Mugello 2013, take 2

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

I did have a helluva moment just after taking the shot of Florence. I had the ESA in 'sport' mode and was engaging in a little 'spirited' riding. As I went around a corner there was a dirty great line of fresh diesel strewn right across my side of the road. The front tyre gave way and I was certain I was heading for an expensive repair on my r/h pannier and fairing and potentially a day or two of Florence General's pasta. An instinctive foot down, and jarred ankle, kept me upright and the tyre regained it's grip. Phew. Some unpleasant laundry for Mrs Tim to contend with assuming I get home.
In truth I rarely bother changing the ESA from 'Comfort' to any other mode, whether the change contributed to my moment or contributed to me staying upright I'll let others decide. Either way it will be back to 'Comfort' mode again from tomorrow morning when we head towards Geneva on our way back home.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Monday, the morning after the day before.
So off we set. But not until there had been a debate with the receptionist who accused us of trying to steal breakfasts during our stay. Had she handled things more diplomatically she'd have had the money she wanted in a jiffy, no arguments. There had been some confusion as we were told when we arrived that the price we'd paid included breakfast & we were handed vouchers confirming this. At check out, however, the receptionist who was clearly in a mood with herself anyway (judging by her face like a slapped arse) decided she was going make an issue out of it & told us we'd asked for the vouchers. We hadn't & I explained that but she insisted we had. She wasn't even there when we checked in. The more she huffed & puffed the more she rolled her eyes the less likely it was she was getting the money. It was only 27 Euros each. Had she been more pleasant I'd have paid straight away. In the end she relented. But not happily.
I was feeling more subdued than I had expected. Not sure if it was down to the fact that the holiday I've been looking forward to was effectively over or, more likely IMO, a hangover from Rossi crashing out so early in the main event yesterday. I've seen the overhead TV footage now & whilst it was declared a 'racing incident', it looked pretty much to me like Bautista careered straight into him. Thanx a lot Alvaro.
So it was mainly motorway riding up to Genoa where we stopped for a brew & some petrol. Once again Italy doesn't let us down in the 'views' department.




You know how it is at Service stations. Sometimes you can have concerns about the safety of your vehicle. This guy had adopted a novel approach - the guard mouse.

Not sure what breed of dog he/she was but it was a belter. Very concerened as to where his/her dad was though.


I was rather surprised to see this book on sale next to the sweets/toys. Must say it pretty much summed up the feeling at this stage though.


Up to this point I was all over the place. Me & the RT were just not in unison. I'd hoped a break & a caffeine boost might do the trick but it was no better. The more I tried, the harder I concentrated the worse I got. Is it possible to concentrate too hard when you're riding a bike? It sure felt that way.
So I tried a different tack. On with the music. That did the trick. Some proper old school music picked at random by the RT & everything clicked. We were now singing from the same hymn sheet, literally. Hymns courtesy of The Clash, Cockney Rejects, The Stiffs etc & we were purring along the emptiest bit of motorway I've ever seen. At times it seemed that Simon & I had the E26 to ourselves. Quit bizarre but very welcome.
At the Peage it became very obvious why were alone. Time to pay. Now, we had gone all the way from Florence to The Italian/French border but the cost still came as a shock.
Try 52 Euros.
Each.
Ouch!!!!
Still. we were in the Alps & almost back in France.



And those lovely, lovely views again.


We weren't the only one's enjoying them either.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

We'd decided to go through the Mont Blanc Tunnel.
This was proving to be an expensive old day. Another 27.40 Euros each.
Double ouch.


And then, once again the bike packed in. This time no amount of shaking her, pleading with or cussing her would work. She wasn't starting & that was that.
Until she changed her mind 10 minutes later & we were off.
I checked the Sat Nav, which was now working again & there was a BMW dealer in Geneva, within 5 miles of our hotel so I made the decision to head there for them to put the bike on the diagnostic unit to see if they could help. It was going to be tight as our projected arrival time was 17:19 but I guesed they'd be open until 1800 hrs..
Roadworks, roadworks & more roadworks didn't help the cause but we made Geneva's outskirts with 40 minutes to spare. Then we hit the city. And the traffic & lights. Talk about frustrating; in the extreme. We arrived at the dealer just as he locked the door. I tapped politely & was basically waved away. So I tapped again, harder. A salesman opened he door & told me they were shut. No shit Sherlock. I explained my situation & was basically told 'tough'. Then a suit appeared. The manager or owner? He was more sympathetic but I was still told to come back tomorrow. Through all that blessed traffic & those lights again. We'll see.
I appreciate that they were shut & probably keen to get home but I must admit I was a little miffed (perhaps unreasonably) that they weren't prepared to offer anything else. Never mind. Lesson learnt.
Back through Geneva's rush hour traffic & by now a very hungry Simon was not in the best of moods. Nor was I, to be fair. As I saw it we could have been at the hotel 2 hours earlier with the same situation regarding the bike.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

So we arrived at the Ibis Annemasse. Checked in & asked about parking. Instructions were given & off we went. No parking to be found so back we went to reception. My how the receptionist laughed. My how I didn't. Further guidance was given along with an instruction to 'go down the ramp at the side of the hotel'. As luck would have it we were able to follow another vehicle down the ramp. And there were just a load of private garages. We were confused but not as confused as the residents of the flats above who's garage area we'd stumbled into. Fortunately another resident arrived & opened the locked door allowing us egress. Back to reception. This time a more helpful guest gave us instructions to the parking area. "200m along the road, then round the back of the hotel". The receptionist heard this & nodded her agreement. So off we set. Not only was there no parking but we were now in a rabbit warren of one way streets. We actually had to use the sat nav to find our way back. FFS!!!!!:argh2:
Back to reception. Oh how the receptionist laughed. " knew he'd given you the wrong instructions", she said, before explaining that they'd had a number of guests end up in the private garages, some being locked in for up to an hour. Well, that certainly helped the mood. Actually it didn't. Surely the clues are there then. Your instructions aren't fecking well clear!!!!!
Eventually we got to the car park where there were 2 car loads of local lads swapping BMW car wheels with brand new tyres from one car to another. I might just be suspicious but the hotel was in a pretty unpleasant looking area & this lot certainly looked like they were up to no good. Certainly they couldn't get away quickly enough as I came round the corner but not before eyeing up the RT & Deauville.
Call me paranoid but everything that was easily taken off the bike came into the room that night.
.

Time for a meal. There was a restaurant just up the road. We decided on Boeuf Bourginon & were expecting beef stew. What came out was something of a surprise.





Basically, you cooked it yourself but it was bloody good. This & a nice bottle of Vin Rouge certainly made for a pleasant end to a difficult day. When we got back to the hotel the Ne'erdowells & the receptionist were gathered around the bar laughing & joking. The atmosphere was not conducive to a stranger joining them which was a shame. Actually the hotel room was excellent, but I'll not be going back.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Tuesday

The bike started & tbh I couldn't be arsed with hanging around in Annemasse or negotiating the Geneva rush hour traffic again. So we decided to hit the motorways, get a few miles under our belt & see how we got on.
We did roughly 200 miles with a quick stop at another lovely services (just like Ferrybridge), before heading onto RN's.



We headed up the N67 through Chaumont & St. Dizier towards Chalon. Another coffee stop this time I decided, happily married or not, I was going to tap up the local birds. A couple of crossiants & they couldn't keep away from me.


Just sitting here in the sunshine was lovely. As the holiday was coming towards it's end I was starting to de-stress & relax. 2 weeks too late, as ever.
The Ibis in Laon is another great place to stay, even providing covered, secure parking.

Within sight of the room.

I'm feeling slightly guilty about the amount of local wildlife I've murdered on my way through Europe.


But at least there had been no problems with the RT today.....................

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Wednesday. The final day of the trip.

Woke up to blazing sunshine & this.

Once again the bike wouldn't start. You can see the temperature gauge is blank but the photo doesn't make it quite as clear that the petrol gauge is also blank.
Nothing. There was no starting her again. I was far more relaxed about it this time. I'm in a hotel, although I'm due home today I'm not actually due back at work until Monday. I wa actually pleasd that she finally appeared to have gicen uop the ghost once & for all. BMW can get it sorted.
I rang BMW breakdown recovery who were very good. They'd get the bike recovered to a dealer 30 miles away & depending on what he said I could either stay over at their expense until she was fixed or have a hire car to get me home. They would then either repatriate the bike to the UK for me or pay for me to go back & ride it home. So I had a nice leisurely breakfast & periodically checked the bike, bit there was no change.
Until an hour later when she started again. :argh2:
As we weren't due on the Chunnel until 1640 I decided this time I would go to the dealer & se what they had to say. The Sat Nav indicated it was on our route to the Chunnel anyway so it made sense. And off we set. South. 30 miles re-tracing our steps to Reims. FFS. TBH I wasn't too worried. The day was stunning, we were riding along the Chemin Des Dames, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemin_des_Dames,
which had some very interesting looking cemeteries & memorials (worthy of another visit some time) & our leisurely pace at the speed limit saw the bike hit the holy grail of over 60 MPG for the 1st time ever (60.8 in fact).
I got to the dealer & explained what had been hapening. He went to the starter button & instantly recreated the problem by hitting the kill switch.
It would appear that the switch is faulty & engaging the kill position, even when moving it to the start position.
This looked like good news. I explained the situatio to BMW recovery who were happy to pay for my stay in the very hot & suny Champagnbe capital of France until the bike was fixed. Result!
Or not. The dealer then eplxined that there is a backlog of requests for starter buttons in bithe Germany & France & no idea when hey will be vailable. Call me a cynic but this suggest to me I'm not the only one who's had this problem.
The dealer assured me that there was no way, once the bike was going, that the kill switch would engage & the bike was safe to ride. So off we went on our final leg of the trip.
A quick coffee stop & fill up with petrol, 50 miles before Calais, and the bike wouldn't start again. Same problem. Arse.
I rang BMW Assist who said that they couldn't arrange recovery as I was on the French Autoroute network & all recoveries are handled by a company appointed by the French Authorities. I had to ring 112, arrange or them to recover the bike (BMW would foot the bill for this) then BMW would arrange recovery from that company's depot to the dealer.
So I rang 112 & was told there would be someone along within 30 minutes.
I decided to give the bike another go. Result! the temperature gauge & fuel gauge were working. But she still wouldn't start. This was a new twist. Double arse! Switch it off, try again, no better. And again. No better.
Then I realised. She was in gear. FFS! Into neutral & we were sorted. I rang 112 again who seemed bemused hat I'd rung to cancel, took no details whatsoever & simply wished me 'Bonne Route'.
We had decided that we would take the earliest option available to us when we got to the Chunnel. We checked in, me in 1 lane, Simon in the one alongside & filtered into passport control. He's taken the earliest option available, crossing at 1550 & so had I, only my earliest option was for 1640. Great. Lesson learnt. In future both check in at the same lane. I did ask as Simon went off towards the train if I could hop on alongside him but was given a very firm ' Non'. Fair enough, no harm in asking. We decided to meet up at Folkestone services on the other side, that way I could get some snap in France, he could get something to eat in the UK.
And then the trip ended in a way that kind of typified the journey. I went to join the boarding queue & we sat there. And sat there. And sat there. We were delayed for about an hour as the had & I am quoting directly here 'lost a train with 100 vehicles on'. Now, how you lose a train when it's only going along 1 track & back is quite a mystery to me. I suspect they'd had a breakdown but who knows. They certainly weren't keeping us enlightened.
I did get chatting to a few of the other passengers whilst waiting though.

 

[Mr K]

Great stuff!

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

There were a few other bikers waiting with me.

The lad on the white Honda (I think) 1600 asked why bikes were always kept to the end of loading, regardless of the weather, & was told by a British Eurotunnel employee 'That's how the French insist it's done'. I suspect had he asked a French employee he'd have been told that's how the Brit's insist it's done. When I have a spare moment I might even e-mail Eurotunnel & get the official reason.
Also had a chat with these guys who'd done a whistle stop tour of Southern France, Switzerland & Germany & were a salutary example of why it was right,for me, to pre-booking our hotels all those months ago when I 1st started planning the trip.

Eventually we got away & I met up with Simon before carrying home to Lincolnshire. The trip back through Engerland was uneventful enough & we made it home by 2200 hrs, some 12 hours after setting off.
Total miles 425
Avge MPG a disappointing 51.4

And that's it. After all those months of planning & anticipation the trip is over.
The bike's booked into Rainbow in a couple of week's time, we'll see what they have to say. I'll maybe add some reflections on the overall trip in a few days time - what went well, what I might change, that sort of thing. One thing that does appear to have crystallized since I got home, however, is that it's very, very unlikely that I'll be buying another BMW - which is a shame. Great bikes when they work but that's just not often enough, in my experience.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Great stuff!

Cheers. I did try to add it as I went along but got into a right old fankle.
In future I'll take the laptop rather than the tablet.

 

[(RIP) andrewgsadv]

Timaloy,

Enjoyed that , thanks for posting.

Andrew

 

[Monsieur]

Nice way to spend 20 minutes reading someone elses travels