Again, as it is quiet this time of year on a bike forum I thought I would post something to keep the traffic up.
Here's the trip report I did for the Suzuki GSX1400 owner's form as that was the bike I was touring on in those days - OK, not a GTR but perhaps it may be of interest....
Planning
At last my annual trip into Europe had rolled around. As usual I had been planning in outline since last Christmas and then booking rooms & crossings since February / March. Again, the GSX1400 was the steed for the trip, and Carole, my wife of 30+ years was to keep me company a pillion.
I had considered either buying some hard luggage for it, or a satellite navigation unit to help with the city centre parts; in the end a Garmin Zumo 390LM was purchased in the belief that it would save some time and save me having to carry a load of maps around – something I was to bitterly regret over the next 16 days.
The journey was fully planned out on Garmin Base Camp as 12 separate sections, double checked and downloaded into the Zumo unit.
Friday 22/05/15 Stourbridge [UK] > Bouillon 440 planned miles
We had a nice easy trip down the M40 / M25 / M20 toward Folkestone, although we were riding into a head-wind and it was literally a pain in the neck. Early on the run I encountered the first problem with the Zumo which was mounted on the bars through the front brake lever retaining bolts; At any burst of acceleration or coming from behind an HGV I got a message <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]> I can only assume that wind pressure was pushing the unit away from its contacts. From Clackett Lane service area the Zumo started to insist that we get off at every junction and turn around, but as I knew better I pushed on. We arrived at Folkestone with a bit of time in hand for a quick take-away from the terminal and then were through the Chanel Tunnel 20 minutes earlier than our booked departure. On the train I interrogated the Nav unit and found that Clackett Lane Northbound had been selected for the scheduled stop hence its insistence on the detour.
Out of the Calais terminal and onto the motorway network I ran into my next problem with the Zumo; although it indicates the initial exit in good time, where there is an immediate split of the exit road it is not quick or clear enough to indicate the correct route; given a 50/50 I took the wrong choice. Directed off at the next exit I expected to be turned around and back onto the motorway network but instead was directed on secondary roads through the countryside, eventually ending up in Guines. Here I found road signs for the A16 north and south but the Zumo ignored these and pushed me on in an uncertain direction of travel. Eventually I find a road sign for the A26 and make a break for it despite Zumo's protests.
We were doing OK down to Cambrai where we were to exit and head eastwards, but again I got bitten by Zumo at the split in the exit. Pulling over at the first available rest area it became apparent that I now have an unwanted 15 mile ride south to the next exit. When we get there the Zumo did not turn us around, but took us away on secondary roads. I was now feeling really uncomfortable with the unit, it felt like "tunnel vision" with only a view of the road ahead and no idea of the bigger picture of where we were or were heading. Eventually we ended up on the outskirts of St Quentin, a place that I had found my own way to without any trouble two years ago. From here we were lead along another succession of minor roads and some while later we reached a junction with a more major road signed toward Charleville Mezieres which I knew to be one of my way points. Stupidly instead of following my instincts and taking this road I continued to allow myself to be lead along a different route by the Zumo eventually ending up at Hirson and back onto the route I had originally downloaded to the unit. Don't get me wrong, we ran through some beautiful countryside on nice roads and in good weather, but the run was spoiled by a feeling that it was unnecessarily circuitous on a day that the intention was to get as many miles under the tyres as quickly as possible.
Where the hell am I? (Wimy, it turned out).<1506>
Eventually we broke through the border into Belgium and my mood was lightened by seeing the signs for my destination of Bouillon and an approach to it through some great curvy roads set in woodland.
We reached Bouillon as the light was fading and checked in at the Hotel Porte de la France for the night, we were given a decent room overlooking the river and bridge. There was just time for a quick walk down the banks of the Semois River to the next bridge before crossing and returning to the hotel. The town is built on a loop in the river and is overlooked by a sizeable fortress; I confess I took an immediate liking to the place and look forward to another visit at sometime. A quick beer (or was it two?) was had before bed and the chance to recover from a day that was longer than expected.
Bouillon at night <2120>
Saturday 23/05/2015 Bouillon > Heidelberg [D] 220 planned miles
After taking breakfast at the hotel we loaded up the bike again and took a quick run up to the car park of the fort for a look over the town and to take a few pictures.
Bouillon from the fort <2145>
Hotel Porte de la France <2128>
Guided by Zumo we left Bouillon in the direction we expected and then onto the E25 toward and around Luxembourg. <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]> We had decided to give the route originally planned a miss so that we could have a bit more time in Heidelberg so we stuck to the Autobahn and just relied on the Zumo for the last mile or so in. We arrived via a bit of a bizarre route, through some residential suburbs but it took us to the road with our hotel in eventually.
We had booked a room at the Vier Jahreszietn, situated right at the end of the old (now pedestrianised) bridge over the Neckar River. There was no parking at this hotel and strictly speaking the street was not open to motor vehicles, but I managed to squeeze the '14 next to some cycle racks near the hotel and no one seemed to bother.
Hotel Vier Jarszeiten <2242>
After getting out of the bike gear we had a decent afternoon around Heidelberg including a quick trip up a sort of cliff railway to the castle which sits above the town. Again, we only achieved a "taste" of the town and I think it would stand another visit with a bit more time one day. The usual beer at the end of the day was inevitably followed by bed.
Heidelberg <2219>
Heidelberg Castle <2243>
Sunday 24/05/2015 Heidleberg [D] > Rothenburg ob der Tauber [D] 112 planned miles
A really easy day was planned for today; I was looking forward to this one. Zumo took us in a loop around the town which sits at the south of the Neckar, over the river to the west of where we started and then eastwards along the river bank. Whilst riding along I found myself wondering why we had not left the hotel in an easterly direction and simply crossed the next bridge like everyone else seemed to be doing – oh well, there's another 15 minutes of my life I will never get back.
The Run eastwards along the Neckar was really enjoyable on the bike and reminded me of previous trips along the Mosel Valley. There were the usual coffee and cigarette breaks along the way but we eventually broke away from the river at Mosbach for the start of a cross country run that I had programmed in.
A pause as Hirshhorn on the Neckar <2281>
This did indeed turn out to be a nice run through the German countryside on secondary roads, well used by the local motorcyclists. Eventually the need for a coffee and cigarette became irresistible and we started looking out for somewhere to stop. Being a Sunday and away from the major towns there was not much on offer. Suddenly as we rounded a bend a pair of impressive (although scaffolded) towers came into view and looking for somewhere to pull over to take a picture I found myself turning into the car park of what turned out to be the local biker's café – excellent. The building that had caught my attention turned out to be Schöntal Abbey and provided a nice backdrop our top up of nicotine and caffeine.
Not the only bike at Schöntal <2290>
Schöntal Abbey <2291>
Pushing on through more of the same great roads and scenery by early afternoon we eventually arrived at the destination of the day, Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Our journey to our hotel (Gasthoff Rodertor) was thwarted at the last 100 yards as the road outside the hotel was closed. On dismounting the bike as close as we could the obstruction was found to be a platoon of medieval infantry and cavalrymen - I think this is the first time that this has happened to me. By the time we had pulled the luggage of the bike, checked in and got changed the road had cleared and our hosts opened up their garage to accommodate the bike overnight.
Access denied <1572>
Taking a walk into town we discovered that we had dropped on a major festival weekend. Rothenburg is claimed to be the best preserved medieval city in Germany and this weekend it was filled with hundreds if not perhaps a thousand re-enactment enthusiasts in period costume. The town is circled by an intact town wall and is as reputed filled with charming buildings, towers and churches. If anything it has a bit of a surreal "Disneyland" feel to it, it is hard to believe it is real and not a film set.
At first walking around the town was impossible, the ends of the smaller streets leading to the main street are gridlocked with tourists watching a parade so we content ourselves around the periphery for a while. Eventually things quietened down and we could explore the core of the town where street cleaners were now dealing with the aftermath of a hundred cavalry horses with shovels and German efficiency.
<2354>Rothenburg
A final walk around the city walls overlooking the re-enactment camp and climb up one of the towers finished the day. The battery in my Pentax DSLR was now exhausted and I resolved to return into the town early in the morning to take a few more pictures before the coach-loads arrived.
<2361>Rothenburg
Thank you always enjoy your trips.
Good write up , i also had a zumo 390 that did my head in had a mind of its own with no logic to why it picked the routes , switched to a Samsung s9 using a quad lock to hold it on and Google maps have so far been faultless on trips to france and spain ,so much easier to use ,
Quote from: PRD on January 26, 2020, 10:15:26 AM
Thank you always enjoy your trips.
Thank you - it's coming by installments as usual in between doing other stuff!
Quote from: nightrider on January 26, 2020, 10:37:10 AM
Good write up , i also had a zumo 390 that did my head in had a mind of its own with no logic to why it picked the routes , switched to a Samsung s9 using a quad lock to hold it on and Google maps have so far been faultless on trips to france and spain ,so much easier to use ,
I've persisted with it; over time I've learned some of it's ways, but it can still get me into more trouble than it gets me out of.
Monday 25/05/2015 Rothenburg ob der Tauber [D] > Modrava [CZ] 220 planned miles
On the very morning I had wanted to get up early I had slept longer than usual, I think the travelling was catching up on me. There was time for another quick walk into town after breakfast but not as long as I wanted and the streets were already filling. There was no point is rushing to get away anyway, the garage containing our bike was still obstructed by costumed women and men, all armed to the teeth and looking slightly hung-over.
Rothenburg (slightly quieter) <2370>
The bike was finally pulled out of the garage and loaded up; a gentleman with a push-chair took a liking to the big Suzuki, attempted some conversation with us and asked if he could take a photo of it. Wishing him a goodbye, we eventually left our hotel; ignoring Zumo's advice to take various streets fronted with No Entry signs and after five minutes or so found ourselves at a petrol station (the first priority for the day) on what I assumed to be the outskirts of the town. "Hello again" said a voice – It was the chap with the push chair again! 1402cc, more torque than you can shake a stick at and I was beaten there by a chap with a push chair – bloody Zumo!!
I activated today's trip plan in the unit and we set off again. My relationship with the Nav unit was deteriorating, I may or may not have been following the route I had set into it but I was still feeling uncomfortable that I did not know where I was or what progress I was making. I do recall that I had set the route to avoid Nürnberg city centre, but somehow ended up there anyway. After a few minutes weaving in and out of the tram lines I found a petrol station, had another coffee and tried to plan my escape. Given the direction signs on offer I knew that Berlin was too far north, and I thought that Prague was too. In the end I plumped for Regensburg and broke out of town. At the next stop I adjusted the Zumo to give quickest time to the night's destination and cracked on again. At least we were now passing through towns that I knew were in the right direction and as the afternoon wore on we crossed the border and were into the Czech Republic at Zelezna Ruda.
Where am I now? (Amberg, it turns out). <2383>
Now I was comfortable with where I was again, we pulled over for another break at a service station a mile or so out of town. This was a bit of fortunate timing, just as we pulled under the canopy we were hit by a quick hail shower, this first stuff that had come out of the sky during the whole trip. During this stop I started to realise how cheap things were in the Czech Republic; I was now paying for my petrol cigarettes and coffee in Czech Koruna and doing a quick mental conversion I could see that I was getting a lot of my tourist pound.
Shelter from the hail <2386>
Riding on into the heart of the Bohemian Forest I was starting to enjoy myself again. The road surfaces were wet from the preceding showers and although the bike (and Carole) were getting wet from surface spray we were still staying relatively dry. The qualities road surfaces were mixed to say the least; there were some beautiful black ribbons of fresh tarmac, some areas that were more patches than road and as we rode deeper into the national park, a couple of sizeable runs on rough and damp cobbles – but all through a great, hilly wooded landscape.
Eventually we reached Modrava in the heart of the national park, the Zumo reckons we are 2450 feet above sea level here so no wonder it is feeling cooler. Our hotel for the night was the Klostermannova Chata, a real stunner of a room all newly fitted out with a big bed, huge flat screen TV, a sitting area with a couple of club chairs and a table, another sitting area with a sofa and a really nicely fitted out shower room. All for the equivalent of £43.00 including breakfast for the two of us.
Hotel Klosermannova Chata <2398>
I suppose that Modrava is what you would call a developing resort – the hotels, cafes etc. are there or being built, but the tourists are yet to arrive in any numbers. This is an area that will come to attract hikers and cyclists in great numbers in the future I'm sure. The day is finished with a walk down into the "village" and a short way along the river before the return to the hotel and the obligatory beers (it took less than £1.50 to get Carole drunk that night) and bed.
Great. Enjoying this.
I recently bought a second hand Zumo 345LM which I haven't had the opportunity to try as yet. It has an option for you to travel via the best curvy roads. Your frequent mention of travelling along curvy roads that weren't the shortest route makes me wonder if your sat nav had that switched on?
IMHO faults with machinery often turn out to be machinery operator faults.
Only saying.
Quote from 2013 Garmin blurb:
'The new Garmin Zumo 390LM has a new mode called Curvy Roads, which like the shortest and quickes route modes, looks for the route with the most fun.'
Great pictures which link directly to the written report.... very enjoyable..... thanks for sharing
Quote from: mcfroyce44 on January 26, 2020, 09:10:57 PM
I recently bought a second hand Zumo 345LM which I haven't had the opportunity to try as yet. It has an option for you to travel via the best curvy roads. Your frequent mention of travelling along curvy roads that weren't the shortest route makes me wonder if your sat nav had that switched on?
IMHO faults with machinery often turn out to be machinery operator faults.
Only saying.
Quote from 2013 Garmin blurb:
'The new Garmin Zumo 390LM has a new mode called Curvy Roads, which like the shortest and quickes route modes, looks for the route with the most fun.'
No worries, I'm happy to put my hand up to a degree of Operator Incompetence (always going to happen on the first trip with new kit), but no more than 10%! The rest of the problem is split between the unit and/or the Garmin Base Camp route planning software.
The 390 also has the curvy roads feature but some of the "curvey roads" it has picked for me were about 2.4m wide with grass growing up the middle of them - not my idea of biking heaven.
My relationship with the unit got no better during that trip - the story continues....
Pete.
Tuesday 26/05/2015 – Modrava [CZ] > Melk [A] 156 planned miles
Placing myself in the hands of Zumo again we left Modrava on dry roads. At first it felt like we were making some progress until I allowed myself to be directed off a secondary road, behind some houses, past a block of garages, over a narrow bridge and up a lane to a crossroads of sorts. Ahead of me was a forest trail closed to motor vehicles. The roads to the left and right are the same. Time for another cigarette....
Since buying this Zumo unit, I have never been more lost in Europe. The strange thing is that at that moment I was completely relaxed about it. It is not a long run today, there is all the time in the world and I have every confidence that I will find my way to where I need to be in the end – anyway, it is a perfectly nice place to be lost. After watching a shiny new forestry wagon arrive to load up his logs we remount and press on, back the way we came and then in a direction which looked right to me.
Where am I now? (I still don't know). <1662>
Finally we were alongside the large lake I was expecting to be travelling southwards by. Zumo directs us into the village of Frymburk where there is a supermarket to pick up a bit for lunch and a café where we lingered and watched the world go by. Back on the bike I fired up the Zumo unit again. "Look at this" I said to my other half, "It now wants us to turn round and go back the way we came". Choosing to ignore it I carried on in the direction we were originally travelling in and found myself at a pier serving a passenger ferry across the lake - a dead end. Back the way we came then......
By instinct I head southwards and as intended eventually crossed the border and we were into Austria. From this point we should have continued southwards for a while before heading east in the direction of Freistadt and then southwards again to cross the Danube somewhere near Pochlarn, the idea to avoid the city of Linz and the Autobahn. I picked up signs for Freistadt as expected but Zumo had other ideas and again I made the mistake to assuming it knew what it was doing.
Inevitably I found myself in Linz and allowed myself to be tricked into getting on the Autobahn. Having done this I had no choice but to get off and find somewhere that I could buy the Vignette that I needed for the Austrian motorways. Once I had handed over the few Euros and slapped the sticker onto the speedo housing I decided I may as well press on to tonight's destination of Melk on the Autobahn. <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]>
Zumo was bloody furious. As I cruised along the E60 it sat on the bars shouting at me to leave at every exit and sullenly adding on mileage to my "arrive in" reading. However, I was in charge of the throttle and my new steering head bearings and by this time I knew that I had a better idea of getting to my destination than it did. There was no problem with following the autobahn signs and there was no mistaking Melk when we arrived with the huge Baroque monastery dominating the skyline.
By the time we arrived at a small car park below the abbey in Melk, Zumo had decided that we were 205 miles away from it, which was actually 40 more than when we started. I cleared the selected trip from the unit and asked it to find the quickest route. After a little rethink it decided that it was only 0.1 miles away after all. A car moved away from a parking space allowing me to reposition the bike to pose it for a photo below the impressive abbey on the hill above. I could see the left hand turning for the road in which our hotel was situated just a couple of hundred yards up the road, but by the time I started the bike up again Zumo had had a another change of heart and decided that the hotel was now 0.3 miles away and should be approached from the rear by a cunning route, presumably designed to take it by surprise. I ignored it, turned left and pulled up outside the hotel.
Melk <1655>
The Hotel Stadt Melk is situated in the main town square and immediately below the abbey. We were given a nice little room with a balcony overlooking the town square and the bike was safely tucked away in a small car park at the rear. After getting out of the bike gear we took a walk up to the abbey and around its outer walls. From there we dropped back into town, walked across a bridge to an island in the Danube River where we sat for a while on the banks before returning to town so I could take my evening beer at a bar opposite our hotel.
Hotel Stad Melk <2446>
Great fun. Roll on next issue.
Lol, those bloody sat nav's, the curse of the modern traveller!
Sometimes traditional maps are better but they can be a pain especially for bikers when the simplicity of an automated device should be seamless.
A great introduction to what is unfolding as a terrific expedition, the photos are great, Germany is a beautiful country despite its history and like many other European countries it is spotless. Oh and of course the Suzuki, GSX 1400, a hugely underestimated bike. When I got back into biking I pondered over buying one but instead bought a Yamaha XJR 1300 followed by a couple of Honda CB1300's, all of which are great bikes.
:biker3:
Wednesday 27/05/2015 Melk [A] > Budapest [H] 220 planned miles
Filled with breakfast we loaded up the bike and switched on Zumo again. "Turn right" it said, so I did. "Turn left" it said, so I did. Within moments my GSX1400, fat with panniers was elegantly gliding through the town market causing pedestrians to dive for cover behind the stalls of fruit & veg and other household essentials. Hmm, I'm sure I should not be here.....
A GSX1400 on the market <VC100>
Soon though I was out of town and back on the autobahn to get my money's worth from the vignette <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]>. Generally disregarding the Zumo I cruised the E60, past Vienna. Although I had turned the unit on to give me some forewarning of junctions it was perfectly simple to follow the signs with a nice bold H in a white oval to ensure I was headed the right way. There is not much to say about the run across the border and into Hungary except to note how much English seems to be spoken in this part of the world; we managed to get exactly what we wanted for lunch at a service area and all back to rock bottom prices now we were out of the Euro area again. At this point we found we needed another vignette for Hungary and it was duly purchased – all electronic here though, so no sticker for the bike.
A few more miles on the Hungarian motorway and we reached the outskirts of Budapest. To be fair to the Zumo, it did OK here and we were soon crossing the Danube on the Liberty Bridge and being guided to the street containing the Adler Apartments where we had booked for three nights.
We checked in with our landlady and were given basement parking for the bike, a bonus in a city centre location and one of the reasons this accommodation was selected. The apartment was great for us, very modern clean and spacious with a balcony out to the rear courtyard. We found a living area, kitchen, a bedroom and very well fitted bathroom which was home to a washing machine – always desirable to the mid-point of a trip for two on a motorcycle.
Having landed in Budapest at a reasonable hour we had chance to spend that afternoon as well as the whole of the following two days exploring the city. Most people will tell you what a good place Budapest is to visit and I can only agree. Many of the city's buildings look to have been refurbished or are in the process of being renovated, I feel confident that those that are still looking "shabby chique" will get their time soon – there is money being spent here, if you want a definition of "up and coming area" Budapest is it.
After touring for the last few years only in countries using the Euro it was strange to be somewhere with a lightweight currency. Being charged two grand for a couple of cappuccinos and a bun is a bit unsettling at first, but your Forints go a long way. The very nice accommodation that we had cost about £145.00 for the three nights – try getting that in London.
Budapest <2513>
We spent most of Thursday in the Buda (castle) district doing the tourist thing and Friday morning was spent walking up to Heroes' Square and the city park area. We decided to rest a while during the afternoon to recover from two days walking and save ourselves for a late evening in the city – it would be nice to see it lit up. I was feeling a little sorry for the GSX1400 though; it had served us so well in getting here but was languishing in the basement covered in fine Czech mud. Whilst our Foundation Garments were receiving a refresh in the washing machine, at Carole's suggestion we purchased a pack of baby wipes from the Tesco (yes, Tesco!) at the end of the street and spent half an hour wiping the bike down. OK, it would never impress the polishing purists on this forum, but it made the old girl look a bit more respectable for the following day.
Our planned evening walk rounded of our visit to the city, As we sat for a while by the Danube we heard the howl of engines of bikes held at the lights in Pest - you knew when they had changed to green without seeing them, those guys must have been doing 80 when they crossed Liberty Bridge. It was not a one-off either; it must pass for an evening entertainment in the city.
All in all we had a good time in Budapest, much better than last year's disappointing visit to Barcelona. Giving the city a bit more time and making sure we had a cheap guide book made all the difference. We had reached the last night at the point furthest from home and would be starting to circle back west now, but there is still a week of our holiday left. Tomorrow would take us somewhere new again.
<2711> Liberty Bridge
:clap: Very good reading.
Quote from: Lonewolf on January 28, 2020, 02:17:16 PM
Lol, those bloody sat nav's, the curse of the modern traveller!
Sometimes traditional maps are better but they can be a pain especially for bikers when the simplicity of an automated device should be seamless.
A great introduction to what is unfolding as a terrific expedition, the photos are great, Germany is a beautiful country despite its history and like many other European countries it is spotless. Oh and of course the Suzuki, GSX 1400, a hugely underestimated bike. When I got back into biking I pondered over buying one but instead bought a Yamaha XJR 1300 followed by a couple of Honda CB1300's, all of which are great bikes.
:biker3:
This was the one and only time I ever went away without a full set of least some basic paper maps. Having shelled out the thick end of three hundred quid for the Garmin and spent ages tinkering with the route in Base Camp I'd convinced myself there would be no need to buy any more maps than I already owned (a few of Germany and Belgium came out with me).
Germany is great for biking and there was a few more days to come on this trip.....
I still love the GSX and have no intentions of parting with it yet. The chain drive and lack of fairing is a bit of a drawback for big trips likev these though, hence the later purchase of the GTR.
Great again. I always take maps with me on trips. You can look ahead and see where you are supposed to be going in case sat nav throws a wobbly!
Charlie's BM W system has put us into some very interesting situations!
Saturday 30/05/2015 Budapest [H] > Brno [CZ] 240 planned miles
After giving our apartment a quick clean (we like to leave things as we found them) we handed back our key and collected our deposit. The bike was reloaded and ridden across the Danube to a position opposite the parliament buildings so that I could grab a souvenir photo. We moved out of Budapest in a north-westerly direction as intended on a bit of an awkward, congested stop-start road through the city's suburbs – bypasses and feeder roads are yet to reach this area of the city.
The GSX's bragging photo <2746>
We were following the Zumo again having no other real option. We had a good fistful of Hungarian Forints left and I had every intention of spending them before we left the country, but the Zumo had left us blind to the border and before I knew it I was through Esztergom on a large girder bridge, crossing the Danube again and passing below a sign proclaiming I was now in Republica Slovenska.
Another Country <1873>
We experienced another little shift in culture as we rode into Slovakia and at first enjoyed a pleasant run on local roads, continuing to the north and east. Although the plan had been to stay with these roads until we reached the Czech border, the feeling was starting to grow again that we were progressing far more slowly and indirectly than expected.
Somewhere in Slovakia <2757>
Eventually I lost confidence or patience and broke out toward the motorway between Bratislava and Brno. We allowed the motorway to take us back into the Czech Republic and on to Brno <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]>.and then let Zumo take us around the city to that night's hotel.
This evening we were staying at the Hotel Rakovec on the shores of a large reservoir to the north west of this city. The hotel was OK, but it was the first accommodation that we had stayed at this year that I did not really take to; It had a bit of a "motel" feel with some separate chalets as well as the main building. Someone seemed to be throwing a 50th birthday party in the hotel bar making us feel a bit out of place. Perhaps if we had a room overlooking the lake rather than the retaining wall at the back of the property I may have felt a bit better about it.
The view from Hotel Rakovec's terrace <2759>
Another enjoyable read.
:punk:
Sunday 31/05/2015 Brno [CZ] > Rathen [D] 240 planned miles
The original idea for today was a run on secondary roads northwards through the Czech Republic and into Germany to our destination for the night; Rathen in the Swiss Saxony region, just south east of Dresden.
Carole was finding long distances difficult due to our touring set-up so I decided over breakfast to modify our plans somewhat. Perhaps I should explain that the soft luggage that we have toured with for the last five years is all clipped to a patress that sits across the pillion area of the seat; it is not as "grippy" as the bike's seat cover and she can find herself sliding forward under breaking or downshifting. The fact that the roll bag obscures the grab rail means she is holding on with two fingertips of one hand and added to all this the rucksack she wears that contains our documents and valuables gradually drops into the gap that forms between her back and the roll bag. This is all tolerable for so long, but after a period I can tell she is getting uncomfortable and this tends to spoil things a bit for both of us.
Starting off with the plan I had set into Zumo we headed north and with regular stops had an enjoyable morning run up to Kutna Hora. Here we took a break to visit the Sedlec Ossuary, chapel decorated with human bones – a place that had first come to my attention on the "Long Way Round" television series and that I had been reminded of when researching our route. It is indeed a bit of a strange place to visit and I did not quite know how I felt or should be feeling amongst all those human remains. Some visitors seemed respectful as you would expect in a religious building, others seemed to approach it with a party spirit. It is an absorbing place to visit though and I'm glad I made the detour. If you want to know more about the site there is a link here: http://sedlecossuary.com/
Sedlec Ossuary<2783>
From here we switched to plan B and struck out on more major roads and eventually the motorway which runs between Prague and Dresden. <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]>.
This gave Carole an easier afternoon, it was a shame to miss out on the countryside and villages of the north of the country, but it was the right thing to do. Before long we were back over the border into Germany and making our way over the last few kilometres on B roads to Wißig, a small hamlet on the hill in a loop of the Elbe River near Rathen.
I did not much fancy the track that Zumo suggested my hotel was on, so passed the turning by and found myself at the Rathner Hof a couple of bends along the road. Again, we found ourselves in a really nice room that overlooked the Elbe valley and had a view of the table mountain of Lilienstein in the distance. This is a "wellness" hotel with a sauna etc., to be honest it was probably a bit upmarket for two British people covered in dead flies, but we quickly made ourselves at home in our room which we had booked for two nights.
<2880> Lilienstein from the Rather Hof
This was one of the "must do" parts of our trip so we spent the early evening walking the 1km down the hill into Rathen to see what it had to offer and plan our day on foot tomorrow – the bike was going to get another day off.
Monday 01/06/2015 Rathen & The Bastei and a short run to Struppen – 20 miles
Monday started with the walk back down into Rathen and a passenger ferry ride over the Elbe. We spent the majority of the day around Rathen and climbing to the famous Bastei fortress. Hard going for two unfit people, but well worth it. After walking a way along the banks of the Amselsee tucked in a deep valley below the surrounding crags we returned to the village of Rathen to eat at an Imbiss kiosk before re-crossing the river and walking back up to the hotel. This region has some superb natural scenery, the camera never does it justice and we were glad to have been stood among it even if only for a day.
Bastei bridge<2862>
We had walked enough now but as it was still only about 16:00 we decided that we should perhaps venture out for a short while on the bike, even though the first real rain of the holiday had started to fall. We took a ride westwards along the river to Pirna, which we found to be a little uninspiring but allowed us to pick up a few things that were needed from the shops. A swift ride back to the hotel and a last beer and cigarette on the front terrace finished another day off.
Excellent. Thanks
Tuesday 02/06/2015 Rathen [D] > Goslar (Harz) [D] 235 planned miles
After checking out of the Rathner Hof, it all started so well – we joined the Autobahn near Dresden as planned <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]> and ground through a good few miles to bypass Leipzig and Halle.
<VC200> Autobahn drag
The Zumo took us to the lakeside at Seeburg as was programmed into it, where we stopped for a "comfort break" and a coffee; the complimentary biscuits being shared with a solitary but inquisitive duck. From here on in we should have been cutting north-westwards on minor roads through the foothills and onto the peaks of the Harz Mountains.
<2882> Seeburg
However, navigation problems arose again. As it was time to get something to eat we dived onto a Netto car park – yes, we had dared to deviate from the set route again and whilst I was rummaging through the bread rolls and processed cheese, Zumo lay maliciously plotting its revenge deep inside my jacket pocket. Having made our purchases and mounted up ready to find somewhere quiet to break bread, Zumo decided we should go back the way we came. In the absence of any other information and supposing that I may have missed a road on entering the village we followed its directions.
After a couple of kilometres of back-tracking Zumo turned us northwards through an area that seemed to be a quarrying or mining region, nothing that took our fancy for a meal break. All of a sudden we were turning back onto the Autobahn <Lost external power source shutting down in 15... 14... [Cancel]>. I resigned myself to pulling up at the first service area so that we could eat and try and work out where we were heading, but very unusually for the German motorway network no Rastplatz or Auto Hof was forthcoming. We were into a head wind again, hungry, with no idea of where we were being led and most annoyingly of all I could see the Harz Mountains where we should be enjoying the afternoon's riding were in view but edging by us well to the south.
I'd had enough for a while and with no service area available broke off the Autobahn at Blankenberg and simply headed for the hills. It was not far out of town before we started to climb the road curves and found a nice wooded lay-by to recover. The one detailed map that I had bought along was for this area as I knew we would have a "spare" day on the bike. It was as I lay out the Michelin map on the picnic table that the Zumo displayed one of its greatest uses – as a paperweight.
During my ride to this point I had been turning over my fractious relationship with the Zumo in my mind. The 390LM has a "curvy roads" option as well as the standard quickest time or shortest distance selections. Even though a route is pre-programmed into it there are occasions where one may deviate from it; either by missing a turning, a road being closed or the traffic flow being altered. In these instances a satellite navigation unit performs a recalculation – obviously. It was starting to dawn on me that when these deviations occur, it may be that instead of a minor correction to put you back on the programmed route, recalculation was being performed on the basis of the last setting used - thus perhaps finding me a motorway if I had previously set "quickest time" or throwing me off the motorway to do 200 miles on obscure curvy roads if I had missed a junction. I'm not sure that I am surmising correctly, but it does seem to stack up.
There was nothing to be done now though and I wrote off my afternoon in the Harz Mountains, cancelled the route that the Zumo should have been following and entered Hotel Harzlodge for quickest route.
On arriving at the entrance to the Harzlodge, (just south of Goslar) we found ourselves in a fairly unusual "hotel". The reception area and bar were in one building; the guest accommodation was in three large buildings with their frontages dressed up to look like they were separate buildings in a little German "street". Inside, our room was a little less nicely dressed as the front; a bit basic but good enough for a couple of nights at the price. It certainly seemed to have attracted many other bikers and we felt a bit more at home at this hotel.
<2889> Harz Lodge Hotel
Having arrived earlier than intended due to the Autobahn mileage we got changed and headed into Goslar for the evening. Goslar was not in its self one of the intended focal points of the trip but turned out to be a really nice little town anyway. There was enough in the town to keep me and the camera occupied for a couple of hours before returning to the hotel for the night.
Tomorrow would be a better day.....
Great. Thank you. Looking forward to next instalment.
Wednesday 03/06/2015 A day around Harz [D] 100 miles?
Parting the curtains on Wednesday revealed a little light rain which was a real disappointment as it was the only day planned on the trip to get some use out of the bike without the luggage on. Over breakfast I decided we should go back into Goslar for a while so that we could duck in and out of the shops to avoid the rain and see if things would improve. Fortunately after a while they did, so we headed back to the bike only to find that he street it was parked in was closed off by the police who were managing some sort of small demonstration. Whilst we waited for the road to re-open I fired up the Zumo, selected Harz National Park from the points of interest menu before eventually setting off.
<2896> Goslar
We had a really nice run out of Goslar, stopping off briefly at the dam on the Okerstausee reservoir before Zumo took us up to the High Harz Road (Hoheharzstraße) It then suggested we turned left but there was no road there, after recalculating it suggested another left turn that did not exist (although I realised as I passed the phantom junction there was actually a forest track there). It was time to ignore the Zumo and get the map out again so we found a really peaceful spot by the Oder reservoir where we sat and ate what we had bought in Goslar and spent some time looking at the possibilities from the Michelin map.
<2925>Harz
<2938>Oder
In the end we had a great afternoon, firstly striking out east to Hasselfelde then turning around and running back past the Oder and out to Clausthal-Zellerfeld where we sat outside a café for a while. From there, there was a direct but traffic free and curvy run through the wooded mountains back down to our hotel.
<VC300> Harz
After a little bit of a damp start it had turned out to be just the day I was hoping for - a lighter bike in pleasant countryside and doing as many or as few miles as we wanted. My next trip needs more days like this.
Enjoyed that. It is always good on a tour when you can do some exploring on an unloaded bike. I like to base myself somewhere and then do trips out.
I'm thoroughly enjoying this write up, :clap:
Thursday 04/06/15 Goslar [D] > Medelon [D] 159 planned miles.
After breakfast the bike was loaded up again and we set off from Goslar in bright sunshine. We headed back southwards into the mountains as planned passing through Clausfeld-Zellerfeld again and on to the Sösetalsperre (reservoir) for our first stop as planned into the Zumo.
<2946>Sösetalsperre
Leaving Harz behind us it was then on through secondary roads to the city of Kassel where after a bit of stop-start traffic we broke out into the countryside again. I'm not 100% sure that we were going the way I intended; there seemed to be periods when we were circling again, but no matter it was another "proper" day on the bike.
There are days on any long trip that don't really figure in your plans except that they are an essential stop between point A and point B to break down the mileage. This year's journey required a stop between the Harz and Eifel National Parks. When looking into the area between (The Sauerland) and picking a hotel in the village of Medelon I had realised that we would pass near the Edersee so that was to be our second waypoint of the day. As the afternoon wore on and the heat continued to build we neared our stop and noticed increasing numbers of other bikers out enjoying the roads.
We were not the first Britons to visit the Eder dam, RAF 617 squadron were certainly there a few years before us as it was one of their targets in the fabled "Dambusters" raids. I was not sure what to expect, perhaps thinking it would be some remote reservoir like the Elan valley or some of those in the Pennines, but the place was absolutely rammed with tourists – more like Lake Windermere on a Bank Holiday. It was impossible to find a parking space even for a bike near the dam so we climbed the hill above the reservoir to the village of Wladeck and spent a short while taking in the view from the castle.
<2958>Edersee from Waldeck Castle
After a while we ventured down to the dam again and chanced on a place to park up as two other bikes were pulling out. We walked across the dam, picked up a couple of cold drinks from the village of Edersee, mingled with the tourist hoards for a while and watched the large pleasure boats come and go.
<2969> Eder dam
<2036> Eder dam (This photo inserted to prove that I went on this trip as well as my bike)
When the time came to move on we fired up the Zumo again, merged into the heavy traffic around the lake shore and spent a good while staring at the rear end of an old green VW transporter camper van as we crawled away. Eventually the SatNav directed us away from the lake road, up into the hills and through a few small villages. Again the feeling was growing that we were moving somewhat indirectly and you can imagine my delight when after 15 minutes or so we found ourselves on a road with the same green camper van coming toward us from the opposite direction. I wonder if he knew how lost he was?
Trusting (!) in Zumo, we pushed on for the remaining 36 miles, sometimes with our shadow to the left, sometimes to the right but always through a superb landscape and on traffic free roads. The one thing that we had not achieved since breakfast was finding anything to eat. The roads that the Zumo had selected for us were all very rural and had not offered any sort of shop or imbiss bar so we arrived at the Landhotel Muller in Medelon with empty bellies. After checking in (another really nice room with a small balcony) and getting changed out of the bike gear a quick walk around the village confirmed there was nothing on offer, I was also short on the folding stuff, so the only option was eating at the hotel's restaurant and tacking it onto our room charge.
Now, I don't do restaurants. I know there are some people who delight in eating out, but neither Carole nor I are one of them; plain food is all that is required. A quick enquiry lead to us being given an a la carte menu with options from 30 Euros or 40 Euros; the sort of money I would expect to pay for a second-hand Nissan. A bit of negotiation was going to be required, more so on the content of our meal than the price. I did my best to covey that we would just like two medium rump steaks with chips and absolutely nothing else. Eine Groß bier und eine kleine bier arrived as ordered and was shortly and inevitably followed by a basket of bread and two square white plates with a little bit of uncooked ham topped by some green stuff and some white dressing. We took the comment that it came with to be "It's on the house" and dutifully picked at it the best we could. The meal that followed up did properly hit the mark though, a couple of really good sized steaks and more than enough Pommes Frites, all washed down with a second beer for me and a coffee for Carole. (To be honest when we picked up the bill the following morning it was not badly priced at all, I'd certainly do it again).
And so to bed, all in all another really good day. The Suerland was only to be somewhere I was passing through but turned out to be a bit of a revelation, not too far into the continent and somewhere that could be considered for a long weekend in the future, definitely worth another look.
Looks great. Another enjoyable read.
Again, a superb write up, I was reminded of my many years working for VAG (UK) the importer for Volkswagen and Audi cars , and the several visits that , I and others, made to the manufacturing/ foundry plant that exists in Kassel
Kassel is indeed a beautiful part of the world with spectacular forests
Quote from: O.C. on February 05, 2020, 11:17:26 AM
Again, a superb write up, I was reminded of my many years working for VAG (UK) the importer for Volkswagen and Audi cars , and the several visits that , I and others, made to the manufacturing/ foundry plant that exists in Kassel
Kassel is indeed a beautiful part of the world with spectacular forests
Agreed, Germany is probably my favourite country and has been visited quite a few times now. Alpine mountains, forests river valleys, historic towns and cities, it seems to have everyting. Despite the way many Britons (particularly Englishmen) go on, I think the Germans are so much more like us in thier culture - certainly more so than the French or Italians - I always feel comfortable over there.
Friday 05/06/15 Medelon [D] >– Rurberg [D] 162 planned miles
After breakfast the bill was paid up and a few photos taken of Medelon before heading out into the countryside again. By my recollection and reckoning, we should have been on rural roads for about an hour that day before picking up the start (or end, depending on how you look at it) of the A4 Autobahn and using this to take us around Köln and across the Rhein.
<2980> Medelon
We had a great hour riding through the Saurland countryside in warm sunshine, followed by a second enjoyable hour. After this the unease set in again – how many times should you see a sign for Olpe, always pointing in different directions? Eventually we started to pick up signs for the A45 Autobahn but Zumo was not interested in these and to be fair I was fairly sure it was not the motorway we wanted. I can only liken this experience to overdoing a drinking session; the first few beers are great, the next few are easing you into a really good time and then come the ones that you are having to force down to be "sociable", knowing you are going to regret it later or on the following morning.
<2981> Somewhere in the Sauerland
Signs for the A4 Autobahn started to come into view but still Zumo lead us through lanes and tiny villages. Carole was shuffling round behind me now and I knew I had to stop. When I pulled into the first available gateway I thought she might explode, but I go there first; "Three bloody hours and all we have covered off today's distance is 50 @!***X !miles". Now I will be the first to admit I am not the fastest of riders, especially two up with luggage, we had also taken whatever breaks I fancied and picked up fuel along the way. But, these roads were lanes and just a continuous series of bends at that – no opportunity to make any serious progress even if you were actually sure you were going in the right direction.
I had a cigarette, calmed down and had a think. "I'm going back to that last village and following the signs for the A4" I said. I knew it would take me to Köln, I was not sure from there, but I reckoned I knew the geography of that part of Germany well enough to sort myself out. I left the Zumo unit switched on in the hope that it may assist with lane guidance, but from there on the signs were my guide. Now we started to cover some distance; a Köln approached I picked up signs for Aachen – that would do nicely. Zumo protested, obviously feeling that my holiday would be nothing without a visit to Bonn, but I was back in control.
After crossing the Rhein, I continued out toward Aachen as was now the plan. A large section of the Autobahn had obviously recently been reconstructed and realigned. Zumo was sulking; it put my motorcycle icon onto a railway line and petulantly informed me I was heading south-west. OK the motorway had been realigned, but this was supposed to be 2015 mapping!! I left at the exit for Duren knowing that after crossing the town tonight's destination should be just a few more miles to the south and fell back into Zumo's clutches. It responded by sending me though stop-start traffic through the northern inner city area and then through the town centre its self. I had realised too late that if I had stayed in the signed lane I could have cut a lot of that out with a bypass.
Eventually out of Duren we were entering the Eifel National Park area and descending on winding roads to the village of Rurberg on the Rursee reservoir. There was no problem finding the Hotel Paulshoff, no map or SatNav was necessary as I had used it once before for an overnight stay on the way to the Alps.
<2985> Hotel Paulshof
The bike was parked up below an overhanging balcony at the front of the hotel and we were soon checked in and changed again. Despite the couple of hours we had lost during the morning, there was still plenty of the day left but still a bit of a shortage of beer vouchers in my wallet, this situation required my most immediate attention. "I know" I said to the other half," I'll consult Zumo, it has cash machines in its Points Of Interest menu". Sure enough it found one for me one kilometre away. I explained to Carole that half of the distance was along the lake shore and then we were to go up the hill. The mention of walking up a hill on such a hot day met with a bit of an Old Fashioned look, but we struck out anyway. We had only walked about a minute from the hotel when I came across a sign pointing to a cash machine 100m in the opposite direction. Bloody Zumo – I suspect that cash machines are there as POIs only if the owners pay Garmin for them to be there.
Armed with Euros, we had a wander round some of the Rursee shore. Rurburg is just a small village on this large reservoir but serves the tourist well. It was still hot and sunny and a couple on a bike we were extremely over-dressed in comparison with the hundreds around us sunbathing and boating. That night we dined on chicken nuggets and chips (more at my culinary level) from one of the takeaways and then found a little kiosk with a garden, selling bottles of Bitburger Pils at an attractive price.
<2986> Rursee
When I had had my fill, I returned to the hotel to settle down, only to be awoken by one of the huge thunderstorms that I always seem to encounter when in this region. Eventually of course it passed and we were rewarded with a decent night's sleep
Lovely. I agree Germany is a good place to go.
I was fortunate to visit numerous parts Germany (at company expense) many times during my employment with VAG (UK) over a period of 15 years..... it is indeed a lovely country that never failed to please
Saturday 06/06/15 Rurberg [D] > Ghent 166 Planned miles
We set of from the Rursee in dry weather again, the bike seemed to have been sheltered from last night's thunderstorm and the first job of the day was fuelling up as we had arrived on vapour. The plan that was set into the Zumo for today was a "nostalgia trip", I wanted to revisit the part of the Eifel that I have stayed in a couple of times when attending the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa; I also wanted to see what Francochamps looked like without 150,000 F1 fans walking through it. Zumo took us there exactly as I had planned and it was not too long before I had pulled up in Francochamps in search of my first post-breakfast coffee. The first thing I found out about Francochamps when it has not got 150,000 F1 fans in it is that the cafes do not bother opening up. Having drawn a blank in the centre of the village I decided to head down to the service station that I knew was by the circuit entrance in search of my caffeine.
I remounted the bike and turned on the ignition but instead of the usual whine and sweep of the needles, I just got a little "sneeze" from it and a flashing FI light. I tried again – still nothing. Five or six tries failed to get the proper response. I reached for the cigarette packet in the hope that the old girl just needed another 5 minutes to its break. Returning to the problem, it took another 5 or 6 goes before the bike was in the mood to have the starter pressed. I decided to run down the hill to the garage as planned where I could look over it on level ground. I'm not sure what I was looking for – perhaps the side stand cut-out, but there was nothing obviously wrong. Again, the ignition sequence failed several times before finally allowing me to fire up the bike. Now feeling somewhat concerned, I decided to abandon the cross country run that was planned and head for the motorway network reasoning that if there were going to be problems it would be easier to be located and rescued from a motorway service area.
The remainder of the days riding to the city of Ghent was therefore done on the motorway, we made a couple of stops but the bike behaved perfectly and the problem of the morning never recurred. Even now I don't have a clue what it was all about, perhaps we had had a bit of dodgy fuel that morning or perhaps the previous night's storm had caused some dampness somewhere.
<2944> Another service area
We arrived in Ghent in the early afternoon. The last time I had been to the city was during a school trip as a 14 year old. I had a recollection of it being Bruges's bigger, less pretty sister but now as a fifty-something year old I was more open to the idea of bigger, less pretty sisters so I decided to make another visit. Our hotel for the night was the Cour St Georges in the city centre. The hotel lacked a car park of any sort but I managed to smuggle the bike into the cycle racks that were overlooked by our room window. I have to say this was not the greatest or cheapest hotel we had stayed in during this holiday but the staff were lovely and it was bang in the middle of the city centre so it was OK for us.
<2995> Parked!
The whole of the afternoon and evening was spent wandering the streets and canal sides, my estimation of the city went up enormously and the Pentax camera was well exercised. The last day of our trip had also been blessed with warm sunny weather but as the light faded and the city's buildings began to light up I could not help feeling disappointed that it was almost all over for another year.
<3010> Ghent
Another great write up. Ghent looks nice not been there but have been to Bruges.
Quote from: PRD on February 06, 2020, 07:31:29 PM
Another great write up. Ghent looks nice not been there but have been to Bruges.
+1 Likewise
Sunday 07/06/15 Ghent – Stourbridge [GB] 338 planned miles.
Although the room was a bit shabby and the circulation areas were a bit cramped the hotel did offer us the chance to have breakfast in the sunshine in a little courtyard at the rear which was a bit of a change.
The bike was loaded up for the last time and Zumo was switched on again. Unfortunately it had not woken up in a good mood. Overnight and without human intervention it had changed my motorcycle icon into a car and with a bit of an offhand expression on its screen told us to set off the wrong way down the one-way street we were parked in. I was not falling for that though and set off in the direction that the government of Ghent felt was right and proper. After going on for a couple of hundred metres Zumo had another think and highlighted a new route. This was blocked after a short while by a temporary road closure so I had to take an alternative road at the junction when I reached it in the hope that I would get a recalculation from the SatNav. After it had preformed this I realised that it had simply planned to circle us around to the closed road again so I gave up on it and once more resorted to the age old method of looking at the sun's position and heading south where I knew I would cross the E40 at some point.
<3097> Zumo Strikes Back
It was not a particularly long journey to the DFDS terminal at Dunkirque, a calm crossing of the channel followed and a couple of hours later we had disembarked at Dover. As is often the case with our return sailing there were a larger than usual number of continental bikes on board with us, presumably heading for the TT.
<3099> Secured for sailing
The 200 mile motorway run home is never the highlight of the trip, all you have to look forward to is getting home and reinforcing the hall floor below the letter box with some steel sheet to take the impact of the Visa statement when it arrives. As usual I entertained myself on the ride back by riding in the left hand lane of the motorway as much as possible and using various methods to wake up car drivers sitting in the middle lane; I know you probably shouldn't, but it amuses me on a long journey. By mid evening we were back at home, the cat came straight out to see us, the kids to a while longer.
Retrospective.
It was great – really great and I have got photos of all the places I wanted to visit to prove it. Apart from one small unexplained blip, the GSX1400 was faultless again. The Zumo was a ******* nightmare and my biggest regret was buying it instead of some hard luggage of some sort.
I don't think I would venture out without paper maps again. I suspect that some of my troubles with the Zumo were down to inexperience, it would have been better to have been using it and learning how it behaves for a few months before taking on a journey like this. Equally though, there were a lot of instances when the thing was just plain wrong. At some point of the coming weeks I will try and download its "tracks" to my computer and see if I can work out what it was up to.
In 16 days we hardly got damp, if anything there were a few days when it was uncomfortably hot. It was still not the "perfect" bike trip though; it could have done with a few more luggage free play-days. Still, there is always next year to plan for and several of hours of video to edit over the winter.
Thanks for taking the journey with me.
Pete.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. I really enjoyed it.
I also enjoyed it. Great to read and share that journey with you both. I've done a few trips abroad with the bike but never got around to writing it up. I must do that on our next European trip.
Great write up and pictures, thanks for sharing :clap:
That was a very enjoyable "Lockdown Read" .... I find in these times I am catching up on many of the adventures and stories that are on here and on the "other" Dark Sided site I use ... I have done a bit of Europe but clearly need to get out some more. There are so many good places to visit :cool: