Now in Prague. Its been raining most of the day, so the photo opportunities are limited. I arrived here exactly 24 hours after landing at Calais. I got a very civilised ferry from Dover around noon to let me get a good nights sleep, but my smoke alarm decided to play up all night for the first time ever.... great ! So I was sleepy on the way down and ended up overnighting at Mannheim in Germany. Scattered showers right through Germany and the Czech Republic, but all quite short so I skipped the waterproofs - the Pan keeps me fairly dry at speed. My exhaust repair seems fine. Cruising around 100 - 110 through Germany, getting blitzed by cars which must be doing 150. Even your average white van man will thrash the poor thing to death to kiss my topbox ! The roads were great until I neared the Czech border - the Germans are digging them up to check they will support their latest model of tank, and there are a number of detours involved. BUT, ignore the guidebooks - bikes don't have to pay to use Czech motorways - thats just for cars.

Hotel very basic and not very cheap, so I hope that starts changing soon - over 40 days on the road could get expensive otherwise. Food and beer very cheap if you avoid the most central tourist area though. I haven't seen a British car since I left France and there are very few bikes on the road - the only ones going my way were a Spanish couple on a Diversion and two Swiss guys on Harleys. But then again, its wet - so who is the stupid one .....