Rode the infamous Grossglockner today. Well when I say I rode it, I entered the park just after 9 and then for the next eight hours I rode a bit, hopped off the bike to take some photographs then rode on a bit more only to stop and repeat the process all over again and when I reached the end I just turned round and did it all again. It was breathtaking, possibly the best mountain pass I have ridden to-date – not to crowded but cold (2.4 degrees at 2548 meters high). Met some great folks including a team riding some very old machines at a sedately pace to the summit and the ‘rally for heroes‘ teams who were driving the pass having come from Kehlsteinhaus – the erosion of the Pasterze Glacier is startling what ever the cause.
Category Archives: Travel Blogs
Lac de Vouglans
A long days riding which saw a complete set of seasons was capped by a lunch of nectarines and cherries at the top of the pass overlooking Lac de Vouglans. The reservoir provides power for the hydro-electric power station at Vouglans on the River Ain. Warnings of a severe storm are everywhere – lets see what the new day brings but the forests today were glorious, damp and primeval, its only when you ride a bike can you smell the changing surroundings – actually smell the earth and the rain soaked canopies.
LightVessel LV72 – Juno
Catching occasional glimpses of a famous merchant vessel used to guide the way for ships during the D Day landings, I meandered around the tracks and back roads of Skewen before finally ending up on the waters edge alongside the River Neath. Perched in the mud was LV72 – Juno. Built in 1903 by John Crown and Sons in Sunderland this lightship is now ‘rusting and resting’, embedded in the sticky estuary mud and, to be honest, is a sad sight. Having been a lightship for Trinity House she was moored off the Normandy coast on 18th June 1944 and was used to mark the edges of minefields and give safe passage – remaining on station until 27th January 1945. In the spring of 1973 she was sold and after plans for a nightclub conversion failed, she now sits on the bank slowing eroding back into her surroundings.
Sneak a Peak
You can sneak a peak at my photo journal here from the 2013 expedition…
The book has left the building…
In the late spring of 2013, I left my home, my wife and my family to complete a solo motorcycle expedition – no substantive planning, just my old BMW R1150 GS Adventure, a tent and sleeping bag, a handful of spares and some cash. I only had one fixed point on my itinerary and that was a return ferry ticket 98 days later. Today I finally managed to upload to my publishers the first draft of my pictorial journey of the expedition – a representation of the challenges, situations, peoples and landscapes I discovered over that inspirational period. I travelled over 24,000 km, exhausted five tyres and only had one puncture… I came back a changed man and for those of you who look at this and wonder if you can complete a similar undertaking, all I can say is ‘do it’ – I promise you will never regret it.
