Gael warning in the Baltic

As I sit here at home with Covid, caught at a Van Morrison gig on Tuesday (it was great, otherwise!) my mind turns to reporting my trip last month on the mighty Wing around the lower Baltic.

It started with the usual brain stultifying ride along the M25/26/20 to the Tunnel entrance near Folkestone. I will separe the reader that!

That is one of my least favourite rides and if I had planned earlier, I would have taken the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen…much more pleasant. And my first destination was the 24 hours race at Le Mans and that would have been better for that, too. However, them’s the breaks.

Quite a long wait due all the Le Mans traffic:

Once on board, plenty of space for us bikers - maybe a cordón sanitaire to prevent us corrupting the godly?


I arrived at Le Mans at the massive Beausejour camp site (yes the one where Bloomers and I failed to rendezvous, understandably). Fortunately these two yoofs were waiting to greet me…petrol head 16 year old sons of the friends I was due to camp with.


The whole race weekend was hot, dusty, noisy and enjoyable…but so much different from my first visit 50 years ago (as a school lad). Massively commercialised now, and everyone seemed so much better behaved than my last visit 4 years ago. Where were the drunks in mankinis, the drag races up the access road, etc etc?

We were very glad of the Brompton folding bicycles to access Arnage easily, and to ride the entire course on the Friday - something I have never done beforeabove, a view down Mulsanne. Below, a first turn slide into the gravel - hard to see, but the driver remained in the car whilst hoisted by the crane back on to the track so he could continue to race.



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This is not a Le Mans race report so I will avoid countless photos of tasty cars and bikes. I left the circuit Sunday lunchtime to pay a visit to an old French friend who had a weekend place an hour or so East, so on my route.
I was well treated, albeit the fabulous wine was wasted on a non drinker like me (who also had to manoeuvre his 400kg bike around in the gravel driveway after dinner)




The next morning I set off East….seems all roads lead to Paris, and I have a history of travelling on those where motorcycles are not permitted!

That Monday morning was no exception - there were fierce queues and lots of filtering - I think it was the A86 that my GPS kept drawing me to, and it was clearly marked ‘No motorcycles’.

Eventually I broke free of the vortex and had a pleasant and slow bimble through the centre of Versailles, reminding myself I had no fixed destination so I wasn’t under time pressure.

Just as well as the Peripherique was stationary but the Wing is actually slimmer than a GS where it matters (yes, really) and filters very well.

No pictures of the ride through France, but hardly novel. I made it to Dortmund area and about 5 looked for a loading on Booking.com, ending up in a little family hotel in a village outside Dortmund. And it looked like, whilst I would have little use for the in-room ashtray, my need for sweeties would be provided for the whole trip!





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Whilst the lower village was uninspired, there was a beautiful forest above it where I had a pleasant hike….a good way of relaxing after a day of motorway and filtering.The local supermarket had the usual pickle selection:

The whole village was clearly pro smoking - the hotel smelt of it and to my surprise this cigarette machine was positioned right at the gates of the local primary school.

Returned to my room, I took out the latest essential for the modern adventure biker - the electric kettle lent me by Drumacoon Lad (Jim).

As Jim would say, I have always been happy to enjoy the use of it but now I am actually prepared to carry it with me as it really is useful on these long summer evenings- it got a lot of use on this trip.


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Forgot to mention that I met three Bristolian bikers on the Tunnel train. On sporty bikes heading for the Black Forest for the weekend. I mentioned they might want to check speed restrictions on NC500. Silence. Then: ‘that’s what we’re going to ride on Saturday …it’s the purpose of the trip ‘. Hope they fared well


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Sorry I meant B500….not NC500. Covid addling my limited brain power


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Great Simon, enjoy your reports as usual.....
Hope you getting better and fairing well regardless of Covid....
All best

Simon, a most welcome read on a Monday morning... always enjoy your reports... Coincidentally myself and her Ladyship headed south via the tunnel on the Thursday before Le Mans. . Had a very pleasant and slow bimble at the speed limit through the Black Forest (who wants to be in a rush) down to the Austrian Alps where I managed to catch Covid! A proper pain in the arse I can tell you when away on a bike trip!

Looking forward to the next instalment...

Ah, the Germans and their fags! I was in the Pfalz a few years ago and was likewise amazed at the ciggie machines everywhere! No smoking in the yoof hostels tho'!

I saw mention of a Baltic trip in another thread & thought 'the bugger hasn't done his usual RR' so I'm happy to see this here. Definitely "in"

Sorry to hear you caught Covid, hopefully you don't have it too bad. Get well soon

It's a long time since I saw an ashtray in a hotel

Thanks guys for your support. So after an adequate €4 breakfast at my hotel (from which, as usual, I confected also my lunch and a snack along the way ), I set off East, hoping to attain Poland that night.

Refuelled for €1.99 litre which was going to seem a bargain, especially after the €2.50 on French autoroute and later on my return to Blighty.

Then on to the autobahn, hoping for a day with less frenetic traffic jams than the previous day. I had got the hang of using Apple CarPlay on the Wing’s screen - it’s fiddly and the responsible Honda engineer should be hung by his ‘nads until he sees the error of his ways- but it was good to have warning of impending congestion.

Helpfully, the German drivers all made way for me in the two fast lanes when they stopped (yes, I do know it was really for emergency vehicles and I will probably fry in hell). However the scale and whiteness and number of lights on the Wing probably helped me - it certainly has presence!

Near Magdeburg I stopped for a pee and a sandwich from my stash, and spotted this funky mural


Back on the bike again, and I realise that I should be able to make Poznan that evening without too much difficulty, so I scan Booking.com and find a ‘cheap’ but interesting little hotel in the centre of town.

What I was not aware of was the extent of rebuilding going on in Poznan, so when I got there I had a circuitous and quite challenging ride including some dirt tracking through the building site, always a pule rate raiser on a Goldwing


Without Google maps I don’t think I would have found the revised route to the hotel but it was my Garmin XT which eventually brought me the last 50 metres.

I had quizzed the hotel whilst riding (via Booking.com handy question function) whether they had secure parking and they had waxed enthusiastic about it.

When I arrived at the hotel it was down a narrow cobbled street. Once I had managed to turn the bike around, batting off helpful tourists as I prefer to use the Honda’s reverse gear, I enquired of the parking and I was directed to the next street.

Here is the high tech parking security centre:

And after a hairy ride over uneven cobbles and potholes, this is where I was parked




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Once settled into the hotel I enjoyed the view from my window

Then out for a walk and a spectate - lots of Ukraine support evident, naturally. Also some fine buildings and an electrician.


Following Wrapping’s counsel, I decided that Gdańsk could be my next port of call, and I could tell them where their missing statue had ended up. (It’s so hard to find a good electrician these days).


I ate in a small local restaurant, nothing memorable evidently although I felt I should sample a local beer


Revisiting the bike I found it accompanied by a GS with an impressive kilometrage



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Gdansk was a mere 310 kms North, so I looked forward to a leisurely ride to this former Hanseatic city. I looked out hotels and resolved I would go for a cobble-free area for a change! The oddly named Qubus Hotel was my tentative destination, once I had broken out of the construction site that was central Poznan.

Not much to say about the leisurely ride North…temperature much more tolerable than the heat wave that had been gripping France and UK, and my Klim Badlands Pro jacket and Rukka leather/Goretex trousers were just the job.

However I had discovered in Poznan that my elderly Daytons boots, bought (very) secondhand on this hallowed site, had soles which were very slippery on Polish cobblestone. And that is not what you want when manoeuvring a Goldwing. Hence the resolution to lodge in un cobbled areas and walk into the very centre of the city - a resolution which was to yield dividends until I discovered that in Latvia and Estonia cobbles can be more widely distributed in cities .

Once arrived at the Qubus hotel, which was pleasant and modern, I saw I could park on the street in direct view if the reception and next to a much more desirable motorcycle. And my good feelings about my lodgings increased when I saw my room had the other essential for the rufty tufty adventure biker:



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Looking back on my notes, I did 700kms on the Monday (monster traffic in Paris), 750 kms the next day to Poznan, and 370kms Poznan to Gdańsk. Given the price of petrol, I was staying within 100-120 km/h at which speeds the engine barely reaches 2,000 rpm.

Once in Gdańsk and laundry done (a lot of Le Mans dust went down the plug hole!), I set out for a wander. By good fortune my hotel was offering a free boat tour and I made the last sailing - there was only a Norwegian bloke and me as passengers.

It’s a beautiful city as these photos attest, and largely rebuilt from the ashes I understand



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Sorry about the gap in posting, but feeling pretty weary with COVID the last couple of days.

Anyway, the one disappointment for me in Gdańsk was that the intriguingly modern WW2 museum was closing as I arrived and I could only look at the external displays, which were themselves illuminating about the conflictful history of Danzig/Gdańsk as freeport/ German City/Polish city.
I rose early the Thursday morning and as I checked out the bike was delighted to see this chap wander past me on his early morning stroll

Bike checked, it was time to hit the very generous breakfast buffet - breakfast is definitely the highlight of the day, gastronomically speaking.


Then it’s time to head for Lithuania, through the Suwalki Gap (a relatively narrow strip between Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave, and Bielorrusia and the subject of some tension at the moment).

I debated taking smaller roads along the Russian border but was uncertain if their quality, and with rain threatening, didn’t want to find out the hard way.

Probably worth putting a map illustration:

Had a superb ride, despite torrential rain in parts which forced me to stop and shelter outside a filling station for half an hour, and lots of great winding roads in the second half. A local rider slotted behind me for an hour on some of the best roads and we had a good run…I think the Goldwing handling surprises some


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Approaching Vilnius and once out of the rain, I checked in on Booking.com to find that the Panorama Hotel that I fancied was no longer available- one (rare) example of missing a booking but instead I landed at the fun and modern Corner Hotel - safely outside the cobbled centre but - guess what? With roadworks around it!

Nonetheless I found my way into the parking area behind the hotel and settled into my comfortable room - again, with heated towel rail. After a refreshing brew, I walked into the city centre where Ukraine support was again visible:


su

I’d rate the architecture and streets interesting but well behind Gdańsk. The compulsory cobbles were of course present


Not much to report about the motorcycle- as ever, it’s running superbly and getting mr where I want to go, in comfort.


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Vilnius has attractive statues but what I found more interesting was the legacy of Soviet era construction, not attractive but representing an era in history





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From Vilnius I was keen to head North to the Hill of Crosses near Siaulai, but my Baltics guide suggested to visit Lake Traikal first

I got to Traikal early in the morning and had little difficulty parking


Visit made, I decided to try to die cross country to Siaulai…..but was thwarted by roadworks and ended up on a main road route, via Kaunas.

The Hill of Crosses was uncrowded and well worth the visit






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Very interesting Simon .... great photographs as usual

Keep it coming

Thanks Micky! Sadly, there are fewer ‘en route’ photos than I would want as the Goldwing Apple CarPlay requires the phone (ie my camera) to be hooked up in the top box, so as a result I haven’t got it to hand for quick snaps.

Will have to find a way to resolve this. In the meantime,one of few roadside shots of the beautiful Lithuanian countryside


I wasn’t the only motorcycle at the Hill of Crosses….this guy was from Finland:


I was amused to see he’d forgotten his keys in the ignition so I awaited his return…if only to give him a gentle teasing



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