

However, I'm in

 

[Pip5ter]

Useful pretrip write up c/w itinerary, thanks & have a wonderful time…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wapping]

No indications of anything going Pete Tong in any way. No, no, just no.

Having ruptured my Achilles in Holland on the same bike, I’m well versed in things going wrong. But hey, being the rufty-tufty bikermate I is, I got myself and the awesome steed home. Though, I must say it’s not an experience I necessarily want to repeat.

I suspect the weather will be much the same as here. It’s now a toss-up; do I take the mesh and waterproofs or the Gore-Tex kit? Mesh is good, but is more fannying around when the inevitable rain does descend in considerable volumes, whilst Gore-Tex means no stopping and doing some ridiculous dance in the hedgerows, possibly more than twice each morning and afternoon. Gore-Tex, I think….. you can thank me when the sun scorches your eyeballs and Wimbledon has to introduce extra drinks breaks.

 

[er-minio]

Enjoy Richard!

I'm planning a quick 3 day jaunt around there in September on the GS, I'm taking notes
Thanks.

 

[Arsey]

Bonnet de douche

 

[Borowno]

Looks like a great itinerary. I will follow with interest.

Safe travels.

 

[Wapping]

Bonnet de douche

Ver ist der ketchup aus der potato fryderchip gersplotten?

 

[wessie]

Break a leg, darling.

Oh.

 

[Doc]

Someone will be along to say your doing it all wrong.
Have a good one.

 

[EVskiy]

Someone will be along to say your doing it all wrong.
Have a good one.

 

[EVskiy]

Have a good jaunt Richard. No centre stand on this occasion please if you do decide to use it, seek out a fellow rufty tufty bikermate for help. Bon Voyage!

 

[Monsieur]

Safe trip!
Keep those legs well away from danger!

 

[Oldrat]

Have a great trip.

Phew, doesn’t look like todays thunderstorms are headed your way.

 

[Micky]

Have a guddun Wappers

 

[Arsey]

Will you stumble across les tosseurs piece de resistance du repas du soir en France ou en Belgique?

 

[Wapping]

Oh ye (and me) of little faith. The sky is a colour I have not seen for a while:



Cheers….

 

[EVskiy]

There is a Garmin XT in the for sale section, with your name on it.

 

[Wapping]

Day one



Having looked at the sky in London E1 and seeing it blacker than Newgate’s knocker, I decided on the Gore-Tex. Thereafter, the sun shone, the birds sang and God was in his heaven. I am now hoping it DOES rain, so that I can justify my decision as a stroke of bikermate genius.

The M20 is even more of a mess than usual but, hey ho, at least Operation Stack wasn’t in operation.

Checking in at the Chunnel, which was very quiet, the machine told me that I was too late for my booked crossing and would have to wait an hour and a half. Given that my booking’s departure was still 35 minutes away (and as the feckers had delayed me by over five hours last time) I pressed on regardless, guessing that I could nip into the FkexiTicket lanes, from where they would find it hard to separate me. This cunning plan paid dividends and, within minutes, I was on the platform.





The train was all but empty, except for a Czech couple, returning home:



She was certainly quite easy on the eye.

Being a true bikermate, I had brought my own scran:



For those less wise in the ways of the Chunnel, each carriage provides a handy bit of wider shelf, to rest your helmet:



Off the Chunnel in short order, I took my newly found short cut, along an access road inside the terminal’s fenced area and was soon in the open countryside. As everyone knows, the roads in north east France are crap and everyone must take the motorway….



A bit under an hour later, I was in St Omer, after fuelling at the nearby petrol station. Here there was a bunch of French lads, fecking about, filling their scooters. They have learned some fine English swearing, which ceased their pratting about.



There are four Brit bikes in the car park, including a ‘His and Her’ pair of GS things:



The Brit bod on this bike has a strange security system.



The front dayglo cable led to a disc lock on the front wheel (fair enough) but the rearward dayglo cable led to a padlock, which was locked around the rear brake line ie. Useless. I can only guess it’s all meant to be on the nearside of the bike, the rearward padlock going through the rear sprocket? But he had removed the pillion footrests, for that authentic racer look. Anyway, he did better than his mate, who had used feck all.

Compulsory, ‘Show us the view out of your room’ shot:



Showered, out the door and ready for beers (see above)[/MAP]

 

[Deise]

" There are four Brit bikes in the car park, including a ‘His and Her’ pair of GS things: "

these days could be "his and his", "hers and hers", "them and them" . sorry i started

your K is well loaded