Popping across Europe

[SamK]

3 days of riding so far, and feeling surprisingly good.
Got soaked going through Belgium on Monday but since then it’s been dry.
The bigger problem yesterday was riding into the low winter sun all day. Only the occasional cloud to give some relief.

The French motorway was sublime. Sparse traffic, smooth asphalt and a more sensible 130km speed limit, though I was only sitting at about 110 (70mph)

And then this morning....






Bike didn’t complain at all. Choke on, press the button and she fired up immediately.

However, the same can’t be said for me. I think I’ll wait for the temp to get above freezing. It’s already up to -3°

[Uncle Bob]

Great to hear about how you are getting on, I'm enjoying reading about the progress, so keep it up. Safe travels today.

[SamK]

Turned out a good run. Just a but cold until lunchtime.

Today, however, started with rain. It was supposed to be showers, but it lasted for 2 hours.
Cruising speed went up as I just wanted to get away from it.
The middle part was quite pleasant. More sparsely populated smooth motorway with nice long sweeping bends...

And then came the mountain pass... and a drop in temperature.
I was going to stop off for a photo, but it was too cold.
This pass has a 8km tunnel. Going in the French side was cold... but the exit on the Spanish side is a higher altitude, and OMG cold!!!
If only I had one of the new Katana’s which shows you the temperature
The road out of the tunnel is a brand new motorway. It would be fantastic in the summer, but today it was above the snow line and had speed restrictions.

Got to the hotel just as it was getting dark. One more day to go...

[SamK]

Final day was a bit of a mixed bag...
Quite nice to begin with.
Then after an hour or so, the wind picked up. This part of Spain is quite flat, but at an altitude of about 1000m (about 3300ft)
After about 150 miles it suddenly goes into a 5% gradient downwards towards Valencia and the coast.
South of Valencia, the wind became really strong. The strongest wind I’ve been riding in for a long time. Then, strangely, go through a 800m tunnel and out the other end to hardly any wind at all!

With about 40 miles to go, the rain started.
Not too bad when the end is in sight.

So, the distance covered, according to the route planner as my speedo cable had broken, was just under 2000 miles.
The chain was adjusted with 2 days left to go, but is now looking like a big elastic band.
I’d forgotten just how bad the mirrors are. You can’t see what’s directly behind and there’s a big blind spot to the side. Ideally, they should be a couple of inches wider.
Riding position for me was very comfortable. No aches or pains apart from my throttle hand. One of those manual cruise control thingys would fix that.
Having a toll tag for France was great. No messing around at the toll plaza, especially good when it’s wet and cold.

The final advice for future is...
Don’t ride across Europe in November!!!! Wait for the warmer weather.

[fossie]

Well that was a test ride matey.....so yep it was worth the little more !
We bow sir!

[Rustynail]

Your not a fair weather biker then Impressive road trip

[SamK]

As a wee follow up...
I checked the usage on my toll tag and to get the length of France, north to south, cost me €49.40 or approx £42 in tolls.

[fossie]

Just read a copy of the MAG local newsletter in which an interesting fact came to light ....last year 444000 speeding fines were issued to UK motorists in France last year netting over a million euros
However because of the EU deal with UK sharing data has ended on Jan 1st , until another renegotiatiation can be completed EU countries can't access UK addresses so can't send the tickets overseas Though on the spot tickets will still need to be paid .
Could be useful !

Just thought I'd mention you were not alone last year eh , Sam

[katmarch]

I count for 2 ( & probably Jmac) extra cost of Ek 8.5

[KeKat]

Yes I got a speeding ticket in France last year.