 Thursday, June 1, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 000.0 KM
Average Speed: 00.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 00 Minutes
We arrived in Idstein, Germany late today from San Francisco, California. We will be here for the month of June working on the sidecar.
Thursday, June 12, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 000.0 KM
Average Speed: 00.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 00 Minutes
Jim started working on the installation of the electrical system, handlebar controls and cables, instruments, lights, etc., etc. on the bike at Horst’s shop today. He estimates that he will spend the rest of the week doing this.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 000.0 KM
Average Speed: 00.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 00 Minutes
We retrieved the sidecar from Horst’s shop today and brought it “home” to Idstein where Jim began began the installation of our new intercom, wiring for additional lighting, horns, instruments, electrical clothing, etc., etc. We estimate that this will take two weeks to complete. We are happy to report that the handling of the sidecar has not been compromised due to the accident damage. It handles just as it did prior to the accident. The one thing we have not been able to figure out though is why the rear of the sidecar tends to list to the right a wee bit.
Verna has been able to start her sewing projects for all of our packing needs.
We learned at the time of our accident last year that we really were not all that well organized - disaster preparedness is the phrase. We also decided that we really need to simplify and get rid of a lot of stuff. But, when you live on the bike it is difficult to do without some things and you convince yourself that you really need stuff.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 000.0 KM
Average Speed: 00.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 00 Minutes
Jim has the majority of the work completed on the bike - a good thing too. He has lost the use of his left index finder; minor surgery to remove a small growth from the first joint on the finger. We hope this won’t keep him out of action for too long because he still has several things to complete on the sidecar and lots of road testing to do.
Verna has improved our packing and storage systems tremendously. But, everyday we have to force ourselves to remove more stuff.
Monday, July 3, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 000.0 KM
Average Speed: 00.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 00 Minutes
This is it. Tomorrow morning we haul anchor and point ourselves south for Switzerland and EP XI. It has been an exhausting month. It will be great to get on the road and be able to relax.
To say that the last week has been a bit stressful is putting it mildly. Before we leave Jim must visit the doctor to have the stitches removed from his left index finger in the morning.
The sidecar is as road worthy as it ever will be - all systems go after major maintenance and rebuilding of the electrical systems for the additions we use on the machine (GPS, new intercom, etc., etc.).
We will return to Idstein in approximately two weeks - we view this as our shakedown cruise. We will probably spend a week in Idstein fixing all the things that we are not happy with when we return. We will also pay a visit to Horst’s shop.
Last week we had another problem with the rear wheel bearings. We are convinced that we know what the problem is and have been communicating with Host by e-mail. When we return we will talk about it face to face and plan what will be done to implement a solution. When he gets time Jim will document all of this in The Bikes page.
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 150.0 KM
Average Speed: 00.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 00 Minutes
Ok, it’s our first day back on the road and it felt great! However, we cannot remember how to work the GPS. So, not much in the way of statistics. We do know the distance from the route we plotted on the computer and downloaded to the GPS. Tomorrow we should have this working again.
A beautiful hot day for our ride. We stopped for a picnic lunch about 30 kilometers before arriving at our destination, Rogers Motor Specials, Ringstrasse 17, 97279 Kist, Germany. Reinhard is the man who made all of the aluminum bags on the sidecar. He is an artist - we have not seen anyone who can weld aluminum like he does. The bad news is that our ride was totally autobahn.
We had to visit Reinhard’s shop in order to get the holes for our locks cut into the top of the new seat box he made for us. He was unable to do this when he made the box in the winter because Horst told him there were not cutouts in the seat cushion for access to the locks. Verna solved that problem yesterday when she modified the seat after Jim drilled out a 2.5 inch hole in the wood base and the foam. Once again, Verna’s sewing talents save the day. She was able to modify the plastic seat cover and now we have locks on the seat box just like the ones on all the other bags. And, we were able to recycle two of the locks that had been on one of the bags that was destroyed in the accident in Turkey.
We also have some new projects for him. We need a box made for our instruments (clock, volt meter, oil temperature and oil pressure), some brackets made that we can use to secure two 5 liter plastic “cans” that we can use to carry extra water and something that we can use to out our small hydraulic jack on that will boost its height; we want the last item to also be a small ramp that we car drive any of the sidecar wheels onto in order to gain additional ground clearance when Jim has to get under the vehicle to do maintenance work.
Tomorrow we head for Karlsruhe and the home of our good friend Sascha Leitz where we will meet with other folks who are headed to Switzerland for this coming weekend Europrez XI meeting.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 177.0 KM
Average Speed: 67.5 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 2 Hours 37 Minutes
Second day on the road and so far, so good. Another lovely day for riding as the sun was shining and the sky was blue. Today was all autobahn and the trucks were out in force. A couple of places where they were doing roadwork the trucks came to a stop and were backed up for several kilometers in both directions. It still amazes us how much freight is moved by trucks on the highway.
Thankfully we had an uneventful ride from Kist to Karlsruhe. We arrived midday, went out to purchase gear oil and touchup paint for the bike, then enjoyed grillhänchen und pommes (rotisserie chicken & French fries) al frescoe in Sascha’s garden for lunch. Sascha met us a bit later and brought Jim the new carburetor jets - so Jim got busy putting in the new, smaller jets (which will hopefully give us better gas mileage), changing the oil in the final drive, and finally connecting the power to Sascha’s GPS on his LT.
We have now met Sascha’s new girlfriend, Maura who is Italian and quite nice. She has just come to live with him as of Friday last week and now will be inundated with house guests even though she hasn’t had the time to get settled herself. We don’t envy her!
Tonight several people besides ourselves will be here at Sascha’s and Maura has offered to make pasta for all of us. Quite a difference from our usual stays with Sascha in the past few years! And tomorrow we all head south to Switzerland, some faster than others (:-)).
Thursday, July 6 - Thursday July 20, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 1039.0 KM
Average Speed: 37.8 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 26 Hours 54 Minutes
OK, we have been a bit lazy about doing the updates to the web site. But, in our own defense, we have not had a lot of internet access because we have been camping a lot.
During our trip to Switzerland we did some riding of several passes and got to visit with lots of acquaintances at this year’s EP meeting. Because we were camping this year and not staying at the hotel with most of the others we do not have many pictures of the event - as a result we have not made a page for this year’s EP.
From Switzerland we returned to Germany and spent some time at Lake Titisee and then on to Karlsruhe where Jim was able to finish some computer projects for Sascha and Verna made him a chocolate cake.
After that we attended a Left Lane BMW Club event in Pfalzfeld, Germany at the Cafe Bistro. The cafe is located in the old Bahnhof and there are several railroad carriages that are available with compartments and shared sleeping facilities. There are bathrooms and showers too. We were able to renew our acquaintance with many of the people we met two years ago when we attended the Left Lane & Abteilung DeutschlandSchweiz Altstadt Wander Treffen. We enjoyed a scenic ride with the group through the hills and valleys between the Rhein and the Mosel, enjoying the companionship as well as the scenery.
After this we have been busy getting our Green Card insurance from the ADAC “fixed”. The person who wrote the insurance did it incorrectly and it took us an hour and a half at an ADAC office getting things corrected. Jim also visited Horst to talk about the rear wheel bearing design and to use his vacuum bleeder to change the brake fluid in the rear/sidecar brake system.
Jim now has all the annual maintenance items for the sidecar completed except for the valve adjustment which he plans to do today. Verna has been doing some additional work on her sewing projects but her projects are now at a standstill because the motor on the sewing machine has given up. We have been looking for a new motor without much success. We will probably have to buy another machine if she is to complete her projects; a cheap machine will probably cost as much as a new motor so we won’t lose much.
We are back in Idstein where we will remain until we get the remainder of our projects completed. Before we left Idstein for Switzerland we received e-mail from Andreas Luthardt. We hope to visit with Andreas and Sabine in the next few weeks. We have not seen them for two years. They have been busy with a new house and all the fun that is involved with such a process. We are looking forward to seeing them again.
Thursday, July 20 - Tuesday August 1, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 397.0 KM
Average Speed: 58.7 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 6 Hours 46 Minutes
We are back in Idstein after spending a very nice long week end with Andreas, Sabine and their two dogs, Finlay and Darwin. They have purchased a new old house (actually a 100 year old machine house alongside a windmill once used to grind wheat). They have been busy getting it in order and it should keep them busy for a long while. But we took them away from their current gardening projects for well deserved respite. We toured 2 Japanese gardens, one in Düsseldorf and one in Leverkusen, enjoying the architecture. plants, and ponds. As they are building a large pond and bamboo garden, the gardens were a good place to get ideas. We spent the rest of the time eating, catching up, eating, relaxing, and eating. We enjoyed a wide variety of cuisine in various restaurants but our favorite was Sabine’s dinner of turkey sate with peanut sauce (expertly barbecued by Andreas) served with a mango & cucumber salad inspired from their trips to Bali. Yum! We certainly enjoyed their hospitality and we hope we didn’t distract them too long from their tasks.
Wednesday, August 2 - Monday August 7, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 182.0 KM
Average Speed: 62.1 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 2 Hours 55 Minutes
After a week of more R&R in Idstein we headed south to Kist today to spend some time with Reinhard (Roger) Guhr. Roger is the man who made the aluminum boxes for the sidecar. This week he will make some additional items for the machine - a box to hold our VDO instruments and some other brackets to hold two 5 liter water containers. Roger now has a web site, www.RMS-rogers.de where you can find his email address, telephone number and location.
Tuesday, August 8 - Saturday August 12, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 174.0 KM
Average Speed: 43.1 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 4 Hours 02 Minutes
Thanks to Roger, we now have a new box mounted on our handlebars with the four VDO gauges (Voltmeter, Oil Temperature, Oil Pressure and Clock) that Jim is so fond of. We also have two new aluminum carriers for 5 liter bottles that we will use to carry water when in places that are a bit dry. And a small ramp to use when we need to work under the machine or change a tire.
Roger was also nice enough to allow Jim to use his shop and tools to fabricate some brackets that hold our headlight protector firmly. Previously it was held in place only by Velcro.
We left Kist and rode west, in and out of the rain, where we spent the night in Neckarwestheim - famous for the nuclear power generation plant there. The good news is that we were in a restaurant in the evening when the really heavy rainfall hit (along with the thunder and lightening) and that Homer Simpson does NOT work there.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 141.0 KM
Average Speed: 45.7 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 3 Hours 05 Minutes
We rose to cloudy skies that quickly turned much darker, and wetter. While we stayed mostly dry yesterday, today we were mostly wet. We concluded our ride in the Schwartzwald (Black Forest) where we found a nice hotel with partially covered parking so Jim could replace a defective headlight bulb.
We have spent the last 2 days traveling almost exclusively on K and L roads - small country roads that wend their way through small villages, forests and farmland. Occasionally we have found ourselves on a B road that seems like a super highway in comparison. As these smaller roads have less traffic, it has been thoroughly enjoyable for us, just puttering along at our moderate pace. As we meander our way through this part of Germany, we can see the subtle differences in the way the houses are built, the different crops growing in the fields, and savor the local fare when we stop for lunch. For us, this is a much better way to experience a country than traveling on the Autobahn (which looks pretty much the same no matter where you are) and eating at the rest stops (where the food tastes pretty much the same no matter where you are).
Monday, August 14, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 103.0 KM
Average Speed: 34.2 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 2 Hours 59 Minutes
Yet another mostly wet day. We rode west toward France in search of blue skies and sunshine. None found until we were walking back to our hotel after visiting a market for our evening meal purchase. But the sun was very short lived. Soon after we returned to the hotel the dark clouds came in once again and the rain came down.
We hope for better weather tomorrow. We are in France, near Strasbourg, though and we hope to be able to purchase some cheaper gasoline in the morning.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 170.0 KM
Average Speed: 38.6 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 4 Hours 24 Minutes
As luck would have it, today is a holiday in France. We learned this as soon as we paid for the hotel (it was €10 cheaper than we expected) and every store in the area was closed.
There is a Leroy Merlin (like a Home Depot) near the hotel. Yesterday it was like a feeding frenzy there; the traffic was a mess when we came into the street that feeds into it as well as our hotel. Seems everyone was preparing for the holiday. Little did we know.
So we returned to Germany to buy gas - the automated stations in France will NOT accept our credit cards. What is interesting is that the kiosk where you pay when they are open will accept our credit cards. Very strange.
While filling up a man approached us and introduced himself. He said he was from the local newspaper and was interested in our travels. He said that he would write an article for his newspaper about us. We shall see. Jim asked him to email us a copy of whatever he wrote.
Today was mostly dry and sunny. We are back in the Swartzwald headed for the Munich area to visit Gehard Scherb - the man who rebuilt our engine and gear box.
Wednesday, August 16 - Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 000.0 KM
Average Speed: 00.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 00 Minutes
Well, we have had a bit of an interruption to our travels. Late Tuesday afternoon the tip of Jim’s left index finger began to swell and turn reddish blue. By Wednesday morning the tip of his finger was half again as large as normal.
We rode to Tuttlingen and found the local hospital where we learned that he had a very severe infection in the area where he had surgery in June. That afternoon he was taken into the operating room for surgery to excise the infection and the damaged tissue. He was also put on a course of antibiotics.
By Friday morning his finger looked much better. But, he needed an additional surgery on Monday to repair and close the area where damaged tissue was removed. They insisted he remain in the hospital overnight Monday, much to Jim’s displeasure. But all went well with the surgery and Wednesday they put a partial cast on his hand to immobilize the finger and give it some protection. The doctor also informed Jim that he would not be driving the bike - in Germany if he were to have an accident while driving with the cast, the accident would automatically be determined to be his fault, regardless of what happened. So Jim is now relegated to the passenger’s seat while Verna takes over at the helm.
We made an excursion to the local building supply store to look for a large leather glove that could be altered to fit over Jim’s bandaged hand for use on the bike. We found a gardening glove that we cut the index finger out of and added a gusset at the side. Definitely a fashion statement! And if we get caught in the rain, we’ll use the plastic shopping bag to keep it dry.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 123.0 KM
Average Speed: 44.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 2 Hours 48 Minutes
Today was not a long day, but a reasonable distance for Verna’s first day at being the only driver. Plus, we managed to make it to Memmingen before the rain hit, so we decided to stop while we were ahead (and dry).
As usual, we stayed on the smaller back roads to avoid the cities and traffic. But we are noticing a lot more truck traffic on these back roads than ever before - a result of the toll (€1 per kilometer) now extracted from trucks traveling on the autobahns. We can’t say that we blame them, but these back roads are already beginning to show the wear and tear.
We stayed at the Weisses Ross hotel where we had stayed a few years earlier. At the time the owner had an old NSU sidecar hanging from the ceiling of the garage with a papier-mâché devil driving and an angel in the passenger’s chair. We wanted to get a picture of our sidecar parked below it this time, but alas, he had sold the rig a while back.
Friday, August 25 - Tuesday Augyst 29, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 111.0 KM
Average Speed: 41.8 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 2 Hours 39 Minutes
Another short day, but a pleasant ride through the countryside and small villages. Lots of green, gently rolling hills defined our path today. Partly cloudy skies and some wind kept with us for the trip, but again, we arrived at our destination before the rain. We are now back in Olching, a small town outside Munich, where we will get the crankcase breather for the engine routed so it bypasses the carburetors and have the final drive checked on Monday. Jim wants Gerhard Scherb to install a bypass to vent the breather so it no longer deposits oil into the carburetors gumming up the jets and to verify that the final drive escaped damage at the time of our accident in Turkey. The final drive has begun making some strange noses of late and we want to be sure there is not a problem lurking.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 107.0 KM
Average Speed: 15.6 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 6 Hours 24 Minutes
Today’s statistics may appear a bit strange - over 6 hours to go 107 km, especially since most of that was on the autobahn. But we have to explain that no sooner had we gotten on the road (about 6 km from the hotel) when the bike engine and electric’s died. The battery was dead and we weren’t going anywhere. Since we didn’t have a clue as to what was wrong, we called Gerhard and he came right over and gave us a jump start which got us back to his shop. Then he moved some bikes and let us work in his shop to figure out what the problem was.
So we spent from 10:30 to 1:00 working on the bike finally determining that the problem was a broken wire at the starter motor solenoid which connects to the diode board. Jim replaced the wire then we joined Gerhard, his brother Rudy and father Fritz along with another employee and a Canadian who had just flown in to ride to Corsica with Fritz, for a tasty lunch at the local sports club. Good food, great prices and wonderful companionship - what more could we ask for?
After lunch we buttoned up the bike, put everything away, put on all our rain gear (again) for our departure. Our last view of the crew was of them pushing us down the drive to get the bike started (the battery was charged on our ride).
We then had a short and uneventful but very wet ride on the autobahn to Memmingen where we stopped for the night as it was now close to 5:00. We had a hot bowl of soup for dinner as we were both freezing from the ride in the rain and cold (this is August, right?). Reminiscing over the day’s events, we were very happy to have finally found the source of the intermittent power problems that have been plaguing us ever since we got the bike back on the road.
We named Gerhard our savior of the day for rescuing us and giving us a warm, dry place to work and his help when needed. The thought of doing the work by the side of the road in the rain was not a happy prospect. Thanks Gerhard!!!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 246.0 KM
Average Speed: 47.7 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 5 Hours 09 Minutes
A great day for Jim today; he had the 17 stitches that were put in his left index finger as part of the repair needed for the infection he contracted removed. The finger looks good and we think that it should heal just fine.
Tomorrow we will visit our friend Sascha in Karlsruhe and take care of some much needed repairs to a few of our instruments.
Friday, September 1, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 142.0 KM
Average Speed: 23.7 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 5 Hours 54 Minutes
SUN!!!
For the first time in a month we had a day of sunshine! Germany has had the coldest/wettest August recorded in the last 50 years. Today is the first time we have not had rain in a long time.
 And we got lots of things done today. The broken Volt Meter (from the Turkey accident) was finally replaced. And, the Oil Temperature gauge was repaired. We also were able to purchase some stainless steel screws for the new box that holds these instruments. The screws that we have been using were getting very rusty in all the rain we have been having. We also received our US Mail for the first time in more than two months.
We are now near the French border, having done all this in Karlsruhe today, and we continue our journey south in search of some off road testing areas for the bike.
Saturday, September 2, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 256.0 KM
Average Speed: 41.7 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 6 Hours 08 Minutes
Overcast skies again when we started today and a few spatters of rain but things got better as we worked our way south. Not much to report today as we just plodded our way down the road. We stopped for the day in Morteau and wandered around the street market that was going full blast and had the main streets in the town closed.
Sunday, September 3, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 142.0 KM
Average Speed: 35.5 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 3 Hours 57 Minutes
We arose to blue skies and visited a small bakery/cafe for our breakfast (we actually got eggs & bacon for breakfast!) and then continued our journey south.
Sunshine all day today. We stopped for the evening in Annecy. We did a bit of a walk about in the evening and had a drink in the old town. Then walked over to a park by the lake where a band was playing and the locals were dancing the evening away.
Our ride today took us into and out of Switzerland as we paralleled the border all day. Tomorrow we will continue south in search of some good roads and passes to explore.
Monday, September 4, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 178.0 KM
Average Speed: 36.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 4 Hours 54 Minutes
It is wonderful to be back on the road. We did not realize how long it has been since we have done any traveling. And we are quickly learning that we are not in “travel condition”.
We continued our ride south and stopped for the night in Valloire. It is good to be back in the mountains. En route we rode over a few passes on roads that have little to no traffic and are not as well known as others that we will go over tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will cross over the Col du Galibier and the Col d’Izoard and then head for Sestriere, Italy where we will do some riding on some dirt roads that we rode two years ago on our GS’s when we were in the area.
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 172.0 KM
Average Speed: 31.1 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 5 Hours 30 Minutes
A great ride today which we finished in Italy. But, on the way we rode a little way up the Plan La Chat which is the place where Jim dropped his GS and put a hole in his right valve cover. We managed to complete our short ride without any problems today and continued on.
We had a beautiful ride up the Col du Galibier this morning then on the way down passed another sidecar like ours heading up. We then headed to the Col d’Izoard as the last time we were there we didn’t have an opportunity to stop and enjoy the views. We stopped for lunch just before the summit and met a couple from Aachen who shared their off-road tracks with us. We had a pleasant time chatting about our various adventures then headed up over the pass. The pass is quite arid and desert-like, with some interesting rock spires that have been eroded over time.
We then looped around the mountain, back through Briançon and onward to Sestriere. As we were on the lower assent of the pass into Italy, the other sidecar like ours passed us (he’s a lot lighter with more horsepower). Then, just as we began the steep assent, the traffic was stopped for road construction. But 2 vehicles ahead was the sidecar, so we slipped around to talk with him. Instead of boxes on his bike, he has a carrier for his dog. Normally he travels with his wife in the sidecar and the dog in the box, but his wife wasn’t feeling well, so he was on a solo journey. It was fun to see another sidecar on the road and talk with the owner (we never did get his name!).
We got into Sestriere and it was a ghost town. We knew it was off season, but we began to wonder if any hotels were open. We stopped at the Savoy where we stayed 2 years ago, but they were closed for renovations. But the proprietor called the tourist office for us to find which hotels were open. Unfortunately, only the expensive ones! We tried one and they were not interested in any type of reduced rate (although they were empty). So on to the second where we were generously offered a discount - we accepted
Tomorrow we will spend most of the day on dirt roads.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 93.2 KM
Average Speed: 19.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 4 Hours 54 Minutes
Don’t let our high rate of speed today fool you. We really didn’t go that fast. All but the last 40 minutes was spent on a dirt road. We had a picnic in the mountains at a location that was on our descent. There were several picnic tables off the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Perfect.
We had ridden the first portion of this road two years ago on our GS’s. To say that doing these roads on the sidecar was different is an understatement. The first thing that sets you free is not having a care in the world related to dropping the bike  and punching a hole in a valve cover (Been there, done that). The second thing is not woring about hitting a large stone that could knock you down and possibly send you and the bike down a sheer mountain side. It was not a good day for scenic photos as we were in the clouds for the second half of the ride. At right is a photo showing the steepness of the mountainside as well as the lack of guardrails :-).
We actually covered the distance much quicker than we did on the GS’s. They were fully loaded with everything we have when we did this route. No difference today, the sidecar has everything we own on it. But the riding was much more relaxed and just as much fun. The roads did not look as steep as they did on the solo bikes. Several places were we were very concerned when on the solo bikes looked quite sedate from the sidecar.
Any rate, it was good fun and we will do more tomorrow. We have many dirt road tracks for the GPS that we were given by the German couple we met at lunch in France yesterday.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 113.0 KM
Average Speed: 29.6 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 3 Hours 49 Minutes
We spent the night in Bardonecchia, a winter ski town close to the French border. We think we found the noisiest hotel in town (not on purpose). We found a small hotel away from the downtown area amidst the pines and it was named (La Quiete). The proprietor and a friend were enjoying the afternoon in the yard with a small child and large, friendly dog. It all seemed quite bucolic. We walked into town for provisions and returned to enjoy the peace and quite when the hotel suddenly filled with boisterous children at 6 pm. We don’t really know how many there were, but they took over the hotel, running up and down the stairs and halls, shouting at each other, banging on doors, and generally having a good time. We wondered if we were at summer camp. We got an hour’s respite during the dinner hour then it started all over again, this time with the addition of the TV blaring. This continued until at least 11pm when they toned down a bit and our tiredness allowed us to drop off to sleep. Thankfully it was quiet until 7:30 when it all started over again. At 9 it was suddenly quite as they left en masse for their daily event.
Another off-road day today. Leaving from Bardonecchia we traveled to the tiny hamlet of Rochemolles where we left the paved road. Another 13 km later and we were at the highest point you can drive to in Europe (or so we are told). At the top there is nothing but peak after rocky peak and we were almost on the  French border. The altitude measured by our GPS was 9804 feet (2988 meters). And we weren’t the only ones there. There were 2 hikers there when we arrived and soon after 2 Germans joined us. We passed many bikes going up and down, so it appears to be a popular route (especially with the Germans). At left is a shot of one of the valleys we entered on our way up. This portion of the road was in very good condition.
Yesterday we learned that the passenger needs to stand up on uphill turns to transfer more weight forward. This keeps the front wheel on the ground and makes it much easier for the driver to steer. Today we put that to use a lot and once had to make 3 runs up a section before we got enough power and control to get up and around the corner.
This was after we had the tête-à-tête with the cow in the middle of the road. She was blocking the road by standing across it and wasn’t about to let us pass. We honked the horn which got her attention, but did nothing to make her move. Then we tried inching closer to her and she responded by lowering her head so her horns were pointed directly at us, so we backed off. Finally after 4 or 5 times, she finally got tired of dealing with us and let us pass.
Friday, September 8, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 174.0 KM
Average Speed: 39.3 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 4 Hours 25 Minutes
After a hot and humid night in a hotel that had air conditioning but refused to turn it on (we were the only guests - and actually after much ado we finally got them to turn it on at 8 pm and it stayed on until about 4 am) we left Italy and headed west to the other side of the mountains where it is much more arid and not humid. We had forgotten how humid it is on the east side of the mountains where Briançon is located. It didn’t take long for us to discover our mistake.
Today was spent ridding up and over two passes to get back to Briançon and then head south. We stopped at 3:30 in order to avoid the thunder showers that were ahead of us. We just got the bike unloaded and the clouds dumped on us. Lightning and motorcycles are NOT a good combination.
Tomorrow we will continue our journey south. We have been told of a road that is 90 kilometers of dirt that is supposed to offer spectacular scenery and great riding.
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 185.0 KM
Average Speed: 27.3 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 6 Hours 46 Minutes
We awoke to brilliant blue skies and continued south. We stopped at the Refugio de Napoleon (we were on Napoleon’s path through southern France) for breakfast but all he had was tea and coffee. So we enjoyed a hot cup while briefly chatting with a German tour group on their way to Col de la Bonette. At Jausiers we found a small market so stopped for a croissant, yogurt and fruit. As Verna was in shopping, Jim was entertaining the French with his lack of the language as they were discussing the exhaust being in front of the bike. As they were viewing it, Jim noticed it was hanging a bit lopsided. Further investigation proved that the nut had come off the bolt which holds the muffler up - it was hanging by the connector to the exhaust pipe. So Verna returns from the market to find the muffler off the bike and Jim beginning to repair it. Jim was able to get it back together and felt we were very lucky to not have lost it totally. Guess we better check things a bit closer after those rough dirt roads!
We took a new route for us this time south, heading over the Col de Allos at 2250 meters (7382 feet). The summit provided marvelous views east over the Parc National de Mercantour. Heading down the mountain, we cam across a huge winter skiing complex with lots of new construction under way.
As we headed south we kept losing altitude until we were around 800 feet and it was getting quite warm - we preferred the cooler mountain top temperatures. But at least it wasn’t beastly hot. We picked up an N road heading east for about 50 kilometers in the valley. Green hills all around and lots of gorges heading northward. We followed one north for a bit until we found a quiet, small campground. We spent the evening in the company of a Scot couple (living in Monaco) and a couple of German bikers while Jim enjoyed his small bottle of Cognac.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 83.3 KM
Average Speed: 20.7 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 4 Hours 02 Minutes
This morning as we were packing up, the campsite proprietor told us of a drive up the mountain to the Madonna de Utelle where there was a view of the Mediterranean and the Alps. So when we finally got ready and packed at 11:15 up we went. It was quite twisty and slow going, but there were some great views from the top. Unfortunately, the moist air over the Med made it impossible to see. Then down the mountain and northward up the valley, then south again down the next valley.
This road south (D2566), running along the Parc National de Mercantour, was absolutely beautiful. It was full of lacets (tornanti or switch-backs) and the hills were lush and green with light grey rocky outcrops. The road was in good condition and there wasn’t a lot of traffic. A highly recommended motorcycling road. Toward the bottom of the valley Just north of Sospel, we found another nice campground with a swimming pool, so pulled in for the night. The campground was built on an old olive orchard that had been terraced along the hillside, now providing multiple levels of camping. The proprietor keeps a well-stocked refrigerator with wine, beer and soda at reasonable prices and had an area for a book exchange so we were both able to get a new book (the only 2 in English). Plus, this was the first campground we have found in Europe where they didn’t have bright lights on all night - wonderful!
Monday, September 11, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 93.8 KM
Average Speed: 24 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 3 Hours 53 Minutes
We headed into Italy this morning, but tried to keep in the mountains and away from the coast as the traffic there is murderous. Most all the mountain ranges run north to south so we had to climb over several low passes today to keep heading east. We found sever smaller roads, one not much more than a donkey path, but it was paved. It really tested our bike’s ability to climb steep inclines. We realized midmorning that we never downloaded the tracks we wanted to find on the GPS, so pulled over in a shady spot and got them downloaded so we knew where we were going. As luck would have it, we had just ridden over a portion of one of the tracks, so headed a bit northeast to find another one.
 We continued up and down hills, mostly through wooded areas for several hours. We were surprised at how much woodland there is in this part of Italy. And the mountains seem to go on forever. Dotted along these hillsides are small villages nestled in the trees - reminiscent of the Pueblos Blancos in Spain. At right is a view of Corte from the village of Triora. You can see how insignificant these villages look in comparison to the mountains.
By the time we got to the track it was after 2 pm and we decided it was too late in the day to start that kind of activity, so headed further on to the village of Triora where we could stock up on provisions and get some rest.
Tomorrow we will start on a track just outside this town and see where it takes us...
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 144 KM
Average Speed: 21.6 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 6 Hours 39 Minutes
We headed west out of town this morning on a small local road heading toward the French border. This road took us through a couple of very small villages and began climbing higher through the forested mountains. The pavement lasted longer than we expected, but soon enough turned to a dirt track. The rise was gentle and the dirt track in fair condition as it climbed higher and higher. We finally got to the summit on this mountain at the French border. We then began our descent and the road worsened. The dirt road with some rocks became a rock road with some dirt. For a few kilometers it was fairly level going so it was not so bad. Then we began the descent which was tough on the rocky road, but we were very grateful to be doing this on the sidecar and not on the GSes. The descent was not as gradual as the climb on the other side so we were happy to have come this direction.
Soon however, the road leveled then began to climb. And climb, and climb. Jim was driving as fast as he dared just to try to get some cooler air on the engine. It was quite hot by the time we reached the summit and a short tunnel to the other side. Here we rested a bit and soon heard the sound of other bikes - 2 600 cc dirt bikes ridden by local Italians came roaring into view. They stopped and chatted for a bit then we all brought out our lunches and enjoyed the sweeping panorama.
Then an easy downhill run to the nearest paved road about 6 kilometers away. We figured we traveled about 20 km on dirt today, most of it in first gear.
After the dirt, the pavement seemed like a superhighway. We sped along northward until we found a road that would take us west and back into France. We found a quiet campground late in the afternoon and called it a day.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 199 KM
Average Speed: 33.7 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 7 Hours 52 Minutes
We left Italy and returned to France today deciding to spend the night in Briançon. It was cold today and we had to put on some additional clothing as we went into the mountains. We came up over the Col du Larch at 1991meters (6532 feet) at the French/Italy border. Coming from Italy, it began as a very gentle rise as we passed through a very long valley. It appeared to be a beautiful area, but the amount of moisture in the air left everything rather dull and gray. We expect it would be quite spectacular on a bright sunny day. The best part was that there was virtually no traffic on the road. Within several kilometers of the summit we found the tornanti as we climbed quickly up to the summit.
We stopped for lunch at the Col du Vars and met two Americans who were riding their bicycles up and down the mountain passes. Wow!!! These two have to be hard as nails in order to do this, in our opinion. Ascents of 5,000 feet or more are not for the faint of heart nor those with weak leg muscles. Our hat is off to both of them!
Thankfully we got into Briançon before the rain began to threaten. It appears this area is expecting rain for the next 4 days so we’ll have to find a forecast on TV to see where it will be dry and we’ll head there.
Thursday, September 14 - Sunday, September 17, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 330 KM
Average Speed: 38.3 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 8 Hours 32 Minutes
We rode to Chamonix, France on Wednesday amid lots of rain, found a place to stay and spent the next three days walking about town, checking our email at McDonald’s using their free WiFi access and basically just relaxing.
On Sunday we left our hotel; basically we were kicked out. They are starting a rather large remodeling job tomorrow (Monday) morning and the hotel is closed until such time as the work completes.
We left as we arrived - in the rain. But, it was only a 90 kilometer ride to Annecy where we will spend the next two days. On Monday Jill Dell and Bonnie Mardis arrive; Verna and Bonnie worked together many years ago. They are on a holiday in France and this is perfect way to reacquaint ourselves.
Monday, September 18 - Tuesday September 19, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 172.2 KM
Average Speed: 53.2 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 3 Hours 14 Minutes
We spent a relaxing day in Annecy on Monday, visiting the old town, taking pictures, and catching up. Bonnie and Jim arrived in the early evening and we had a nice walk about town catching up on recent events in our lives. We had a “snack” dinner but splurged on fresh strawberry crepes with ice cream for dessert.
Tuesday we all headed south toward Valence, stopping for a nice lunch at a roadside restaurant in the mountains. These 2 hour lunches are great for relaxing, but don’t allow one to get very far on the road! Well nourished, we continued south and at one point passed through a beautiful gorge as we passed from one valley to another. We stopped in Valance at 5 PM and decided that was enough for one day. The city had a lovely park where we intended to enjoy our picnic dinner, but it was closing just as we got there! We found some benches nearby and ate with the setting sun, then walked a bit through town.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 233.7 KM
Average Speed: 51.6 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 4 Hours 32 Minutes
We bid our farewells this morning as we began our journey west and they headed south to Marseilles. We took a bypass through the Gorges de l’Ardeche which were quite spectacular but a surprise to us as the road ran above the gorge, not through it was we expected. Nonetheless, the views down to the gorge and the Ardeche river at the bottom were lovely. We then took mostly backroads through the hills, enjoying the scenery and little villages we came upon. We were getting concerned about finding some lunch as the restaurants we passed we all closed for the season. Finally we happened upon one with a parking lot full of cars and pulled in.
After a great meal (the meat was grilled, not fried), we continued through the hills of southern france toward Ales and finally ending our day at St Hippolyte du Fort. We enjoyed a lovely picnic dinner on our private balcony, enjoying the sunset.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 339.0 KM
Average Speed: 47.4 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 7 Hours 09 Minutes
Overcast skies greeted us this morning, but thankfully it was only coastal fog and clouds, not a brewing storm. We headed almost directly west, staying in the mountains rather than the flatlands to the south. Once again we found the some of the loneliest roads and had the place to ourselves. We have decided that France has the most lovely scenery with the greatest diversity. The more we drive through France, the more we enjoy it! We spent a good amount of time on the D999 and found it to be a most interesting road.
Just outside of Albi we picked up the Autoroute as it is free heading southwest to Toulouse. We had to negotiate the local roads through Toulouse, but then picked up the Autoroute again just outside of Toulouse for another 50 km or so, allowing us to make some good time after our slow meandering in the morning. We ended our day in Boussens, hoping to camp along a small lake. However, there was no one to check us in, so we tried the small hotel next door which was much more welcoming.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 157.5 KM
Average Speed: 31.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 5 Hours 05 Minutes
We awoke to rain about 7am and we very thankful the campground wasn’t very welcoming last night! We hoped that the storm would pass, but finally gave up and hit the road. We found some nice back roads through low hills studded with farmland. It was quite beautiful but unfortunately there were no gas stations and that was what we needed. So thankfully the GPS allowed us to make a short bypass to a nearby gas station - that feature is so helpful in these situations. Without it, we could have driven ourselves out of gas while looking for a station.
After lunch it stopped raining and we headed toward the Pyrenees to begin our ascent. Slowly at first to about 3,000 feet, then a steep climb to the summit at almost 6,000 feet (which was actually a tunnel and not the top of a pass). Soon after beginning our descent we turned off the highway at Bielsa and headed north for about 14 kilometers to the end of the road at Parc National Ordessa y Monte Perdido. Here the valley ends with a wall of mountain on three sides, with waterfalls gushing down the mountainside to the river that flows through the valley. Here there is camping, a refugio and a Parador.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 247.5 KM
Average Speed: 48.2 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 5 Hours 41 Minutes
After a wonderful night’s sleep in the cool mountain air, we woke to cloud-enshrouded mountains. Soon the rain began and then came down with a vengeance. It obviously wasn’t going to let up, so we just bundled up and set off in the rain. Unfortunately because of the rain and low clouds, it was difficult to enjoy the fantastic scenery as we descended out of the Pyrenees.
We headed almost directly south as the storm was predicted to stay in the north of Spain while the south was going to be drier. We stopped briefly for break around 11:30 and dry out around the edges with the very efficient hand drier in the restroom. It wasn’t until early afternoon that we finally left the rain and began to dry out a bit. We began looking for a restaurant around 2pm, the beginning of the Spanish lunch hour, but were quite unsuccessful in finding any establishments along this particular stretch of road. Finally around 3:15 we found a restaurant and luckily they were still serving lunch. The restaurant was in a hotel and we thought briefly about stopping for the day here until we noticed they were hosting a wedding reception. We know the Spanish well enough to know that when they party, they party hard, they do it loudly, and it lasts until the wee hours of the morning. So this was not the hotel for us (as we have learned from experience). So off we went.
Of course, we then didn’t find another hotel until almost 5pm in the little town of Calanda (about halfway between Zaragoza and the coast). At least it hadn’t rained again so arrived dry which is a nice way to end the day.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 283.1 KM
Average Speed: 49.1 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 5 Hours 45 Minutes
We woke to clear blue skies and our hopes soared. It was still very cool with a promise of warmer weather as we progressed. However, the warmth never made it. Slowly the clouds built up, first an occasional fluffy white cloud, then a band of them, and pretty soon the entire sky was pretty much overcast so we finally stopped to put on another layer of clothing. We stayed in an “N” road, considered a major road in Spain, and noted that the infrastructure has much improved in the years that we have been here. When we arrived in 2000, even the “N” roads were in fairly bad shape. Now we are finding them resurfaced, straightened in some cases, and new, informative signage. Wow!
Around 11:30 we began looking for a cafe to have a hot cup of tea, but never found one open until around 12:30. Once refreshed, we headed off again, this time taking a smaller country road through a beautiful pine forest with magnificent red rock formations. This little road wound through some tiny villages, most with no signs of commerce at all. One was in the process of digging up the highway through town and we were met with a road barrier and no indication of an alternative route. Having no detail for the village on the GPS, we blindly took one of the side roads and wound our way through the residential area until we finally happened upon the main road again.
We returned to the “N” highway and began looking for gas and lunch. Although this is a major route, there was virtually no traffic (being Sunday) and no sign of gas or restaurants. Finally around 3:00 we stumbled upon an open gas station and filled up. Just up the road was a restaurant where we could get some lunch. Although we really enjoy being away from the crowds, being off the beaten track certainly narrows your choices for the necessities of food, gas, and lodging. We stopped in the town of Cuenca where we actually had a choice of hotels.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Today's statistics:
Total Distance: 0.0 KM
Average Speed: 0.0 KM/H
Total Time on Bikes: 0 Hours 0 Minutes
“Barn fever” gripped Jim this morning and we began a quick push to get to Benalmadena Pueblo and our winter retreat. We spent the next two days covering lots of distance. When we arrived we got very lazy and did not update this last entry of the web site. Please forgive us - this is why we have no mileage info any thing else for that matter, to finish this portion of our adventure. We will be back on the road in March of 2007.
Stay tuned for further adventures...
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