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Photo by Daniel Rintz, Himba children, Namibia

The only impossible journey
is the one
you never begin

Photo by Daniel Rintz,
Himba children, Namibia



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  #1  
Old 6 Dec 2007
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Talking My trip so far.

Just thought I would let you know how I am doing. I left for Amsterdam on Monday. It took me a total of about 16 hours including the ferry crossing to get from Cardiff, Wales to Amsterdam, NL. The weather once I hit the mainland was awful! Most of the ride from Brussles to Amsterdam was done in rain so bad I could barely see 10 feet infront of me so I was just following taillights.

Reached amsterdam at about midnight local time, headed straight for the first tramline I could find and found out they are incredibly slippery.

Spent 2 nights in Amsterdam and 1 day. The day was spent getting repairs and buying a new crash helmet and the night was spent enjoying the local produce! Left for Stuttgart the next day (Wed) Good ride down, nice weather and pretty much uneventful. Arrived in Stuttgart at 10pm local time and to top it of the bike registered 1000 miles as I entered the city.

Stayed with a friend in Stuttgart and I am pushing on to Prague while the weather holds. I booked my hostel for July which was a bit silly so I have to go book a different one now as that one is full for tonight. Might spend 2 or 3 nights in Prague for the R&R and to see the beautiful city properly.

Been lost a couple of times on the way because of a lack of GPS. Wish me luck! :-D
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  #2  
Old 6 Dec 2007
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Good luck with that, hope you have your thermals with you!

I'm also off to A'dam tomorrow to sample the local produce. Tulips, clogs, that kind of thing.
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  #3  
Old 6 Dec 2007
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Hi McG,

Glad your on the road and it's raining but only as it's nice to see I'm not the only one stupid enough to be riding during winter, makes me not feel like such a muppet, I can now point and say he did it too at the next Horizons meeting. LMAO

Right those nasty tram tracks hit them parallel (straight on) and up right and you won't have a problem even in the rain, now cobble stones on the other hand Arrgghhh.

I reached Milano at about 8pm two up on my little f650gs Dakar fully loaded in the driving rain knackered and lost, with the locals whizzing past me at hyper speed on those little Hondas, and cobblestones mixed with tram lines I managed to hold it together long enough to find a hotel, but more scary than anything I've ever done before EVER.

So what are you riding? are you solo? do you have a blog? how long are you away for?

Let us know as we like to keep track of people, the great people on here can offer assistance when required, someone always knows some place to see or visit locally so it will expand your trip, and if you have any problems there’s normally someone around who can help you out.

Ride safe

Lee @ f650ridetheworld.com
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  #4  
Old 9 Dec 2007
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Hey Lee.

I am riding a Honda Hornet 600.... With sports suspension.... and a tiny windshield. The only touring stuff I have are heated grips and a small windshield. No luggage on the bike just my backpack and whatever I can get under the seat! Traveling alone as no-one else is as blatantly stupid as me to come with. This for me is kind of a trip to prove to myself that I can do it so it really had to be by myself and it couldn't be a walk in the park. Really glad I am doing it. The feeling of arriving at my next location is indescribable. The cars around me all stare as I am making whooping noises, sounding my horn and generally making an ass of myself!

I am posting my story on a forum I frequent so you probably wont be able to read it. Lets see. I made it to Prague in record time. The weather was stable, road was dry and the bike was running perfectly. I found out a good 30 mile section of my route was under construction so a small detour later and I was Prague. Stayed a day longer in Prague then I intended as the city was so beautiful and the people at the hostel wouldn't let me leave without showing me round a bit. Arrived in Budapest today at about 7 local time. The weather was crap the whole way and at one point through the mountain pass the road was at about -3 degrees and I was at about "I can no longer feel my fingers or toes" Budapest is amazing at night, can't wait to see it by day tomorrow and indulge in a the local Baths before seeing some sites.

Pushing to Ljubljana on the 11th before passing through Italy. Where you heading after Milano?

About halfway through my trip now as far as mileage goes beginning to notice my limited time now which sucks as I would love to just keep on going in a random direction but I have to be home for graduation.
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Old 9 Dec 2007
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That depends............

Quote:
Originally Posted by McGowan View Post

I am posting my story on a forum I frequent so you probably wont be able to read it.
That rather depends on whether or not you give us the URL of the forum you post on dunnit? We would like to read more and see some piccies of how you got on........after all, this is (mainly) what this site is for..

Glad your enjoying yourself though....its a great feeling is'nt it?

Martyn
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  #6  
Old 9 Dec 2007
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Hi,

I'm currently right in the south of Italy, camping by the beaches I'm only riding about 40kms a day because I like it down here so much....

I'm still waiting for my Car to be ready (Bus hit it at home) Dads going to inspect it Monday if it's ok I can go over to Africa, if not then I'm going home until after Christmas which would suck.

But send us your website details as its nice to see someone else as stupid as me out there.

Ride safe.
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  #7  
Old 10 Dec 2007
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god loves bikers

[QUOTE=juddadredd;162299]Hi McG,

Glad your on the road and it's raining but only as it's nice to see I'm not the only one stupid enough to be riding during winter, makes me not feel like such a muppet, I can now point and say he did it too at the next Horizons meeting. LMAO
You can point at me too then, left in Feb last year - one bonus about being out riding now is you're not suffering Christmas overload! British winter sucks. Plus god loves bikers, and moves bad weather away, I had three wet days in 4 months in central asia and russia

Right those nasty tram tracks hit them parallel (straight on) and up right and you won't have a problem even in the rain, now cobble stones on the other hand Arrgghhh.
Thats the knowledge! had just got the hang of them when I had to leave a freight boat between raised rails - any idea how to manage that? I tried getting as much angle as I could and loads of power to lift the front wheel, nearly broke my leg.

Sorry to hear about the car Lee, know I would rather be there than here. If by any long chance its a 94 Hyundai Accent and it got hit on the passenger side wing I might have some parts I could donate to the cause (now that would be a coincidence, but stranger things have happened). How are you getting along with Italian drivers? They scared shit out of me first time round.....

Good luck to all on the road, am green with envy sat in the freezing dull
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