meatloaf Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 I've just got back from my 1st bike trip to Europe, it wasn't without incident but was a brilliant trip. Really enjoyed riding with my daughter who did most of the organizing. When we disembarked at Dunkirk my sat nav had a hissing fit and we got totally lost but somehow ended up on the right road, eventually the sat nav got sorted and we headed for Bruges. I had a few more issues with the sat nav but got to the B&B in Bruges a bit later than planned. On Monday after switching to google maps we headed to Vianden in Luxemburg, about a 200 mile journey, after getting past the road works in Bruges the traffic thinned out and we had quite a fast ride to Luxemburg. We left the gloomy weather behind and were now riding in 27 degrees.The roads in Luxemburg are quite spectacular and on my bike which is long and low proved to be quite interesting, The twisty roads were a welcome relief after the long straights we had been on but there were a couple of really sharp hairpins that proved a challenge, I found myself dropping down to 1st and even had to slip the clutch to get round and even then my pegs and boots left marks on the newly surfaced roads. Our B&B for the night at the Hientz hotel, we even got our own personal parking. It was nice to get out of my leathers and have a shower and break out the shorts. Time for a drink and a treat, this went down really well. Went on the chairlift and had a nice cold beer at the top and just chilled for a while taking in the views. We found a nice restaurant on the river bank, and ordered "Judd mat Gaardebounen" which is a traditional dish of the area, and of course a cold beer . Not many bikes here but apparently in a few weeks it will be heaving with bikes, not surprising that this place is so biker friendly. Google maps is quite good but not perfect, when we left the hotel it took us on a twenty minute trip only to pass the hotel again before heading for Neuerbuge in Germany, no worries it gave us chance to ride the twisters before heading for the straighter roads,absolutely no reason to go to Neuerbuge but we were so close to the border and I think Shelly wanted to tick a box to say she had ridden in Germany. Just checking, I don't think Shelly trusted me to get us to Lorraine in France where we were booked in Two wheel moorings a bikers B&B run by an lovely English couple. I don't WTF happened but while doing a u turn to get in the overnight parking at the B&B I managed to drop my bike pinning my leg between the road and over 300Kg of bike, luckily the owner of the B&B was there to get my bike off me, It could have been a lot worse, the angle my foot was at I thought I must have snapped something but it was just badly bruised and very swollen from just below the knee to my toes. After resting for a while with a cold compress I found that I hobble about and more importantly take the weight of my bike without too much trouble but I had to break one of my golden rules and ride in trainers as there was no way I could get my boot on. Supporting the bike when stopped wasn't a problem but changing up was a bit slow and painful and I found myself changing down with my heal. On Wednesday we headed for Mailly - Mailet in France for our last overnight stop before heading for home, once again the sat nav played up and when we got to about 1 km from the B&B it just took us round in circles but eventually found the place more by luck than judgement. I didn't really fancy the 20 mile to the nearest town with some restaurants for food but after a shower a couple of hours rest and some more painkillers we set off. I think sat navs are brilliant but sometimes they can take you down roads like this, WTF has the tarmac gone, fortunately the tarmac reappeared about a mile down the road. After a nice meal and some cold cokes we headed back in the dark, a pleasant ride in the warm night until we hit the country lanes where we were bombarded by bugs of every size. Our final ride in the EU, a stop in Boulogne where we encountered our first heavy traffic, as well as an ice cream and cold drinks it was a much needed piss stop. Then off to Calais for our ferry home. All in all a bloody good trip with my daughter, mainly good roads, friendly people, no nods from other bikers but plenty of waves, salutes and leg kicks with the exception of a couple of HD's who had that typical stony stare that we are all probably used to. Then it was back to reality, fuck I hate UK motorways the M25 in particular. Finally back home 940 miles door to door absolute magic ( well most of it) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted June 16, 2017 Moderator Share Posted June 16, 2017 ace write up, now really looking forward to Spain. Hopefully my panniers and engine bars will save me if I tumble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 Smashing Meat really pleased for you and you have scars to prove it..! Looks like a fun few days and hope that's just the start of your adventures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhat250 Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 Great report meaty ,,, wow that ankle , i did that once on a scrambler ,, ankle looked like yours, and i had to rogue potatoes the next day, [ walk up the drills all day, & theyre V SHAPED,] Well bugger me by lunch time the stiffness and swelling had gone, ,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 Brilliant mate....Memories is what it's all about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted June 18, 2017 Author Share Posted June 18, 2017 On 16/06/2017 at 0:48 PM, drewpy said: ace write up, now really looking forward to Spain. Hopefully my panniers and engine bars will save me if I tumble. Dewps It was my leg that saved my new panniers from getting damaged. Better not to tumble. Back in the day I did a lot of driving in Spain when me and Mrs meat often took the kids camping, mostly northern Spain and if my memory serves me right we always took the scenic routes and went along some cracking roads for bikes. Did make the mistake of heading for Madrid once when it was a bank holiday, everyone and his dog was leaving the city, worse traffic I have ever been in. On 16/06/2017 at 2:37 PM, slice said: Smashing Meat really pleased for you and you have scars to prove it..! Looks like a fun few days and hope that's just the start of your adventures. Slice it was brilliant and hopefully will do some more, I love my bike but a bike that wasn't so thirsty would have been a more sensible option, as we did a lot of riding on country roads and petrol stations were almost non existent, never ran out of fuel but got very close at least once. On 16/06/2017 at 5:13 PM, blackhat250 said: Great report meaty ,,, wow that ankle , i did that once on a scrambler ,, ankle looked like yours, and i had to rogue potatoes the next day, [ walk up the drills all day, & theyre V SHAPED,] Well bugger me by lunch time the stiffness and swelling had gone, ,, Blackie I think I'll pass on that mate, I did try resting with it raised ( as per medical advice) but after an hour it was killing so I ended up in my workshop making stuff. I'm just pissed that my bike is parked up and it's summer out there today. On 16/06/2017 at 7:40 PM, jimmy said: Brilliant mate....Memories is what it's all about So true Jimmy, my daughter can be a royal pain in the arse at times but this memory is got to be the top one in recent years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldfjman Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Hey Meat, was that hotel in the pictures in the town of Vianden in Luxembourg ? it looks remarkably like the a place we stayed at in Vienden in 1992, on our home neymoon bike tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy xs Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Only just read this, it really is great you got to do this with your daugter, mine isn't interested in bikes and although my son wants to the wife kicks off whenever the subject comes up off him getting a bike. You've made memories that'll last both of you a life time, I'll have to put up with Drewpy for now lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted July 13, 2017 Moderator Share Posted July 13, 2017 1 hour ago, Tommy xs said: the wife kicks off whenever the subject comes up off him getting a bike. Mine isn't overjoyed about it but seeing as I have 3 bikes in the garage I myself could not argue against it. Hypocrite I'm not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted July 13, 2017 Moderator Share Posted July 13, 2017 Enjoyed reading that mate, quality time with your daughter...nothing beats that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacha Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Lovely! What fun! Hope to get my dad back out on a bike soon so we can do similar. He's gotta get something with a swing arm first though... the old rigid frame is too rough for long rides. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share Posted July 19, 2017 On 13/07/2017 at 8:55 PM, Oldfjman said: Hey Meat, was that hotel in the pictures in the town of Vianden in Luxembourg ? it looks remarkably like the a place we stayed at in Vienden in 1992, on our home neymoon bike tour Yes buddy it was. On 13/07/2017 at 9:46 PM, Tommy xs said: the wife kicks off whenever the subject comes up off him getting a bike. Luckily Mrs meat was a bit of a biker back in the day so there was never a problem, in fact when my daughter and youngest son first started riding it was Mrs meat that encouraged them and if I remember rightly insisted that we paid for their first bikes. She also encouraged me to get back on bikes after a few years of just driving cages. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy xs Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Another one kicks the P bucket 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 16 hours ago, Tommy xs said: Another one kicks the P bucket Obviously not enough people are upgrading so P bucket are trying to blackmail us casual uses into upgrading, well they can go f**k themselves, too many issues with this to actually pay for it. Any suggestions for an alternative would be welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted July 20, 2017 Moderator Share Posted July 20, 2017 flikr is the one I plumped for. Just make sure to use a load of, at least vague if not flat out misdirecting details as it tries to share everything. I'm with you on the pbucket, it doesn't work well enough to pay for, the amount of adds and pop ups is unbearable. Its blatantly done to make you want to upgrade but its too much and just pisses you off, then you switch off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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