So over the last 1870 miles and four countries, today has been the first dry day since the 21st June. In truth I don’t mind the rain, its just about having the right gear and getting the mindset right. Focus is on drying over suits, boots and gloves and then checking the bike – that takes precedent in the evenings and thankfully the land of very cheap overnight accommodation beckons. I am paying less now per night in each miserly selected venue than I have paid for camping spots in Scandinavia, though in truth I am missing the sea already. I journeyed into Frankfurt today, my new German friends said I must see the “Eurotower”, and there’s me thinking it was a monument to unification striving for peace and understanding across the E.C. when in actuality it is a shrine to a struggling currency.

If Ferrari made scooters would they look like this… Italians simply do everything with style and squeezing a scooter down tiny cobbled alleys is a lot easier than a top heavy GS, just don’t ask me how I know

When we left this morning the temperature was just over 34 degrees and in just 3 hours it was 2.8 and I was brushing sleet out of my hair… for August the driving rain and ferocious wind is unusual even at this altitude even though this is the highest paved mountain road in the Alps. Lunch at Le Canyon in Val D’Isere was a good choice and we were joined by two Spanish riders on a Yamaha and a FS800 one of who had discovered her waterproofs were leaking – with today’s rain if they were going to leak then today would have been the day…