Riding down the coast road near Ytre Svartvik, I was pondering the need for waterproofs… if you ride you know that time. Picture this, it looks like its going to rain so you need to decide if the chance of wetness is greater than the faff required to put on a one piece over-suit designed to keep your textiles from dripping all over the place at the campsite? Trust me putting on wet clothing the following morning is not a pleasant experience but then is neither squeezing yourself into your boil in the bag waterproof over-suit. As I waited, contemplating outpacing the clouds, an Italian scooter rider stopped and with the international language of gesticulation we agreed he needed petrol and with the R1150GSA holding 30 litres I gave him enough to see him on his way, I thought that was my good deed of the day but then I got a puncture…. so much for karma!
Category Archives: Sat Nav
Planning to get lost
I love maps, I masochistically enjoy the whole tactile experience as I struggle with my unwieldy foe in the wind or rain. Whilst a Sat Navs may get you to a destination with little stress they fail to give you any sense of the place or the terrain you are travelling through. I spend hours pouring over my maps, the flat two dimensional representation of my three dimensional world and then by adding time scales into the mix the adventure starts. Ten cm on Michelin 711 is only 100km but that takes a whole day, standing high on the pegs of the bike as I navigate the 890 to Kjolnes and onward to Gulgofjord – getting lost… what’s the worst that can happen?
Nordkapp… now bust
There are some places that as a motorcycle rider you need to visit, its a bit like riding from John O’Groats to Lands End in the UK or riding the Glossgrockner, Trollstigen or Stelvio passes – it just has to be done. Riding to Nordkapp takes some determination but trust me you wont be on your own. Beautiful coast hugging roads and a whole host of other crazy determined people will accompany you on your trip. I rode east across sandy Arctic wilderness, struck by the similarity to the dry scrubby Mediterranean landscape (but with snow), amazed and the hardiness of the local Sami people who live and work this land making a living from Reindeer farming. On the way back to my camp, I managed to pick up a puncture which rather scuppered my evening, but having purchased a new tire at Norwegian rates, I have now run out of money and need to ride south…
The dip of the horizon
N26° 54.303′ E33° 37.230′ @ 03:41GMT
By si niečo na pitie
Going to have to leave the east shortly – these 17 days have raced by with a series of multi lingual exchanges and gesticulations bound by the common thread of an old man riding an old motorcycle – lasting memories will be the torrential rain and the stunning vistas for wherever you look in eastern Europe the people are friendly and welcome you into their homes – the number of times I have been offered a drink when asking for directions – like the two go hand in hand…
New friends
Riding the mountain roads near Cerknica I came across another GS rider with 500,000km on his bike – through broken French and German we agreed that these are the best bikes in the world… and after coffee and lunch and exchange of stories and tribulations we clattered off in our respective directions leaving just a trail of dust behind… 